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115-554: The Yoruba Revolutionary Wars , also known as the Yoruba Civil Wars , were a series of conflicts that engulfed the Yoruba -speaking areas of West Africa from approximately 1789 to 1893. These wars were characterized by intense and prolonged struggles among various Yoruba city-states and kingdoms, leading to significant political, social, and economic changes in the region. Earlier in the 18th century, in 1747, after Dahomey

230-402: A phoneme /n/ ; the letter ⟨n⟩ is used for the sound in the orthography, but strictly speaking, it refers to an allophone of /l/ immediately preceding a nasal vowel. There is also a syllabic nasal , which forms a syllable nucleus by itself. When it precedes a vowel, it is a velar nasal [ŋ] : n ò lọ [ŋ ò lɔ̄] 'I didn't go'. In other cases, its place of articulation

345-490: A syllable has been elided. For example: nlá 'to be large', originally a compound of ní 'to have' + lá 'to be big' and súfèé 'to whistle', originally a compound of sú 'to eject wind' + òfé or ìfé 'a blowing'. Vowels serve as nominalizing prefixes that turn a verb into a noun form. Nominal roots are mostly disyllabic , for example: abà 'crib, barn', ara 'body', ibà 'fever'. Monosyllabic and even trisyllabic roots do occur but they are less common. Yoruba

460-596: A Brazilian practitioner including a statue of the Mahayana Buddhist deity Hotei on their altar, and of a Belgian Candomblé group that incorporated characters from Welsh and Slavic mythologies in their practice. Candomblé has sometimes also been influenced by Spiritism , a French variant of Spiritualism , although many Spiritists distinguish their religion from Afro-Brazilian traditions. Afro-Brazilian religions often mix with each other rather than existing in pure forms, with many scholars viewing them on

575-420: A consonant has been elided word-internally. In such cases, the tone of the elided vowel is retained: àdìrò → ààrò 'hearth'; koríko → koóko 'grass'; òtító → òótó 'truth'. Most verbal roots are monosyllabic of the phonological shape CV(N), for example: dá 'to create', dán 'to polish', pọ́n 'to be red'. Verbal roots that do not seem to follow this pattern are mostly former compounds in which

690-475: A continuum rather than as wholly discrete entities. Candomblé shares the names of its deities, the orixás , with Umbanda , a religion formed in Rio de Janeiro in the 1920s. Umbandista groups exist on a spectrum from those emphasising connections to Spiritism to those stressing links with Afro-Brazilian religions like Candomblé; the anthropologist Diana Brown noted that the boundary separating Umbanda from Candomblé

805-502: A dance style in Argentina and Uruguay, Candombe . Another word sometimes applied to Candomblé is macumba ; this generic term can be applied to Afro-Brazilian religions as a whole but is especially associated with sorcery or black magic , and thus some Candomblécistas distance themselves from it. Candomblé is not institutionalised, with no central authority to determine doctrine and orthodoxy, and no central sacred text. It

920-566: A distinction between human and non-human nouns when it comes to interrogative particles: ta ni for human nouns ('who?') and kí ni for non-human nouns ('what?'). The associative construction (covering possessive /genitive and related notions) consists of juxtaposing nouns in the order modified-modifier as in inú àpótí {inside box} 'the inside of the box', fìlà Àkàndé 'Akande's cap' or àpótí aṣọ 'box for clothes'. More than two nouns can be juxtaposed: rélùweè abẹ́ ilẹ̀ (railway underground) 'underground railway', inú àpótí aṣọ 'the inside of

1035-409: A force for absolute evil but rather thought capable of both good and bad acts. Practitioners believe that the exus can "open" or "close" the "roads" of fate in one's life, bringing about both help and harm. Candomblé teaches that the exus can be induced to do a practitioner's bidding, although need to be carefully controlled. The exus are recorded as having been part of Candomblé since at least

1150-430: A material object, giving them an African-derived name, and then considering them a pledged slave of the orixás . Candomblé adopts its cosmology largely from Yoruba traditional religion. The material world of humanity is called aiê (or aiye ); the realm of the spirits is termed orun , and is divided into nine levels. Death is personified in the figure of Iku . A person's inner head, in which their tutelary orixá

1265-604: A multi-level altar decorated with ribbons, colored lights, and flowers. The key part of the assentamento is a sacred stone known as an otá . This otá possesses axé , and thus requires feeding. Each orixá is associated with a different kind of stone; those from the ocean or rivers are for instance linked to Oxum and Iemanjá, while those believed to have fallen from the sky are linked to Xangô. Practitioners are expected to find these stones, rather than buying them, after which they will be ritually consecrated, being washed, given offerings, and "seated" in their vessel. Alongside

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1380-471: A nation for reasons other than ethnic heritage. An initiate can transfer from one nation to another, a process referred to as trocar as águas ("to change the waters"). Attitudes between nations can be negative; those groups which emphasise claims to "African purity" have often denigrated other nations they deem more syncretic, with the Angola nation sometimes regarded as the most syncretic. The Nagô nation

1495-868: A person belongs to; in Nagô Candomblé, a male priest is called a babalorixá , a female priestess an iyalorixá . Serving as intermediaries between the orixás and humanity, this priesthood is responsible for all important functions, including educating novices, adjudicating disputes, and providing healing and divination services, these latter services often being their primary income. Not constrained by external religious authorities, these "parents of saints" often exert considerable control over their initiates. The latter are expected to submit to their authority, and to prostrate before them in an act called an iká ; however, conflicts between these "parents" and their initiates are common. A terreiro will often disband when its chief priest or priestess dies. Assisting

1610-506: A person can also have a fourth orixá , inherited from a deceased relative. Another spirit group in the Candomblé worldview are the exus , sometimes termed exuas when female, or exu-mirims when children. Deemed closer to humanity than the orixás and thus more accessible, the exus are often regarded as the "slaves" of the orixás . In common parlance they are often described as "devils", although in Candomblé are not regarded as

