Yorùbá Names: The Structural and Cultural Denotation

Understanding the structure of Yoruba names is very important while teaching Yoruba language. The structure of Yoruba names mostly serves as the foundation for the structure of a speech, because Yoruba names are structured like phrases and sentences. e.g. Olú rẹ̀ mí lẹ́ kún - a sentence, the name is written as Olúrẹ̀mílẹ́kún.

There is no doubt personal and place names are some of the oldest elements in the Yoruba language. A study of these names will unveil a lot of facts about the Yoruba culture and importantly, the syntax and morphology of the Yoruba language.

I would like us to take a journey through classification of Yoruba names structurally and culturally, while I reference the book, "Yoruba names: their structure and their meanings by Modupe Oduyoye, 1971".