20/04/2020
Ìkíní - Greetings In Yoruba by Mustay (m)
Se daada ni mo ba yin?
Often times, people wonder why Yorubas like greetings. 'Eku this, eku that', even some have made a joke out of this. Some asked, Is Greeting Strangers Part Of Yoruba Culture? Even some Yoruba children wonder why there are so many greetings.
So, I would be writing out notes from P.O. Ogunbowale's book, 'Asa Ibile Yoruba' published in 1966.
This is chapter 8 that deals with greetings. Ìkíní means greetings in Yoruba. I would translate excerpts from the introduction and continue the greetings (whenever I have the time) in subsequent posts in Yoruba language.
Enjoy!
It is quite unfortunate that a visitor would visit Yoruba land and see the way we (do not) greet ourselves. This is not saying Yorubas are jobless or what-have-you; this goes to show that we love ourselves or people that are around us.
Greetings are very important in the life of a Yoruba individual. The way an individual greets others shows the product of his/her home-training. Because of this, an individual is groomed (by parents/guardians) from his/her childhood days on how to greet. There are different types of greetings for different purposes - rain, dawn, death, marriage etc; all of these one has to know. Anyone who knows not the difference(s) or who has to be thinking before s/he knows what to say shows s/he lacks home training or who was trained from home but refused to heed to lessons taught (akooigba).
If somebody notices that 2 individuals do not greet themselves, it is the duty of such person as a Yoruba to call both and inquire what happened. If it something s/he cannot arbitrate, s/he must tell the elderly to settle the dispute amongst the two. If in such a case, we ignore the 2 individuals, it could cause major fights, separation between families or death (because both have disputes). If you say you don't care, remember the proverb that "Bi ara ile ẹni ba nje kòkòrò, bi a ko ba sọ fun, hùrùhẹrẹ re kò ni jẹki a sùn l'oru".
On most occasions, we hear Yoruba people greeting others with 'Ẹ pẹlẹ o'. This greeting has other meanings to others. For example, if you use 'Ẹ pẹlẹ' in Abẹokuta that means someone's child/wife died or something unfortunate occurred to the receiver's family but when visitors started settling in the city, Ẹgba people became tolerant/accustomed to such and realized such people were only greeting them. Actually, 'Ẹ pẹlẹ' is a greeting used to call someone's attention or to check if someone is at home.
There was a time I went to visit a man whose aged grandmother just died. We all know that if someone's grandma dies, it is 'ókú ẹ̀bà ati ẹran ni' aka fanfare (for lack of a better word). A lady came in to greet the family. She said:
"Ẹ pẹlẹ o, ẹ ku iledè iya agbà o; Oluwa ko ni jẹki a ri iru rẹ̀ mọ o.
(Sorry o, greetings on the going home or passage of our mother; God will not let us witness such again o).
Her statements were well intended but the last statement left so much to be desired. When she said, 'Oluwa ko ni jẹki a ri iru rẹ̀ mọ o' (God will not let us witness such again o), ṣe oku ọmọde ni o fẹ ki o mā rí ni? (is it the death of a child she wants him to witness?) shocked grin
This lady did not intend harm, it was the way she knew it that she said it. Hence, a list of greetings and responses are compiled herein. We believe it is useful to those who know not how to greet in our land.
There are 3 important things to note:
1. First, greetings can be part of a statement/sentence, the response is 'O'.
2. Secondly, greetings could be a form of prayer, the response is 'Amin o.'
3. Thirdly, greetings could be a form of inquiry/questioning, the response would be tailored according to the situation of things at the time.