1725-500: A plural of respect may have prevented the coalescence of the two in NWY dialects. Central Yoruba forms a transitional area in that the lexicon has much in common with NWY and shares many ethnographical features with SEY. Its vowel system is the most traditional of the three dialect groups, retaining nine oral-vowel contrasts, six or seven nasal vowels, and an extensive vowel harmony system. Peculiar to Central and Eastern (NEY, SEY) Yoruba also

1840-485: A process of syncretism between several of the traditional religions of West and Central Africa, especially those of the Yoruba , Bantu , and Gbe , coupled with influences from Roman Catholicism . There is no central authority in control of Candomblé, which is organized around autonomous terreiros (houses). Candomblé venerates spirits, known varyingly as orixás , inkice , or vodun , which are deemed subservient to

1955-492: A range of private ritual acts. Most of the rituals that take place at the terreiros are private and open only to initiates. Walker believed that it was these that represented "the real core of the religious life of the Candomblé community." The community of a terreiro is called an egbé . This is regarded as a "family", its initiates being "brothers" and "sisters" in the orixás ( irmãos de Santo or irmãs de santo ). Sexual or romantic relations between terreiro members

2070-609: A strong force to Ilorin, Pasin fled to Ola, a dependency of Ilorin, where he was hunted down and killed by forces loyal to Gaha. Although Basorun Gaha was defeated in 1774 by a coalition of Oyo-Ile chiefs, provincial chiefs and Abiodun (at the time an Oyo prince), this event highlighted provincial dissatisfaction in the way Oyo administered its territories. Alaafin Abiodun ruled the empire in an uneasy peace from 1774 until his death in 1789. According to oral tradition , this period saw further expansion and decentralization of authority. It

2185-515: A subterfuge to retain the worship of African deities under European rule, although such syncretisms could have already been occurring in Africa prior to the Atlantic slave trade. From the later 20th century, some practitioners have attempted to distance the orixás from the saints as a means of re-emphasising the religion's West African origins. The anthropologist Robert A. Voeks observed that it

2300-707: A transcendent creator god, Oludumaré . Deriving their names and attributes from traditional West African deities, the orixás are linked with Roman Catholic saints. Each individual is believed to have a tutelary orixá who has been connected to them since before birth and who informs their personality. An initiatory tradition, Candomblé's members usually meet in terreiros run by a mãe de santo (priestess) or pai de santo (priest). A central ritual involves practitioners drumming, singing, and dancing to encourage an orixá to possess one of their members, with whom congregants can then interact. The orixás are given offerings such as fruit and sacrificed animals , while their will

2415-758: A vision received in his sleep which he believed to have been granted by Oduduwa . This Oduduwa script has also received support from other prominent chiefs in the Yorubaland region of both countries. The syllable structure of Yoruba is (C)V(N). Syllabic nasals are also possible. Every syllable bears one of the three tones: high ⟨◌́⟩ , mid ⟨◌̄⟩ (generally left unmarked), and low ⟨◌̀⟩ . The sentence n̄ ò lọ ( I didn't go ) provides examples of three syllable types: Standard Yoruba has seven oral and five nasal vowels. There are no diphthongs in Yoruba; sequences of vowels are pronounced as separate syllables. Dialects differ in

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2530-436: Is Obá , a warrior who has only one ear. Ogum is the orixá of battle and of iron, often depicted with a machete; his companion is Oxóssi , the male orixá of the hunt and forest. Obaluaiê or Omolu is the orixá associated with infectious disease and its cure, while Osanyin is associated with leaves, herbs, and herbal knowledge. Oya is the orixá of wind and storms. Oxumaré is regarded as both male and female and

2645-399: Is homorganic with the following consonant: ó ń lọ [ó ń lɔ̄] 'he is going', ó ń fò [ó ḿ fò] 'he is jumping'. C, Q, V, X and Z only appear in words borrowed from English. Yoruba is a tonal language with three-level tones and two or three contour tones. Every syllable must have at least one tone; a syllable containing a long vowel can have two tones. Tones are marked by use of

2760-444: Is mi . Apart from tone's lexical and grammatical use, it is also used in other contexts such as whistling and drumming. Whistled Yoruba is used to communicate over long distances. The language is transformed as speakers talk and whistle simultaneously: consonants are devoiced or turned to [h], and all vowels are changed to [u]. However, all tones are retained without any alteration. The retention of tones enables speakers to understand

2875-490: Is a highly isolating language . Its basic constituent order is subject–verb–object , as in ó nà Adé 'he beat Adé'. The bare verb stem denotes a completed action, often called perfect; tense and aspect are marked by preverbal particles such as ń 'imperfect/present continuous', ti 'past'. Negation is expressed by a preverbal particle kò . Serial verb constructions are common, as in many other languages of West Africa . Although Yoruba has no grammatical gender , it has

2990-528: Is a recurring theme throughout Candomblé. Many roles within the religion are gendered. For instance, animal sacrifice and the shaving of an initiate's head are usually reserved for male practitioners, while women are typically responsible for domestic duties in maintaining the ritual space. Such divisions mirror broader gender norms in Brazilian society. Restrictions are also placed on women while menstruating. However, women can still wield significant power as

3105-433: Is a widespread phenomenon, and it is absent only in slow, unnatural speech. The orthography here follows speech in that word divisions are normally not indicated in words that are contracted due to assimilation or elision: ra ẹja → rẹja 'buy fish'. Sometimes, however, authors may choose to use an inverted comma to indicate an elided vowel as in ní ilé → n'ílé 'in the house'. Long vowels within words usually signal that

3220-434: Is an initiatory religion, one which is organized around a structured hierarchy based on initiatory status. Knowledge about Candomblé's beliefs and practices is referred to as the fundamentos (foundations"), and is guarded by practitioners. It makes use of secrecy, and so Johnson has characterised it as a secret society . African-derived terms are used in ritual contexts; in general, words of Yoruba origin predominate in

