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Secondly, the conventional (orthographically correct)
way of writing Yoruba frequently differs from the way it is
spoken. It is very common to add a terminal slur to some words
in a sentence depending on its context. Thus: "Yoruba
Language" is written as "Èdè
Yorùbá" but pronounced "Èdèe
Yorùbá" The extra "e" is
necessary to lend fluency to speech. In order to make it
possible to learn to speak Yoruba properly from reading Yoruba
text and save the beginner from the error of developing
"staccato speech", we have introduced an innovation to
the written text. The extra vowel at the end of any word that
has to be spoken with a terminal slur is indicated in italics,
and the font size of just the letter reduced to draw attention
to it. Thus: "Èdè Yorùbá",
pronounced "Èdèe Yorùbá" we
write as "Èdèe
Yorùbá" We will try to add sound clips as
much as possible to the Yoruba text on this site as time
permits. In order to derive full benefits from what we have to
offer it is recommended that you join our "Yoruba Readers'
Club of North America". A password-protected section
is currently being developed for members who will enjoy special
privileges ( for a small fee) in their quest to learn
Yoruba. Email the
Webmaster for further details. |