Sounds, Tones and Special Letters
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Lesson overview
How Yoruba is written and pronounced: tones and special letters.
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Pacing
Read the stem stem-last (question clause first), eliminate two distractors, then verify constraints.
How Languages marks this
Focus on how Languages scenarios frame constraints, qualifiers ("FIRST", "BEST", "MOST likely"), and boundary cases.
Watch out for
Technically true statements that do not solve the specific constraint in the scenario.
Lesson content
Overview
Yoruba (Èdè Yorùbá) is spoken in south-western Nigeria, and parts of Benin and Togo. Before learning phrases, get to know how it sounds and how it is written.
How It's Written
Yoruba has three tones — high (marked ´), mid (usually unmarked) and low (marked `) — and three letters with a dot underneath: ẹ, ọ and ṣ. Tone marks change meaning, so learn every word with its marks.
Examples
Look closely at the marks in these greetings — you'll learn them in the next lesson: • Ẹ káàárọ̀ — Good morning • Káàárọ̀ — Good morning (to a friend) • Ẹ káàsán — Good afternoon • Ẹ kú ìrọ̀lẹ́ — Good evening
Learning Tip
Always learn a word together with its marks. Leaving them out can change the pronunciation — and in a tonal language, sometimes the meaning.
Practise
Say every word aloud, then take the 10-question check below (60% to pass) to unlock the next lesson. Stuck? Ask the AI tutor about this lesson. This course is in beta: it sticks to common, everyday language, but it has not yet been reviewed by native speakers, and many phrases have regional variants. If something looks wrong, please tell us.
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