3335-411: Is associated with specific colours, foods, animals, and minerals, favoring certain offerings. Each orixá is associated with a particular day of the week; the priesthood also states that each year is governed by a specific orixá who will influence the events taking place within it. Their personalities are informed by a key conceptual opposition in Candomblé, that of the cool versus the hot. Oxalá

3450-514: Is believed to reside, is called the ori . Spirits of the dead are called eguns . The recently deceased are termed aparacá ; after they have been "educated" by receiving sacrifices they become babá . After death, the egun can enter orun , although the level they reach depends on the spiritual growth they attained in life. Sometimes, eguns will seek to help the living but inadvertently harm them; given this potential, Candomblé stresses precautions in dealing with these entities. Contact with

3565-437: Is considered a favourite of Xangô, Obá, and Iansã. When placed in the terreiro , food is typically left in place for between one and three days, sufficient time for the orixá to consume the food's essence. The ritual payment of money, often accompanying the sacrifices, is termed dinheiro do chão ("money for the floor"). As part of this, money is placed onto the floor and often splattered with blood, before being divided among

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3680-451: Is controversial. Several authors have argued it is not phonemically contrastive. Often, it is in free variation with [ɔ̃] . Orthographically , ⟨ọn⟩ is used after labial and labial-velar consonants, as in ìbọn 'gun', and ⟨an⟩ is used after non-labial consonants, as in dán 'to shine'. All vowels are nasalized after the consonant /m/ , and thus there is no additional n in writing ( mi, mu, mọ ). In addition,

3795-530: Is deciphered through divination . Offerings may also be given to lesser spirits, including caboclos and the spirits of the dead, the egun . Healing rituals and the preparation of amulets and herbal remedies also play a prominent role. Candomblé developed among Afro-Brazilian communities amid the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th to 19th centuries. It arose through the blending of the traditional religions brought to Brazil by enslaved West and Central Africans,

3910-476: Is deemed to contain axé in its most concentrated form. Humans can accumulate axé , but also either lose or transfer it. Specific rituals and obligations are believed to maintain and enhance a person's axé , while other ritual acts are designed to attract or share this force. Dendê , a sacred palm oil used to cook ritual meals, is considered to be a materialized form of axé . Candomblé generally has no fixed ethical precepts, although its teachings influence

4025-503: Is divided into denominations, known as nations, based on which traditional African belief system has been its primary influence. The most prominent nations are the Ketu , Jeje , and Angola . Candomblé is centred in Brazil although smaller communities exist elsewhere, especially in other parts of South America. Both in Brazil and abroad Candomblé has spread beyond its Afro-Brazilian origins and

4140-624: Is heterogenous, displaying regional variation in its beliefs and practices. Each lineage or community of practitioners is autonomous, approaching the religion in ways informed by their tradition and the choices of their leader. Most Candomblecistas also practice Roman Catholicism —some priests and priestesses of Candomblé refuse to initiate anyone who is not a baptised Roman Catholic —while other practitioners have also pursued Evangelical Protestantism , New Age practices, or Buddhism . Sometimes these non-Candomblist elements have been directly integrated into Candomblé itself; there are reports of

4255-401: Is killed, its blood is spilled onto the altar; its organs are often removed and placed around the "seat" of the orixá . Following the sacrifice, is it common for divination to be performed to determine if the sacrifice has been accepted. Other body parts will then be consumed by the rite's participants; the exception is if the sacrifice was for eguns , which is instead left to rot or placed in

4370-485: Is largely honorific, consisting largely of contributing financially. An individual who has taken steps toward initiation but not yet undergone this process is termed an abiã or abian . An initiate of less than seven years is an iaô or iyawó ; after seven years they may undergo the deká ceremony and thus be regarded as an ebomi , allowing them to open their own terreiro . Those who have performed seven years of initiatory rituals are called ebomi or ebame . At

4485-630: Is often equated with Saint Lazarus the leper. Oxalá has been conflated with Our Lord of Bonfim , Oxum with Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception , and Ogum with St Anthony of Padua . Due to his association with time, Tempo is sometimes equated with the Christian idea of the Holy Spirit . In Candomblé altars, the orixás are often represented with images and statues of Roman Catholic saints. This process may have begun as

4600-492: Is particularly common with Yoruba–English bilinguals. Like many other languages of the region, Yoruba has the voiceless and voiced labial–velar stops /k͡p/ and /ɡ͡b/ : pápá [k͡pák͡pá] 'field', gbogbo [ɡ͡bōɡ͡bō] 'all'. Notably, it lacks a voiceless bilabial stop /p/ , apart from phonaesthesia , such as [pĩpĩ] for vehicle horn sounds, and marginal segments found in recent loanwords, such as <pẹ́ńsù> [k͡pɛ́ńsù~pɛ́ńsù] for "pencil". Yoruba also lacks

4715-480: Is portrayed as a serpent or a rainbow. Oxum is the orixá of love, beauty, wealth and luxury, and is associated with fresh water, fish, mermaids, and butterflies. She is married to Ifa, regarded as the orixá of divination. Tempo is the orixá of time; originating in the Angola nation, he is associated with trees. Due to the link with trees, he is sometimes equated with the Nagô orixá Loko . The orixá Exú

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4830-417: Is practiced by individuals of various ethnicities. Candomblé is a "neo-African" or African American religion, and more specifically an Afro-Brazilian religion. It arose in 19th-century Brazil, where the imported traditional African religions of enslaved West Africans had to adapt to a slave colony in which Roman Catholicism was the official religion. It is thus one of several religions that emerged in

