Editing Yoruba language (section)

{{short description|Language spoken in West Africa}}
{{Infobox Language
| name             = Yoruba
| nativename       = {{lang|yo|Èdè Yorùbá}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|yo|jōrùbá|}}
| states           = [[Benin]]{{·}}[[Nigeria]]{{·}}[[Togo]]
| region           = [[Yorubaland]]
| ethnicity        = [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]]
| speakers         = [[first language|L1]]: {{sigfig|47.858670|2}} million
| speakers2        = [[Second language|L2]]: {{sigfig|2.024600|2}} million (no date)<ref name=e28-yor/><br/>Total: {{sigfig|49.883270|2}} million (2023)<ref name=e28-yor/>
| speakers_label   = Speakers
| date             = 2023
| ref              = <ref name=e28-yor/>
| familycolor      = Niger-Congo
| fam2             = [[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]]
| fam3             = [[Volta-Congo]]
| fam4             = [[Volta–Niger languages|Volta–Niger]]
| fam5             = [[Yoruboid languages|Yoruboid]]
| fam6             = [[Edekiri languages|Edekiri]]
| ancestor         = [[Proto-Yoruboid language|Proto-Yoruboid]]
| script           = [[Latin script|Latin]] ([[Yoruba alphabet|Nigerian Yoruba alphabet, Beninese Yoruba alphabet]])<br />[[Yoruba Braille]]<br />[[Arabic script]] ([[Anjemi]])<br />[[Oduduwa script]]
| minority         = {{flag|Benin}}<br />{{flag|Togo}}
| iso1             = yo
| iso2             = yor
| iso3             = yor
| lingua           = 98-AAA-a
| notice           = IPA
| glotto           = yoru1245
| glottorefname    = Yoruba
| dia1             = [[Lucumí language|Lucumí]]
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|people=[[Yoruba people|Ọmọ Yorùbá]]|language='''Èdè Yorùbá'''|country=[[Yorubaland|Ilẹ̀ Yorùbá]]}}

'''Yoruba''' ({{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|j|{{notatypo|ɔr}}|ə|b|ə}},<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Yoruba | access-date=2 April 2024 | title= Yoruba| website= Merriam-Webster}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|j|ɒr|ʊ|b|ə}};<ref>Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student's Handbook'', Edinburgh</ref> <small>Yor.</small> {{lang|yo|Èdè Yorùbá}} {{IPA|yo|jōrùbá|}}) is a [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger-Congo language]] that is spoken in [[West Africa]], primarily in [[South West (Nigeria)|Southwestern]] and [[Middle Belt|Central]] Nigeria, Benin, and parts of Togo. It is spoken by the [[Yoruba people]]. Yoruba speakers number roughly 50 million,<ref name=e28-hau>{{e28|hau}}</ref> including around 2 million second-language or L2 speakers.<ref name=e28-yor>{{e28|yor}}</ref> As a [[pluricentric language]], it is primarily spoken in a dialectal area spanning [[Nigeria]], [[Benin]], and [[Togo]] with smaller migrated communities in [[Côte d'Ivoire]], [[Sierra Leone]] and [[The Gambia]].

Yoruba vocabulary is also used in [[African diaspora religions]] such as the Afro-Brazilian religion of [[Candomblé]], the Caribbean religion of [[Santería]] in the form of the liturgical [[Lucumí language]], and various Afro-American religions of [[North America]]. Most modern practitioners of these religions in the Americas are not fluent in the Yoruba language, yet they still use Yoruba words and phrases for songs or chants—rooted in cultural traditions.  For such practitioners, the Yoruba [[lexicon]] is especially common for ritual purposes, and these modern manifestations have taken new forms that do not depend on vernacular fluency.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Valdés|first=Vanessa K.|date=2015-03-04|title=Yoruba Traditions and African American Religious Nationalism by Tracey E. Hucks (review)|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/576211|journal=Callaloo|language=en|volume=38|issue=1|pages=234–237|doi=10.1353/cal.2015.0025|s2cid=143058809|issn=1080-6512|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Warner|first=Maureen|date=1971|title=Trinidad Yoruba — Notes on Survivals|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40653205|journal=Caribbean Quarterly|volume=17|issue=2|pages=40–49|doi=10.1080/00086495.1971.11829073|jstor=40653205|issn=0008-6495|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=History of Oyotunji|url=http://www.oyotunji.org/oyotunji-history.html|access-date=2020-10-13|website=Oyotunji|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Nigeria|first=Know|date=2017-04-13|title=The Oyotunji Village: a Mini Yoruba Empire in the USA|url=https://inspireafrika.com/en/the-oyotunji-village-a-mini-yoruba-empire-in-the-usa/|access-date=2020-10-13|website=Inspire Afrika|language=en-US}}</ref>

As the principal [[Yoruboid languages|Yoruboid language]], Yoruba is most closely related to these languages [[Itsekiri language|Itsekiri]] (spoken in the [[Niger Delta]]) and [[Igala language|Igala]] (spoken in central Nigeria).