YorùbáLanguage
Ẹ kú àbọ̀ · Welcome

Hear the melody in every Yoruba word.

In Yoruba, pitch changes meaning. Look words up, learn to say them, and understand the proverbs and names that carry the culture — free, with teachers when you want them.

Try water, oko, good morning — you don't need to type tone marks.

Same letters, three words

Tones: ọ mid, kọ̀ low
ọkọ̀
vehicle — tones: mid · low

Pitch alone changes the word. Every word on this site shows its tone line, so you can see the melody before you say it.

Word of the dayAwaiting linguist reviewTones: o mid, ún high, jẹ mid
oúnjẹ
foodOúnjẹ ti dé. — The food has arrived.
Proverb of the day · ÒweAwaiting linguist review
Ọmọ tí a kò kọ́ ni yóò gbé ilé tí a kọ́ tà.
“The child we fail to train is the one who will sell the house we built.”Neglecting a child's upbringing destroys what the family has built.
Level 1 · Foundations

Your learning path

0 of 10 lessons complete See all
  1. The Yoruba alphabet

    Álífábẹ́ẹ̀tì Yorùbá
    6 words
  2. Yoruba sounds

    Ìró Yorùbá
    6 words
  3. Tone: the melody of words

    Ohùn
    6 words
  4. Greetings

    Ìkíni
    10 words
  5. Introducing yourself

    Ìpàdé
    8 words
  6. Numbers 1–10

    Òǹkà
    12 words

Explore words by theme

All 168 words
OhùnPronunciation & tonesThe alphabet, the seven vowels and how tone works. OrúkọYoruba names14 names with their meanings, built word by word.ÀwùjọHelp build the dictionarySee the words people searched for and couldn't find — and add them.
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