4945-572: Is regarded as a capricious trickster; as the guardian of entrances, he facilitates contact between humanity and the other orixá , thus usually being honoured and fed first in any ritual. His ritual paraphernalia is often kept separate from that of other orixás , while the entrances to most terreiros will have a clay head, decorated with cowries or nails, that represents Exú and is given offerings. The orixás are regarded as having different aspects, known as marcas ("types" or "qualities"), each of which may have an individual name. Child forms of

5060-427: Is sometimes interpreted as the cause of mental illness. Depending on the orixá in question, an initiate may choose to avoid or to engage in certain activities, such as avoiding specific foods or wearing specific colours. Some practitioners also believe in further orixá linked to an individual; a second is known as the juntó , while a third is called the adjuntó , the tojuntó , or the dijuntó . Some believe that

5175-497: Is the ability to begin words with the vowel [ʊ:], which in Western Yoruba has been changed to [ɪ:] Literary Yoruba, also known as Standard Yoruba , Yoruba koiné , and common Yoruba , is a separate member of the dialect cluster. It is the written form of the language, the standard variety learned at school, and that is spoken by newsreaders on the radio. Standard Yoruba has its origin in the 1850s, when Samuel A. Crowther ,

5290-403: Is the chief orixá , depicted as a frail old man who walks with a pachorô sceptre as a walking stick. Practitioners commonly believe that Olorun tasked him with creating humanity. In some accounts, all of the junior orixás are the children of Oxalá and one of his two wives, Nanã and Iemanjá . This trio are associated with water; Oxalá with fresh water, Nanã with the rain, and Iemanjá with

5405-645: Is the largest, reflecting how Yoruba traditional religion became the dominant West African influence within Afro-Brazilian religions in the 19th century, and even among nations other than the Nagô, Yoruba-derived terminology predominates widely. Candomblé teaches the existence of a supreme divinity called Olorun or Olodumare . This entity is regarded as the creator of everything but is thought distant and unapproachable, and thus not specifically worshipped in Candomblé. Candomblé revolves around spirits termed orixás ( orishas ) or santos ("saints"). In

5520-410: Is the most favourably used. This is because eti , the Yoruba word for Friday, means 'delay'. This is an unpleasant word for Friday, Ẹtì , which also implies failure, laziness, or abandonment. Ultimately, the standard words for the days of the week are Àìkú, Ajé, Ìṣẹ́gun, Ọjọ́rú, Ọjọ́bọ, Ẹtì, Àbámẹ́ta, for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday respectively. Friday remains Eti in

5635-408: Is used in one syllable, the vowel can either be written once for each tone (for example, * ⟨òó⟩ for a vowel [o] with tone rising from low to high) or, more rarely in current usage, combined into a single accent. In this case, a caron ⟨ˇ⟩ is used for the rising tone (so the previous example would be written ⟨ǒ⟩ ), and a circumflex ⟨ˆ⟩ for

5750-465: Is used in radio and television broadcasting and is taught at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. The Yoruba dialect continuum consists of several dialects. The various Yoruba dialects in Yorubaland can be classified into five major dialect areas: Northwest, Northeast, Central, Southwest, and Southeast. Clear boundaries cannot be drawn, but peripheral areas of dialectal regions often have some similarities to adjoining dialects. North-West Yoruba

5865-460: Is usually forbidden, although does happen. Being initiated into a terreito connects an individual to the lineage of that house; this lineage is linked to the axé of the terreiro . The founders of a terreiro are called essas and their names are evoked in the padê . A priestess running a terreiro is a mâe de santo (mother of saints); a priest who does so is a pai de santo (father of saints). Specific terms also indicate which nation

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5980-474: The Black Power movement . Candomblé is a practice-oriented religion; ritual correctness is considered more important than belief . Rituals often focus on pragmatic issues regarding prosperity, health, love, and fecundity. Those engaging in Candomblé include various initiates of varying degrees and non-initiates who may attend events and approach initiates seeking help with various problems. Candomblé

6095-783: The Niger Delta ) and Igala (spoken in central Nigeria). Yoruba is classified among the Edekiri languages , which is together with the Itsekiri and isolate Igala from the Yoruboid group of languages within the Volta–Niger branch of the Niger–Congo family. The linguistic unity of the Niger–Congo family dates to deep pre-history, estimates ranging around 11,000 years ago (the end of

6210-614: The Port of Ajase . Islam arrived in Yorubaland in the 14th century during the reign of Musa I of Mali , however, conversions were not widespread until 1655, when the first Mosque was built in Iwo , followed by Iseyin in 1760, Lagos in 1774, Saki in 1790 and Osogbo in 1889. In 1817, Afonja took advantage of a Muslim revolt in Oyo-Ile by calling all Muslim interests in the empire in an effort to enhance his support. This move backfired as he

6325-473: The Upper Paleolithic ). In present-day Nigeria , it is estimated that there are around 50 million Yoruba primary and secondary language speakers, as well as several other millions of speakers outside Nigeria, making it the most widely spoken African language outside of the continent. There is a substantial body of literature in the Yoruba language, including books, newspapers, and pamphlets. Yoruba

6440-415: The barracão ("big shed") is where public rituals, including divination, take place. Terreiros lacking a barracão may use a yard for public rites. The peji , or shrines to deities, will often be located around the perimeter of the barracão . The floor of the terreiro is deemed sacred, consecrated to the tutelary orixá of the house. The terreiro will often have a cumeeira , a central pole in

6555-459: The caboclos are believed to dwell in a forest land called Aruanda, and are characterised as smoking cigars and favoring beer. The caboclos are particularly important in the Candomblé de Caboclo nation. This tradition has long been denigrated as inferior by other Candomblecistas, especially from the Nagô tradition. Many practitioners reject interaction with caboclos ; this is the case for those who have tried to "re-Africanize" Candomblé since

6670-422: The egun is accompanied by rituals to neutralise their harmful power or pollution. The contra-egun is an armband made of plaited raffia which is sometimes worn to ward off dead spirits. Although thought possible, possession by eguns is considered rare, and is generally discouraged by Candomblé groups, who deem it spiritually polluting, a viewpoint that distinguishes Candomblé from Umbanda. Candomblé teaches

