Native Name: Yorùbá (èdè Yorùbá)
Number of Speakers: 22 million
Official language of: Nigeria
Script used: Latin Alphabet
Sample of Yorùbá
Project for CILT – The National Centre for Languages
“CILT are the UK standard-setting body for languages and provide advice, intelligence and other services for the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.”
Adelphi staff went to London for a meeting with the staff of CILT including writers, designers and the translators. We discussed the correct fonts to use, especially for Yorùbá, and had individual talks with each translator to discuss any questions they had before starting the work.
yoruba translation and formatting of educational materials CILT (the National Centre for Languages)
Below is part of a Yorùbá translation and typesetting project for G4S
Yorùbá Translation & Typesetting by Adelphi Translations Ltd
Yorùbá Translation, Typesetting, Websites, Voice-Overs and Subtitles
Adelphi Translations Ltd. work translating Yoruba to English and English to Yoruba. We also produce voice recordings and subtitles for video in Yoruba as well as translation and localization of web sites into Yoruba. We are based in Sheffield, UK and handle language projects for local clients in commercial centres such as Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and London but also have many International clients from around the world.
Yoruba is one of the four official languages of Nigeria and is a member of the Niger-Congo family of languages. Yoruba, with the stress on the first syllable, belongs to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family and is one of the three main languages of Nigeria. The language has its origins in the Yoruba people, who believe themselves to be descendants of Oduduwa, the son of a powerful god called Oludumare. Around twenty dialects of the language are believed to exist, which show considerable phonological and lexical differences. Some of these dialects are also spoken around the border of Nigeria and the Republic of Benin and part of Togo and Sierra Leone, or as a language of immigrants in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
As a result of the slave trade of the 17th to19th centuries, the language has survived in Cuba (where it is called Lukumi) and in Brazil (where it is called Nago). Before the abolition of slave trade, the Yoruba people were known as ‘Akus’ by the Europeans, derived from a common word used in greetings. Standard Yoruba, which is used for educational purposes, (e.g., in the newspapers, on the radio, and in schools) is understood by speakers of the various dialects.
