YORUBA LANGUAGE IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

[Toyin Falola]

YORUBA LANGUAGE IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

By Kayode J. Fakinlede

 

Besides the technical aspects of script, our language, Yoruba, have two major setbacks that have been identified in our efforts to use it in communication of science, technology, and for that matter, in general usage.

The first of these is the Yoruba numeral system, and the other one is the use of accents. Much of the expansion of any language comes from the introduction of scientific terms into the general language. For example many English terms that are commonplace today did not exist a decade ago. It is therefore very essential that we make some modifications to our language that will enable scientists to use it, and therefore make meaningful and timely expansions to the language. The alternative to this will be a gradual death of the language due to lack of use.

Every time I watch a Yoruba movie, I see the obvious but painful problems the actors face in translating our currency to the Yoruba language. For example, how does an actor tell a friend or co-conspirator in Yoruba that he has just stolen five hundred and fifty five thousand Naira? To communicate this amount, he has to revert to English. The reason for this difficulty is simple. Our numeral system is just too cumbersome to use even in counting things as important as the amount of money one has or has stolen.

On the latter issue, I have made it clear in previous writings that it takes nothing less than three times longer to translate an English manuscript to Yoruba, if one were to accent all syllables that need to be accented. This, along with the fact that many common scientific terms are sipping into our language, make learning our language something of an inconvenience even to our children.

Those who endeavor to speak our language resort to what is called "amulumala" or in the language of Senator Akinsanya, "Yoruba Aladie."

Fortunately, an endeavor has been made to solve the former problem completely. Inroads have also been made in looking for solutions to the latter, albeit there is a long way to go.

Our current Yoruba numeral System (YNS) is easily modified by the introduction of a few terms to arrive at the Yoruba Decimal System of Counting, (YDS). The complete explanation of this system can be found in Yoruba Modern Practical Dictionary. I have also written and given seminars on this system in other forums. The YDS allows us to call numbers even into the trillions or quadrillions as easily as it is done in English.(see attachment 1). With this system, we can now communicate the size of the National budget to even the uneducated, without resorting to the system of division, multiplication, addition and subtraction that is prevalent in the YNS.

The issue of accents in Yoruba is a work in progress. However, I have, in my own research, made enough progress to justify making my results public (see attachment 2). I have made this result available and I think that, with the strides already made, along with a Yoruba dictionary like the one aforementioned or some that are available on the internet, the expansion of our language into the sciences can commence indeed.

Thankfully, some discussion on this topic has been started on the internet. I hope that a more robust give and take will land us where these issues can be finally laid to rest. With these problems solved, we can begin to fulfill Professor Babs Fafunwa's dream of actually teaching our children in their Mother tongue.  

YORUBA DECIMAL SYSTEM (YDS)

Basic Numerals:
      BASIC   ADJECTIVE                       BASIC   ADJECTIV
0       Odo, Ofo        Odo, Ofi                6       Efa     Mefa
1   Eni, okan       kan             7       Eje     Meje
2   Eji     Meji            8       Ejo     Mejo
3   Eta     Meta            9       Esan    Mesan
4  Erin    Merin           10      Ewa     Mewa Idi kan
5   Arun    Marun                          


10 - 100                                                         100 - 1000
     ENGLISH YORUBA                  ENGLISH YORUBA
10        Ten     Idi Kan         100     One Hundred     Apo Kan
20       Twenty  Idi Meji                200     Two Hundred     Apo Meji
30      Thirty  Idi Meta                300     Three Hundred   Apo Meta

40      Forty   Idi  Merin              400     Four Hundred    Apo Merin
50     Fifty   Idi MArun               500     Five Hundred    Apo MArun
60     Sixty   Idi Mefa                600     Six Hundred     Apo Mefa
70      Seventy Idi Meje                700     Seven Hundred   Apo Meje
80      Eighty  Idi Mejo                800     Eight Hundred   Apo Mejo
90      Ninety  Idi Mesan               900     Nine Hundred    Apo Mesan
100    One Hundred     Apo Kan         1000    One Thousand    Oke Kan