6785-555: The mâe or pai de Santo is the iyakekerê ("little mother") or mãe pequena , and the "little father". Other roles in the terreiro include the iyabase , who prepares food for the orixás , and the alabê (musical director). Initiates, called the filhos (sons) and filhas de santo (daughters of the saints), assist as cooks, cleaners, and gardeners. Women initiates who do not enter trance but assist those who do are called ekedi ; their male counterparts are termed ogan . The ogã are male members, often not initiated, whose role

6900-415: The orixá ; this is regarded as the house of the orixá . This usually consists of various items placed within an enamel, earthenware, or wooden vessel, itself often wrapped in a cloth. The assentamento can be stored in the initiate's home, or inside the terreiro' s bakisse room, which is only opened by the priestess or priest in charge. There, the assentamentos of the initiates may be arranged on

7015-429: The orixás are termed erês . They are deemed the most uncontrollable spirits of all, associated with obscenities and pranks. The child forms of orixás have specific names; the erê of Oxalá is for instance called Ebozingo ("Little Ebô") and Pombinho ("Little Dove"). The material image of an orixá is called an igbá . Each orixá equates with a Roman Catholic saint. For instance, Omolu, an orixa of sickness,

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7130-435: The orixás , thus securing their protection. Candomblé teaches that everyone links to a particular orixá , one that influences that individual's personality. This is their dono da cabeça : the owner or master of the person's head. The gender of this tutelary orixá is not necessarily the same as their human's. The identity of a person's orixá can be ascertained through divination, and failing to know one's orixá

7245-470: The otás , these spirit-vessels may contain ferramentos , or metal objects associated with specific orixás , cowrie shells, bracelets called idés , animal body parts, hair from the initiate who keeps it, statues of associated Roman Catholic saints, and a mix of water, honey, and herbal preparations. Objects used in ritual are often sanctified with a herbal infusion called amaci . Ritual objects are regarded as loci and accumulators of axé , although

7360-478: The root of the tongue retracted (so ⟨ẹ⟩ is pronounced [ɛ̙] and ⟨ọ⟩ is [ɔ̙] ). ⟨ṣ⟩ represents a postalveolar consonant [ʃ] like the English ⟨sh⟩ , ⟨y⟩ represents a palatal approximant like English ⟨y⟩ , and ⟨j⟩ a voiced palatal stop [ɟ] , as is common in many African orthographies. In addition to

7475-433: The terreiros where both initiates and non-initiates can attend to celebrate the orixás . Participants are expected to wear white; women wear skirts. Ceremonies often begin long after the advertised starting time. At these, food is offered to specific orixás while the rest is shared among participants, with the latter thereby gaining some of the axé of the orixás . These public rites are both preceded and succeeded by

7590-621: The 17th century, Yoruba was written in the Ajami script , a form of Arabic script . It is still written in the Ajami writing script in some Islamic circles. Standard Yoruba orthography originated in the early work of Church Mission Society missionaries working among the Aku (Yoruba) of Freetown . One of their informants was Crowther, who later would proceed to work on his native language himself. In early grammar primers and translations of portions of

7705-473: The 1930s and probably arose earlier. Also present in Candomblé are the caboclos , their name probably stemming from the Tupi language term kari'boka ("deriving from the white"). These spirits are typically those of indigenous Americans or of boiadeiros ("cowboys" or "backwoodsmen"), although in rarer cases caboclos are portrayed as being from the sea or from foreign countries. Almost exclusively male,

7820-402: The 20th century, growing emigration from Bahia spread Candomblé both throughout Brazil and abroad, while also influencing the development of another religion, Umbanda , in the 1920s. Since the late 20th century, some practitioners have emphasized a re-Africanization process to remove Roman Catholic influences and create forms of Candomblé closer to traditional West African religion. The religion

7935-500: The Americas are not fluent in the Yoruba language, yet they still use Yoruba words and phrases for songs or chants—rooted in cultural traditions. For such practitioners, the Yoruba lexicon is especially common for ritual purposes, and these modern manifestations have taken new forms that don't depend on vernacular fluency. As the principal Yoruboid language , Yoruba is most closely related to these languages Itsekiri (spoken in

8050-404: The Americas through the interaction of West African and Roman Catholic traditions, and for this reason is considered a "sister religion" of Cuban Santería and Haitian Vodou . Candomblé's followers are called povo de santo (people of saint), or Candomblecistas . The term Candomblé itself probably derives from a Bantu word for dances, kandombele , which also developed into the term for

8165-642: The Angola tradition they are sometimes termed inkice , and in the Jeje tradition vodun . The males are termed aborôs , the females iabás . Believed to mediate between humanity and Olorun, the orixás have been varyingly conceived as ancestral figures, or embodiments of forces of nature. Their names may differ according to nation; in Nagô they commonly possess Yoruba names, but in the Jeje nation they are instead given Fon names. The orixás are deemed morally ambiguous, each with their own virtues and flaws, and are sometimes in conflict with each other. Each orixá

8280-607: The English Bible, Crowther used the Latin alphabet largely without tone markings. The only diacritic used was a dot below certain vowels to signify their open variants [ɛ] and [ɔ] , viz. ⟨ẹ⟩ and ⟨ọ⟩ . Over the years, the orthography was revised to represent tone, among other things. In 1875, the Church Missionary Society (CMS) organized a conference on Yoruba Orthography;

8395-571: The Ijexá ( Ijesha ), Egba , Efan ( Ekiti ) and Caboclo. Each derives influence from a different African language group; Ketu uses Yoruba , Jeje adopts Ewe , and the Angola draws from the Bantu language group. Informed by these ethno-linguistic origins, each Candomblé nation has its own lexicon, chants, deities, sacred objects, and traditional knowledge. Although originating among ethnic differences, this has largely eroded over time, with members drawn to

