Yoruba alphabet

The Yoruba alphabet is either of two Latin alphabets used to write the Yoruba language, one in Nigeria and one in neighboring Benin. The Nigerian Yoruba alphabet is made up of 25 letters, without C Q V X Z but with the additions of Ẹ, Ọ, Ṣ and Gb. It is somewhat unusual in that the letter P usually transcribes [k͜p], being [p] only in restricted situations like onomatopoeia. The Beninese alphabet has the letters Ɛ and Ɔ, and previously had C.

Yoruba
LanguagesYoruba
Time period
1700s to present
DirectionLeft-to-right
ISO 15924Latn, 215
Unicode alias
Latin

Letters
Yoruba alphabet (Nigeria)
Upper case A B D E Ẹ F G GB H I J K L M N O Ọ P R S Ṣ T U W Y
Lower case a b d e ẹ f g gb h i j k l m n o ọ p r s ṣ t u w y
IPA a b d e ɛ f g ɡ͡b h i d͡ʒ k l m n, ŋ̍ o ɔ k͜p, p ɾ s ʃ t u w j

The nasal vowels are written with digraphs: in, ẹn, an, ọn, un, unless they come after ⟨n⟩. Long vowels are written double, as in dáadáa (fine, okay). The high and low tones are written with acute and grave accents (á, à), while mid tone is unmarked (a), except for disambiguation on a nasal (n̄, etc.). Combinations of these tones produce falling and rising tones, written e.g. â, ǎ when they are combined on a single vowel letter. These may appear on nasal consonants as well, as in ńkọ́ (how...?), nǹkan (things). An apostrophe may be used to mark an elided sound, at the choice of the writer, as in ń'lé 'at home', from ní ilé, but sọ́dọ̀ (to a place), from sí ọ̀dọ̀. When n is a syllable of its own before a vowel, as in n ò lọ 'I didn't go', it is pronounced [ŋ̍] (plus tone).

Yoruba alphabet (Benin)
Upper case A B D E Ɛ F G GB H I J K KP L M N O Ɔ P R S SH T U W Y
Lower case a b d e ɛ f g gb h i j k kp l m n o ɔ p r s sh t u w y
IPA a b d e ɛ f g ɡ͡b h i d͡ʒ k k͜p l m n, ŋ̍ o ɔ p ɾ s ʃ t u w j

In older signage, C may be used for current Sh.

See also

References
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