LARGE NUMBERS
    ENGLISH YORUBA
10,000    Ten Thousand    Oke Mewa or Idi oke
20,000       Twenty Thousand Idi Meji Oke
100,000     One hundred Thousand    Apo Oke
300,000  Three hundred Thouisand Apo Meta Oke
1,000,000   One Million     Odu Kan
10,000,000       Ten Million     Idi Odu or Odu mewa
1,000,000,000        One Billion     Eeru Kan
20,000,000,000  Twenty Billion  Idi Meji Eeru
100,000,000,000    One Hundred Billion     Apo Eeru
1,000,000,000,000       One Trillion    Oke Eeru
100,000,000,000,000     One Hundred Trillion    Apo Oke Eeru
1,000,000,000,000,000       One Quadrillion Odu Eeru
10 exp.18       One thousand quadrillion        Ereeru






EXAMPLES:

Thus, 97 or Ninety Seven is Idi mesan l'eje

997 or Nine Hundred and Ninety Seven is: Apo mesan, at'idi mesan l'eje

8,997, eight thousand, nine hundred and ninety seven is: Oke mejo, Apo mesan at'idi mesan l'eje

10,247 or Ten Thousand, two hundred and forty seven is: Oke mewa, Apo meji at'idi merin l'eje

10,203,047 or Ten million, two hundred and three thousand, and forty seven is: Idi-odu kan, Apo meji l'eta Oke, Idi merin l'eje

100,456,710,908 is Apo Eeru kan, Apo merin at'idi marun l'efa odu, Apo meje at'idi kan oke, Apo mesan l'ejo

1,543,297,764 is; Eeru kan, apo Marun at'idi merin l'eta odu, Apo Meji at'idi Mesan l'eje Oke, Apo Meje at'idi Mefa l'erin

References:
1. Kayode J. Fakinlede, Reevaluation of Yoruba's Complex Numeral System, Lagosforum.com, 2004
2. Kayode J. Fakinlede, Modern Dictionary of the Yoruba Language- Translation of Modern and Scientific Terms to Yoruba Language, ACME Publishers, Lagos, Nigeria, 2001
3. Kayode J. Fakinlede, Yoruba Modern Practical Dictionary: Yoruba - English, English-Yoruba, Hippocrene Books, New York
4. Kayode J. Fakinlede, Beginner's Yoruba, Hippocrene Books, 2005
5. Kayode J. Fakinlede, Modification of Yoruba Numeral System for Use in Science, Technology and Mathematics, Yoruba Creativity, editors:Toyin Falola and Ann Genova, Africa World Press, U.S.A 2005

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Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station
Austin, TX 78712-0220
USA
512 475 7224
512 475 7222  (fax)
www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa
http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs
http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
 

[PHILIP OGUNDEJI]

This is very good; a sort of thing that should be brought to the conference of Yoruba Studies Association of Nigeria, which will be coming up between 7 & 10 november 2006 at the University of Ibadan Nigeria. 

 

The contributions of other speakers of the language including scholars of the language and especially linguists is essential. Even when all these agree the issue of how to popularise the idea so that it will be accepted to all is another issue. This will invole language planners including policy makers.

 

YSAN is interested in putting ideas about Yoruba numerals together in readiness for a workshop here in Nigeria, to see whether we can have a consesus numeral system that will replace the old combersome one. But I must confess that K. Fakinlede's proposal looks ngood and it can serve as the basis of the consesus system. 

  

There are some effforts here in Nigeria, which may not be available to you in the USA For example there is a dictionary of  Engineering Physics in Yoruba by J A Odetayo, Professor Kola Owolabi of the Dept. of Linguistics recently delivered his inaugural lecture on Nigeria's Native Language Modernization in Specialized domains for Nationl Development: A Linguist's Approach. There is also a recent Phd. thesis on Yoruba Numerals by A. Adeyinka. How can we put our resources together? I am also sure that many in Nigeria are not aware of efforts like that of Fakinlede. How for exaple can his dictionary and other works he referred to be made aveilable here in Nigeria; the home of Yoruba Language.