8510-439: The Nagô nation, those from Ewe-Fon languages in Jeje nations, and words from the Bantu languages in the Angola nation. Candomblé places of worship are called terreiros ("houses"), or ilês . Each terreiro is independent and operates autonomously. They range in size from small houses to large compounds, and also vary in terms of their wealth and fame. A terreiro' s importance is generally regarded as being proportional to

8625-545: The Yoruba language. • Odu Ifa , • Oriki , • Ewi , •Esa, •Àlọ́, •Rara, •Iremoje, • Bolojo , •Ijala, •Ajangbode, •Ijeke, Alámọ̀ As of 2024, the Yoruba Misplaced Pages  [ yo ] is the most visited website in Yoruba. Candombl%C3%A9 Candomblé ( Portuguese pronunciation: [kɐ̃dõˈblɛ] ) is an African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century. It arose through

8740-415: The acute accent for high tone ( ⟨á⟩ , ⟨ń⟩ ) and the grave accent for low tone ( ⟨à⟩ , ⟨ǹ⟩ ); mid is unmarked, except on syllabic nasals where it is indicated using a macron ( ⟨a⟩ , ⟨n̄⟩ ). Examples: When teaching Yoruba literacy, solfège names of musical notes are used to name the tones: low is do , mid is re , and high

8855-563: The area, eventually paving the way for British annexation in the late 1800s under the guise of ending the slave trade. Yoruba language Yoruba vocabulary is also used in African diaspora religions such as the Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomblé , the Caribbean religion of Santería in the form of the liturgical Lucumí language , and various Afro-American religions of North America . Most modern practitioners of these religions in

8970-429: The city's gay social network —and a pervasive stereotype associates Candomblé with gay men. Homosexuals have described the religion as a more welcoming environment than Christianity, and have cited stories of relationships between male orixás , such as Oxôssi and Ossain, as affirming same-sex attraction. Some practitioners have involved themselves in political causes including environmentalism , indigenous rights , and

9085-555: The clothes box'. Disambiguation is left to context in the rare case that it results in two possible readings. Plural nouns are indicated by a plural word. There are two 'prepositions': ní 'on, at, in' and sí 'onto, towards'. The former indicates location and absence of movement, and the latter encodes location/direction with movement. Position and direction are expressed by the prepositions in combination with spatial relational nouns like orí 'top', apá 'side', inú 'inside', etí 'edge', abẹ́ 'under', ilẹ̀ 'down', etc. Many of

9200-451: The consonant /l/ has a nasal allophone [n] before a nasal vowel (see below ), and this is reflected in writing: inú 'inside, belly' ( /īlṹ/ → [īnṹ] ). The voiceless plosives /t/ and /k/ are slightly aspirated; in some Yoruba varieties, /t/ and /d/ are more dental. The rhotic consonant is realized as a flap [ɾ] or, in some varieties (notably Lagos Yoruba), as the alveolar approximant [ɹ] due to English influence. This

9315-432: The deities, a space to perform ceremonies, and accommodation for the priests or priestesses. The bakisse is the "room of the saints", a storeroom containing both ritual paraphernalia and the assentamentos , or seated objects, of the orixás , with most terreiros offering veneration to between twelve and twenty of these spirits. Another room, the roncó ("retreat room") or camarinha , is used during initiations, while

9430-508: The division of titles into war and civil is unknown. Linguistically, SEY has retained the /ɣ/ and /gw/ contrast, while it has lowered the nasal vowels /ĩ/ and /ʊ̃/ to /ɛ̃/ and /ɔ̃/, respectively. SEY has collapsed the second and third-person plural pronominal forms; thus, àn án wá can mean either 'you (pl.) came' or 'they came' in SEY dialects, whereas NWY for example has ẹ wá 'you (pl.) came' and wọ́n wá 'they came', respectively. The emergence of

9545-487: The emergence of a common Yoruba identity. The earliest evidence of the presence of Islam and literacy goes back to the 14th century. The earliest documented history of the people, traced to the latter part of the 17th century, was in the Yoruba but in the Arabic script called Ajami . This makes Yoruba one of the oldest African languages with an attested history of Ajami (Cf. Mumin & Versteegh 2014; Hofheinz 2018). However,

9660-425: The end of the seven years, they "receive the decá " from their initiator, being given a tray of ritual objects; this enables them to go and form their own temple. If another such terreiro splinters off, it is believed that the axé of the mother- terreiro transfers to the new one. An altar to the orixás is called a peji . It contains an assemblage of objects termed the assentamento ("seat") or assento of

9775-649: The existence of a force called ashe or axé , a central concept in Yoruba-derived traditions. The scholar Sheila Walker described axé as "the spiritual force of the universe", and the anthropologist Joana Bahia called it "sacred force." Jim Wafer termed it "vital force", while Voeks favored "vital energy". Scholar of religion Paul Johnson characterised it as "a creative spiritual force with real material effects." Practitioners believe axé can move, but can also concentrate in specific objects, such as leaves, roots, and specific body parts. Blood in particular

9890-639: The falling tone. In Benin , Yoruba uses a different orthography. The Yoruba alphabet was standardized along with other Benin languages in the National Languages Alphabet by the National Language Commission in 1975, and revised in 1990 and 2008 by the National Center for Applied Linguistics . In 2011, a Beninese priest-chief by the name of Tolúlàṣẹ Ògúntósìn devised a new script for Yoruba, based on

10005-524: The first native African Anglican bishop, published a Yoruba grammar and started his translation of the Bible. Though for a large part based on the Ọyọ and Ibadan dialects, Standard Yoruba incorporates several features from other dialects. It also has some features peculiar to itself, for example, the simplified vowel harmony system, as well as foreign structures, such as calques from English that originated in early translations of religious works. Because

