YOR ISO 639-3
Yoruba
Èdè Yorùbá Autonym
A language of Nigeria
- ISO 639
- yor
- Alternate Names
- Yariba, Yooba, Yorùbá
- Autonym
- Èdè Yorùbá
- Population
- 44,600,000 in Nigeria, all users. L1 users: 42,600,000 in Nigeria (2020). L2 users: 2,000,000. Total users in all countries: 45,612,560 (as L1: 43,612,560; as L2: 2,000,000).
- Location:
- Widespread, in southwest.
- Language Status
- 2 (Provincial). De facto provincial language in southwestern region.
- Classification
- Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Defoid, Yoruboid, Edekiri
- Dialects
- Oyo, Ijesha, Ila, Ijebu, Ondo, Wo, Owe, Jumu, Iworro, Igbonna, Yagba, Gbedde, Egba, Akono, Aworo, Bunu (Bini), Ekiti, Ilaje, Ikale, Awori, Ào.
- Typology
- SVO; prepositions; noun head initial; no articles; 17 consonant and 11 vowel phonemes; tonal (3 tones: high, mid, low).
- Language Use
- Also use English [eng]. Used as L2 by Akpes [ibe], Bokobaru [bus], Ebira [igb], Iyive [uiv], Ukaan [kcf].
- Language Development
- Literacy rate in L2: 35%. Taught in primary and secondary schools. Newspapers. Radio. TV. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible: 1900–2005.
- Language Resources
- OLAC resources in and about Yoruba
- Writing
- Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab], no longer in use. Braille script [Brai]. Latin script [Latn], used since 1865, primary usage.
- Other Comments
- Christian, Muslim, traditional religion.
Also Spoken in
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Australia
Language Name
Yoruba
User Population
2,470 in Australia (2016 census).
- Location
- Widespread. Porto-Novo city, towns, and major villages.
- Dialects
- Egba.
- Language Status
- 3 (Wider communication)
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. Traditional religion, Christian, Muslim. View other languages of Benin
Language Name
Yoruba
User Population
209,000 in Benin (2018).
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Canada
Language Name
Yoruba
User Population
9,090 in Canada (2016 census).
- Language Status
- 5 (Dispersed)
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Côte d’Ivoire
Language Name
Yoruba
User Population
115,000 in Côte d’Ivoire (Leclerc 2017c).
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of United Kingdom
Language Name
Yoruba
User Population
14,900 in United Kingdom (2011 census).
- Language Status
- 5 (Dispersed)
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Ghana
Language Name
Yoruba
User Population
460,000 in Ghana (2017 J. Leclerc).
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Niger
Language Name
Yoruba
User Population
74,800 in Niger (2019).
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Sierra Leone
Language Name
Yoruba
User Population
6,300 in Sierra Leone (2019).
- Location
- Major cities.
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. Mostly merchants located in Lome and widespread in towns and villages. View other languages of Togo
Language Name
Yoruba
User Population
121,000 in Togo (2019).
Map
Location: Widespread, in southwest.
Size and Vitality
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