Editing Yoruba language (section)

== Varieties ==
The Yoruba [[dialect continuum]] consists of several dialects. The various Yoruba dialects in [[Yorubaland]] can be classified into five major dialect areas: Northwest, Northeast, Central, Southwest, and Southeast.<ref>This widely followed classification is based on Adetugbọ's (1982) dialectological study; this classification originated in his 1967 Ph.D. thesis ''The Yoruba Language in Western Nigeria: Its Major Dialect Areas'', {{ProQuest|288034744}}. See also Adetugbọ 1973:183-193.</ref> Clear boundaries cannot be drawn, but peripheral areas of dialectal regions often have some similarities to adjoining dialects.

* '''North-West Yoruba''' (NWY)
** [[Egba people|Egba]], [[Ibadan]], [[Oyo, Oyo|Ọyọ]], [[Lagos|Lagos (Eko)]], [[Onko]], [[Ibarapa people|Ibarapa]]
{|
| [[File:A short oral history of Egba in Egba Language by its native speaker.webm|thumb|Egba dialect]]
| [[File:Short Oral history of Okeho in Onko language by a native speaker (non-subtitled).webm|thumb|[[Onko]] dialect, [[Okeho]]]]
| [[File:Short Oral history of Saki in Saki language by a native speaker (non-subtitled).webm|thumb|[[Shaki, Oyo|Shaki]] dialect]]
| [[File:Short oral history of Iwo in Iwo language by a native speaker (non-subtitled).webm|thumb| Oyo dialect from [[Iwo, Osun|Iwo]]]]
|}

* '''North-East Yoruba''' (NEY)
**[[Yagba West|Yagba]], [[Kabba|Owe]], Ikiri, [[Ijumu]], [[Oworo dialect|Oworo]], Gbede, [[Kabba/Bunu|Abunu]], [[Okun people|Okun]].
* '''Central Yoruba''' (CY)
** [[Igbomina]], [[Ilesa|Ijesha]], [[Ifẹ]], [[Ekiti people|Ekiti]] (including [[Akure|Akurẹ]]), [[Efon|Ẹfọn]], Western [[Akoko]].
{|
| [[File:Short oral history of Ijan Ekiti in Ijan Ekiti Language by a native speaker (non-subtitled).webm|thumb|[[Ekiti people|Ekiti]]  dialect]]
| [[File:Short oral history of Ile Ife in Ile-Ife language by a native speaker.webm|thumb|[[Ifẹ]] dialect]]
| [[File:Short oral history of Ilesha in Ijesha language by a native speaker (non-subtitled).webm|thumb|[[Ijesha]] dialect]]
| [[File:A short oral history of Irun in Irun Akoko dialect by native speaker.webm|thumb|[[Ekiti people|Ekiti]] from Irun Akoko]]
|}

* '''South-West Yoruba''' (SWY)
** [[Ketu (Benin)|Ketu]], [[Awori tribe|Awori]], [[Sakété]], [[Ifè language|Ifè (Togo)]], [[Dassa-Zoumé|Idasha]], [[Ipokia|Anago]].
* '''South-East Yoruba''' (SEY)
** [[Ondo City|Ondo]], [[Owo|Ọwọ]], [[Sagamu|Remo]], [[Ijebu Kingdom|Ijẹbu]], [[Okitipupa|Ikale]], Eastern [[Akoko|Akoko (Akoko, Ào)]], [[Ilaje]], [[Usen people|Usẹn]].
{|
| [[File:Short oral history of Owo in Owo language by a native speaker.webm|thumb|[[Owo]] dialect]]
| [[File:Short oral history of Idanre in Idanre language by a native speaker (non-subtitled).webm|thumb|[[Idanre]] dialect]]
| [[File:Short oral history of Ijebu in Ijebu language by a native speaker.webm|thumb|[[Ijebu Kingdom|Ijebu dialect]]]]
| [[File:Short oral history of Ikale in Ikale language by a native speaker (non-subtitled).webm|thumb|[[Okitipupa|Ikale]] dialect]]
| [[File:A short oral history of Isua in Ifira dialect by a native speaker.webm|thumb|Ao dialect, [[Akoko South-East|
Ifira]]]]
|}

North-West Yoruba was historically spoken in the [[Oyo Empire|Ọyọ Empire]]. In NWY dialects, Proto-Yoruba velar fricative {{IPA|/ɣ/}} and labialized voiced velar /gʷ/ have merged into /w/; the upper vowels /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ were raised and merged with /i/ and /u/, just as their nasal counterparts, resulting in a vowel system with seven oral and three nasal vowels.

South-East Yoruba was most likely associated with the expansion of the [[Benin Empire]] after {{Circa|1450}}.<ref>Adetugbọ 1973:185.</ref> In contrast to NWY, lineage, and descent are largely [[lineal descendant|multilineal]] and [[cognatic]], and the division of titles into war and civil is unknown. Linguistically, SEY has retained the /ɣ/ and /gw/ contrast, while it has lowered the nasal vowels /ĩ/ and /ʊ̃/ to /ɛ̃/ and /ɔ̃/, respectively. SEY has collapsed the second and third-person plural pronominal forms; thus, ''àn án wá'' can mean either 'you (pl.) came' or 'they came' in SEY dialects, whereas NWY for example has ''ẹ wá'' 'you (pl.) came' and ''wọ́n wá'' 'they came', respectively. The emergence of a plural of respect may have prevented the coalescence of the two in NWY dialects.

Central Yoruba forms a transitional area in that the lexicon has much in common with NWY and shares many ethnographical features with SEY. Its vowel system is the most traditional of the three dialect groups, retaining nine oral-vowel contrasts, six or seven nasal vowels, and an extensive vowel harmony system. Peculiar to Central and Eastern (NEY, SEY) Yoruba also is the ability to begin words with the vowel [ʊ:], which in Western Yoruba has been changed to [ɪ:]