10120-528: The heads of the terreiros ; most terreiros in Bahia are led by women. Accordingly, it has been called a female-dominated religion, with scholarly debates taking place over whether it can be labelled matriarchal. There is evidence that Candomblé is more accepting of sexual and gender non-conformity than mainstream Brazilian society. Many gay men are followers —in Rio de Janeiro many terreiros are integrated into

10235-508: The late 20th century and who tend reject the caboclos as being of non-African derivation. As a result, some Candomblecistas have venerated orixás in the terreiro but only engaged with lesser spirits like the caboclos in the home. Where an individual has come to Candomblé via another Brazilian tradition like Umbanda, they are sometimes deemed to have brought caboclos or exus with them. In these instances, attempts are sometimes made to "Africanize" these spirits, ritually "seating" them in

10350-445: The lives of Candomblecistas. Rather than stressing a dichotomy between good and evil, emphasis is placed on achieving equilibrium between competing forces. Problems that arise in a person's life are often interpreted as resulting from a disharmony in an individual's relationship with their tutelary orixá ; harmony is ensured by following the orixá' s euó (taboos) regarding issues like food, drink, and colors. Male/female polarity

10465-704: The majority of them Yoruba , Fon , and Bantu , with the Roman Catholicism of the Portuguese colonialists who then controlled the area. It primarily coalesced in the Bahia region during the 19th century. Following Brazil's independence from Portugal, the constitution of 1891 enshrined freedom of religion in the country, although Candomblé remained marginalized by the Roman Catholic establishment, which typically associated it with criminality. In

10580-475: The meaning of the whistled language. The Yoruba talking drum , the dùndún or iya ilu , which accompanies singing during festivals and important ceremonies, also uses tone. Written Yoruba includes diacritical marks not available on conventional computer keyboards, requiring some adaptations. In particular, the use of the sub dots and tone marks are not represented, so many Yoruba documents simply omit them. Asubiaro Toluwase, in his 2014 paper, points out that

10695-441: The number of initiates and clients that it has; the greater the number of initiates, the greater its own axé . Enmity often exists between terreiros , especially as they compete for members, with defection of individuals from one to another being common. A terreiro may be concealed, so as not to attract unwanted attention. The interior consists of a series of rooms, some off-limits to non-initiates. They contain an altar to

10810-401: The number of vowels they have; see above . Nasal vowels are by default written as a vowel letter followed by ⟨n⟩ , thus: ⟨in⟩ , ⟨un⟩ , ⟨ẹn⟩ , ⟨ọn⟩ , ⟨an⟩ . These do not occur word-initially. In the standard language, /ɛ̃/ occurs only in the single word ìyẹn ~ yẹn 'that'. The status of the vowel [ã]

10925-429: The ocean. Other accounts present this cosmogony differently, for instance by claiming that Oxalá fathered all other orixás alone, having created the world from a mingau pudding. An alternative claim among practitioners is that Nanã is the grandmother of Oxalá and the mother of Iemanjá, the latter becoming both mother and wife to Oxalá. Xangô is the orixá associated with thunder and lightning; one of his wives

11040-507: The official orthography of Standard Yoruba. However, they exist in several Yoruba dialects. The pronunciation of the letters without diacritics corresponds more or less to their International Phonetic Alphabet equivalents, except for the labial–velar consonant [k͡p] (written ⟨p⟩ ) and [ɡ͡b] (written ⟨gb⟩ ), in which both consonants are pronounced simultaneously rather than sequentially. The diacritic underneath vowels indicates an open vowel , pronounced with

11155-563: The older orthography, it employs the Latin alphabet modified by the use of the digraph ⟨gb⟩ and certain diacritics , including the underdots under the letters ⟨ẹ⟩ , ⟨ọ⟩ , and ⟨ṣ⟩ . Previously, the vertical line had been used to avoid the mark being fully covered by an underline , as in ⟨e̩⟩, ⟨o̩⟩, ⟨s̩⟩; however, that usage is no longer common. The Latin letters ⟨c⟩ , ⟨q⟩ , ⟨v⟩ , ⟨x⟩ , ⟨z⟩ are not used as part of

11270-461: The oldest extant Yoruba Ajami exemplar is a 19th-century Islamic verse (waka) by Badamasi Agbaji (d. 1895- Hunwick 1995). There are several items of Yoruba Ajami in poetry, personal notes, and esoteric knowledge (Cf. Bang 2019). Nevertheless, Yoruba Ajami remained idiosyncratic and not socially diffused, as no standardized orthography existed. The plethora of dialects and the absence of a central promotional institution, among others, are responsible. In

11385-404: The participants of the rite. Candomblé entails animal sacrifice, which is called matanças . The individual performing the sacrifice is known as an axogun (or axogum ) or sometimes as a faca (knife). Species typically used are chickens, guinea fowl, white doves, and goats. The animal will often have its neck cut with a knife, or in the case of birds, its head severed. After the animal

11500-448: The power to aid their worshippers. When a ceremony starts, practitioners typically provide a padé , or propitiatory offering, to the orixá Exu. As well as being offered in the terreiro , food is often placed at an appropriate landscape location; offerings to Oxum are for instance often deposited by a freshwater stream. Specific foodstuffs are associated with each orixá ; a mix of okra with rice or manioc meal, known as amalá ,

11615-435: The primary beneficiaries. Adelabu , a Ph D graduate from Damascus cited—among many other common usages—the following words to be Yoruba's derivatives of Arabic vocabularies: Some common Arabic words used in Yoruba are names of the days such as Atalata ( الثلاثاء ) for Tuesday, Alaruba ( الأربعاء ) for Wednesday, Alamisi ( الخميس ) for Thursday, and Jimoh ( الجمعة , Jumu'ah ) for Friday. By far, Ọjọ́ Jimoh

