Yoruba language

People	Ọmọ Yorùbá
Language	Èdè Yorùbá
Country	Ilẹ̀ Yorùbá

Yoruba
Yoruba
Èdè Yorùbá
Pronunciation	[jōrùbá]
Native to	Benin · Nigeria · Togo
Region	Yorubaland
Ethnicity	Yoruba
Speakers	L1: 48 million (2023); L2: 2.0 million (no date); Total: 50 million (2023)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Volta–Niger Yoruboid Edekiri Yoruba; ; ; ; ; ;
Early form	Proto-Yoruboid
Dialects	Lucumí;
Writing system	Latin (Nigerian Yoruba alphabet, Beninese Yoruba alphabet); Yoruba Braille; Arabic script (Anjemi); Oduduwa script
Official status
Official language in	Nigeria
Recognised minority; language in	Benin; Togo
Language codes
ISO 639-1	yo
ISO 639-2	yor
ISO 639-3	yor
Glottolog	yoru1245
Linguasphere	98-AAA-a
	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Yoruba (US: /ˈjɔːrəbə/,^[2] UK: /ˈjɒrʊbə/;^[3] Yor. Èdè Yorùbá [jōrùbá]) is a Niger-Congo language that is spoken in West Africa, primarily in Southwestern and Central Nigeria, Benin, and parts of Togo. It is spoken by the Yoruba people. Yoruba speakers number roughly 50 million,^[4] including around 2 million second-language or L2 speakers.^[1] As a pluricentric language, it is primarily spoken in a dialectal area spanning Nigeria, Benin, and Togo with smaller migrated communities in Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.

Yoruba vocabulary is also used in African diaspora religions such as the Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomblé, the Caribbean religion of Santería in the form of the liturgical Lucumí language, and various Afro-American religions of North America. Most modern practitioners of these religions in the Americas are not fluent in the Yoruba language, yet they still use Yoruba words and phrases for songs or chants—rooted in cultural traditions. For such practitioners, the Yoruba lexicon is especially common for ritual purposes, and these modern manifestations have taken new forms that do not depend on vernacular fluency.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

As the principal Yoruboid language, Yoruba is most closely related to these languages Itsekiri (spoken in the Niger Delta) and Igala (spoken in central Nigeria).

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Yoruba language at Ethnologue (28th ed., 2025)
^ "Yoruba". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
^ Yoruba language at Ethnologue (28th ed., 2025)
^ Valdés, Vanessa K. (2015-03-04). "Yoruba Traditions and African American Religious Nationalism by Tracey E. Hucks (review)". Callaloo. 38 (1): 234–237. doi:10.1353/cal.2015.0025. ISSN 1080-6512. S2CID 143058809.
^ Warner, Maureen (1971). "Trinidad Yoruba — Notes on Survivals". Caribbean Quarterly. 17 (2): 40–49. doi:10.1080/00086495.1971.11829073. ISSN 0008-6495. JSTOR 40653205.
^ "History of Oyotunji". Oyotunji. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
^ Nigeria, Know (2017-04-13). "The Oyotunji Village: a Mini Yoruba Empire in the USA". Inspire Afrika. Retrieved 2020-10-13.

[e28-yor-1] Yoruba language at Ethnologue (28th ed., 2025)

[2] "Yoruba". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2 April 2024.

[3] Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh

[e28-hau-4] Yoruba language at Ethnologue (28th ed., 2025)

[5] Valdés, Vanessa K. (2015-03-04). "Yoruba Traditions and African American Religious Nationalism by Tracey E. Hucks (review)". Callaloo. 38 (1): 234–237. doi:10.1353/cal.2015.0025. ISSN 1080-6512. S2CID 143058809.

[6] Warner, Maureen (1971). "Trinidad Yoruba — Notes on Survivals". Caribbean Quarterly. 17 (2): 40–49. doi:10.1080/00086495.1971.11829073. ISSN 0008-6495. JSTOR 40653205.

[7] "History of Oyotunji". Oyotunji. Retrieved 2020-10-13.

[8] Nigeria, Know (2017-04-13). "The Oyotunji Village: a Mini Yoruba Empire in the USA". Inspire Afrika. Retrieved 2020-10-13.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

Yoruba
Èdè Yorùbá
Pronunciation	[jōrùbá]
Native to	Benin · Nigeria · Togo
Region	Yorubaland
Ethnicity	Yoruba
Speakers	L1: 48 million (2023)^[1] L2: 2.0 million (no date)^[1] Total: 50 million (2023)^[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Volta–Niger Yoruboid Edekiri Yoruba
Early form	Proto-Yoruboid
Dialects	Lucumí
Writing system	Latin (Nigerian Yoruba alphabet, Beninese Yoruba alphabet) Yoruba Braille Arabic script (Anjemi) Oduduwa script
Official status
Official language in	Nigeria
Recognised minority language in	Benin Togo
Language codes
ISO 639-1	`yo`
ISO 639-2	`yor`
ISO 639-3	`yor`
Glottolog	`yoru1245`
Linguasphere	`98-AAA-a`
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.