 

  

Toyin Falola <toyin....@mail.utexas.edu> wrote:

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Get your email and more, right on the new Yahoo.com

[Babatola Aloba]

I commend your creative and innovative efforts as reflected below.It should
serve as a FOUNDATION for potential YORUBA SCIENCE BOOK WRITERS.All the
best. IRE O! Babátólá Alóba (www.aloba.at )

[rop...@msn.com]

Dr. Fakinlede's efforts are admirable. I believe that his propositions should be taken to the Yoruba conference in Nigeria and elsewhere. The immediate task before lovers of Yoruba language and development is to sell the proposed changes to trustees of Yoruba language study in Nigeria.

Ropo Sekoni

[Ayo Bamgbose]

Dear Toyin

I wish to congratulate you on the novel idea of a discourse on various aspects of Yoruba life and culture.

I want to comment specifically on Fakinledes's proposal for simplification of Yoruba numerals. It is certainly interesting, but it needs to be subjected to further discussion and consensus among Yoruba scholars and users of the language.

Perhaps because of the Atlantic divide, Fakinlede does not appear to be aware of previous efforts at simplification. That is why his references do not include any of the publications in Nigeria. For example, Robert Armstrong's book YORUBA NUMERALS is one of the first attempts in this direction. Another significant publication is the Federal Ministry of Education's A GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMINOLOGY FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA. The latter is a decimalization of the numeral systems of 9 Nigerian languages.

For this sort of reform to be effectively carried out, it seems to me that the starting point should be agreement on some principles:

1. The complicated Yoruba numeral system needs to be simplified not only for calculation but for arithmetic processes.

2. Since the existing system is part of Yoruba culture and still features in everyday langusge use, the resulting reformed system should not diverge too radically from the old system, at least in terms of the basic multiples of ten.

3. The new terms selected to replace existing ones should not lead to ambiguity or overlap in meanings

4. New stems should be productive in trems of the entire variants of numerals such as cardinals, ordinals, group and partitive numerals (meji, ekeji, mejeeji, meji meji).

 The first principle partly favours Fakinlede's system, which has the virtue of building on the familiar arithmetic processes used in primary schools, since  8 + 9 is idi kan ati eyo meje. However, when it comes to multiplication, F's system will have to say idi kan ni ilopo idi kan = apo kan. Children in primary clasees are accustomed to three-place figure as ogorun - idi - eyo. Hence a multiplication process would have been idi kan ni ilopo mewa = ogorun. Hence, for the term idi kan for 'ten' to be acceptable, there will be need to work it out fully in the context of all basic arithmetic processes, including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

The second principle is violated, particulary in relation to the lower numerals. No one goes to the market and says Mo fe ra isu idi kan. Rather, she would say Mo fe ra isu ile meji or Mo fe ra isu mewa. The greater the distance between what people say and what is taught in schools, the greater will be the difficulty of acceptance of the reformed numeral system.

The third principle is usually accepted in vocabulary expansion. F converts idi, which is a place marker in an arithmetic process into a cardinal. The implication of this is that we would need to invent another term for the second place marker. Similarly, the currency term apo kan 'one hundred pounds' has been appropriated for the cardinal 100 in much the same way as 20,000 cowries oke, which has been appropriated for 1,000. While there is nothing wrong in semantic extension in vocabulary creation, the problem is that there is likely confusion, at least for those who know the cultural terms and the new uses to which they have been put.

The fourth principle is self explanatory. How would F's system deal with 'ten dogs' (aja idi kan), the tenth dog (aja idi kan), all ten dogs (aja idi kan idi kan), ten dogs each (aja idi kan idi kan)?

I want to commend Fakinlede for thinking about the problem of simplification of the Yoruba numeral system. I believe that the way forward is for him to enter into dialogue with his colleagues in Nigeria, some of whom have been working on the problem of intellectualization of Yoruba through vocabulary creation and expansion.

 

Ayo Bamgbose