11730-904: The scope of the slave trade in the 19th century. Some of the victims of these wars became Christian converts in Sierra Leone . The most notable effect was the creation of new states; Ibadan , Abeokuta and Ijaye . It also saw the rise and fall of some of the most influential figures in Yoruba history; Kurunmi in Ijaye , Basorun Oluyole , Aare Latoosa , Efunsetan Aniwura and Balogun Ogunmola in Ibadan , Biodun Fabunmi in Ekiti , Ogedengbe of Ilesa , Efunroye Tinubu , Kosoko in Lagos, Arilekolasi in Ondo and many more. It also severely weakened Oyo suzerainty over

11845-764: The spatial relational terms are historically related to body-part terms. Yoruba uses a vigesimal (base-20) numbering system. The wide adoption of imported religions and civilizations such as Islam and Christianity has had an impact both on written and spoken Yoruba. In his Arabic-English Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Quran and Sunnah , Yoruba Muslim scholar Abu-Abdullah Adelabu argued Islam has enriched African languages by providing them with technical and cultural augmentations with Swahili and Somali in East Africa and Turanci Hausa and Wolof in West Africa being

11960-529: The standard devised there was the basis for the orthography of the steady flow of religious and educational literature over the next seventy years. The current orthography of Yoruba derives from a 1966 report of the Yoruba Orthography Committee, along with Ayọ Bamgboṣe's 1965 Yoruba Orthography , a study of the earlier orthographies and an attempt to bring Yoruba orthography in line with actual speech as much as possible. Still similar to

12075-451: The structure believed to link humanity's world with that of the orixás . This stands above the entoto ("foundation") of the terreiro , a space periodically "fed" with offerings. An outdoor enclosure may have a tree dedicated to Tempo, shrines to forest orixás like Oxossi and Ogun, and a balé , a place set aside for the souls of the dead. Plants used in rituals may also be grown in this outdoor area. Public ceremonies take place at

12190-465: The supply of this force needs replenishing at various intervals. For this reason, they are given blood, to feed them with new axé . In Brazil, various stores specialise in paraphernalia required in Candomblé. Offerings to spirits are known as ebós , and can consist of food, drink, fowl, and money; when animal sacrifice is not involved, a food offering is termed a comida seca . These offerings are believed to generate axé which then gives an orixá

12305-424: The underdots, three further diacritics are used on vowels and syllabic nasal consonants to indicate the language's tones: an acute accent ⟨ ´ ⟩ for the high tone, a grave accent ⟨ ` ⟩ for the low tone, and an optional macron ⟨ ¯ ⟩ for the middle tone. These are used in addition to the underdots in ⟨ẹ⟩ and ⟨ọ⟩ . When more than one tone

12420-426: The use of Standard Yoruba did not result from some deliberate linguistic policy, much controversy exists as to what constitutes 'genuine Yoruba', with some writers holding the opinion that the Ọyọ dialect is the "pure" form, and others stating that there is no such thing as genuine Yoruba at all. Standard Yoruba, the variety learned at school and used in the media, has nonetheless been a decisive consolidating factor in

12535-401: The use of these diacritics can affect the retrieval of Yoruba documents by popular search engines. Therefore, their omission can have a significant impact on online research. When a word precedes another word beginning with a vowel, assimilation, or deletion (' elision ') of one of the vowels often takes place. Since syllables in Yoruba normally end in a vowel, and most nouns start with one, it

12650-591: Was added to the empire, Basorun Gaha of the House of Yau Yamba, the head of the Oyo Mesi , the most senior line of Yoruba chiefs, led a popular revolt against a despotic Alaafin , Labisi, who was viewed by the Oyo Mesi as being manipulated by his provincial chiefs. The provincial chiefs, led by Ilorin's Baale Pasin of the House of Laderin, paused the remission of taxes to Oyo-Ile as a result. Gaha responded by sending

12765-568: Was also during Abiodun's reign that the law prohibiting the bearers of the Abaja tribal mark , from being enslaved, was enacted. This law severely affected the livelihood of the provincial chiefs and some members of the Oyo imperial family. It also led to the sourcing of Muslim slaves from Northern Hausa , Bariba and Nupe towns; some of these slaves were then exported to Europe and the Americas via

12880-586: Was historically spoken in the Ọyọ Empire . In NWY dialects, Proto-Yoruba velar fricative /ɣ/ and labialized voiced velar /gʷ/ have merged into /w/; the upper vowels /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ were raised and merged with /i/ and /u/, just as their nasal counterparts, resulting in a vowel system with seven oral and three nasal vowels. South-East Yoruba was most likely associated with the expansion of the Benin Empire after c.  1450 . In contrast to NWY, lineage, and descent are largely multilineal and cognatic , and

12995-783: Was largely "a matter of individual opinion". Omolocô was founded in Rio de Janeiro as an intermediate religion between Candomblé and Umbanda, with traditions merging these two systems sometimes labelled "Umbandomblé" by outsiders. There are also other Afro-Brazilian religions rooted largely in specific regions, including Babassuê in Pará , Batuque in Rio Grande do Sul , and Tambor de Mina in Maranhão and Pará. Candomblé divides into traditions known as nações (nations). The three most prominent are Nagô or Ketu (Queto) , Jeje (Gege) or Mina-Jeje , and Angola or Congo-Angola ; others include

13110-522: Was murdered in a palace coup by his warrior band, then known as the Jamaa. The weakened Oyo empire leading to the rapid rise of the Ibadan city-state as an empire prompted the culmination of the decades of warring into the Kiriji War . All of these quarrels weakened central authority and gave rise to regional autonomy. They vastly affected the sociopolitical landscape of the Yoruba country and expanded

13225-419: Was the priesthood and more formally educated practitioners who preferred to distinguish the orixás from the saints, whereas less formally educated adherents tended not to. In Candomblé, relationships are thought rooted in reciprocal obligations, and Candomblecistas see the relationship between the orixás and humanity as being one of interdependence. Practitioners seek to build harmonious relationships with

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