Skip to main content

How is Otherness to Be Construed with Yorùbá Words?

Thoughts in Progress. Do Not Quote. 

1: We may designate the four basic terms as: ọ̀tọ̀; ẹ̀yà; ẹ̀ya; òmíràn/òmín-ìn.
2: For now, I want to separate the fourth term, òmíràn/òmín-ìn, because I am not able to outline its phonological components. In English translation, the word typically serves as the equivalent of "another" set (entity), abstract or concrete, time or place.
3: Now to the other three: (i) ọ̀tọ̀ (being apart);  (ii) ẹ̀yà (being in/of a sort); (iii) ẹ̀ya (being in/of a derivation).
*We could say these are the basic forms of differentiation in the language.
4: Phonologically, the root terms (or syllables): (i) tọ̀; (ii) yà; (ii) ya. Each word is transformed into a nominal phrase in 2 above with low toned, back vowel, prefixes: /ọ̀/ and /ẹ̀/
5: English translations of the ideophonic root terms are: (i) tọ̀: pursue, trace, follow, urinate; (ii) yà: separate or turn (verb), draw (graphically), deviate, defecate; (ii) ya: tear (off, away), exceed (overflow)
• I am struck by the scatological entailments of terms of otherness and difference. That itself deserves a different analysis. But that is for later. For now, let us just note that Yorùbá language uses other root oxymorons as in pa (to hatch and to kill).
6: Only 3(i) and 3(ii), typically in agglutination, make it to transitive declarations: (i) yàtọ̀: be different; (ii) ìyàtọ̀; difference, differentness (properties of the different); (iii) ẹ̀yà: the different, or differentiated
7: Question: How does difference come about grammatically? Affixations of breaking off (duplication, reduplication, addition, deletion, diminution, enlargement, etc.) are attached to yà and tọ̀ in different combinations: ọ̀tọ̀ọ̀tọ̀; lọ́tọ̀ọ̀tọ̀, yà sọ́tọ̀, pín sọ́tọ̀ọ̀tọ̀, bù lọ́tọ̀lọ́tọ̀. The most common terms are bù, pín, yà, ṣe, kó.
  • I am leaning towards concluding that difference, grammatically speaking in Yorùbá, results from gestures and processes of making.
  • However, I am not able to say that the differentiated (ẹ̀yà), in Yorùbá speech pragmatics, necessarily constitutes the other. The class of the differentiated belongs to the set of òmíràn (of anothers) that do not, in themselves, constitute the other (ọ̀tọ̀).
  • Why say that? Well, it is grammatical to say "ẹ̀yà kan náà ni wá" (one sort of 'differentiateds' we all are). It is ungrammatical to say "ọ̀tọ̀ kan náà ni wá," a statement whose unintelligibility is reflected in its untranslatability.
What's the point of all these? I am beginning to think that otherness should be subjected to otherness analysis.

You have been warned. Quote at your own peril. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

One Thought About Textual Beginnings: Ìbà

ÌJÚBÀ or ÌBÀ (noun); JÚBÀ (verb)   The initial gestures rendered to acknowledge authority figures, sacral or secular, to which a performance production owes its textual and institutional provenance constitute the ìjúbà (ìbà). The conventional words and motions thus presented demarcate the commencement of an iteration, pay homage to sources of influence and inspiration, praise past patronages, solicit audience support and understanding, wish failure for opposing will and interests, and outline the production’s goals. HISTORY Two paths stand out in the historical understanding of ìjúbà: one follows the older, text based line in translation manuals and dictionaries, and the other issues from scholarly studies of performance traditions. Although they are more recent and offer longer overviews that extend far back into mythical times, scholarly studies of ìjúbà lean heavily on old traditions recounted in explanations of contemporary enactments, mainly of egúngún and gẹ̀lẹ̀de...

Aṣọ Tòun Tènìyàn

Aṣọ Tàbí Ènìyàn? Lẹ́dà kan, mo gbọ́ pé, aṣọ ńlá kọ́ lènìyàn ńlá. Lẹ́dà kejì wọ́n tún fi yé mi pé aṣọ là ńkí, a à kí ‘nìyàn. (Ẹnu kòfẹ́sọ̀ àgbà kan ni mo tí kọ́kọ́ gbọ́ eléyìí ní nńkan bí ogún ọdún sẹ́hìn.) Èwo ni ká wá ṣe o? Èwo ni ká tẹ̀lé? Èwo ni ká gbàgbọ́. Gbólóhùn méjèèjì ha le jẹ́ òótọ́ bí? Àtakò kọ́ rèé! Ó dá mi lójú pé àfiwé ni gbólóhùn méjèèjì. A tilẹ̀ lè pé wọ́n lówe. Gbogbo wa la sì mọ̀ pé àfiwé kìí ṣe òfin. Àfiwé yàtọ̀ sí ìṣẹ̀dálẹ̀. Òwe kìí ṣe orò. Àfiwé le jẹ́ àbàláyé. Ṣùgbọ́n ọgbọ́n tàbí ìmọ̀ tí àfiwé bá gbéró máa ńyí padà lóòrè kóòrè. Òjó yàtọ̀ sí òjò. Mẹ́táfọ̀ yàtọ̀ sí òtítọ́, bí ó tilẹ̀ jẹ́ pé òtítọ́ lè farasin sínú mẹ́táfọ̀. Ẹ̀ràn yàtọ̀ sí irọ́.   Kò sí ẹ̀dá alààyè àti olóye kankan tí kò mọ̀ pé aṣọ kìí ṣe ènìyàn, tàbí wí pé ènìyàn yàtọ̀ sí aṣọ. Dídá lènìyàn ńdá aṣọ tàbí ẹ̀wù. A kìi dá ènìyàn bí ẹni ńdáṣọ. Ènìyàn lè wọ aṣọ tàbí ẹ̀wù. Èmi kò rò pé aṣọ lè wọ ènìyàn bí è...

Biyi Bandele (1967-2022): In Memoriam

  Biyi Bandele (1967-2022): In Memoriam Biyi Bandele was a generous soul who never failed to give all he could to make others richer. His gifts in fiction writing and filmmaking are immortalized in the many works he authored and produced. The yet to be curated monumental record he made in the last two years with captivating photographs of innocence and experience around Lagos markets and waters will perhaps last longest. From those countless images on Biyi Bandele’s facebook page, I have selected the following painterly shots to begin to consecrate our memory of his enriching our lives. 1: Resting Boats, Ikoyi Island. (16 April 2021) ( https://www.facebook.com/profile/581568922/search/?q=ebute%20aro ) After seeing this image, I commented thus on April 16, 2021: “This is "Èbúté Aró" (Indigo Harbor). No doubt. And I beg to be allowed to be unanimous with myself regarding that. Heaven knows you have good eyes. Pardon my speaking in tongues! ”  2: Market People, Lagos Islan...