Aburo mi ni

Partners in Pioneering: Ludlow’s Memoirs,  The Late Revd. R Nelson Ludlow

First Tour [in 1929 Igbo Ora]
"Life was very interesting, not only in the dispensary and town, but in visits to outlying villages. The man who, years before, helped Mr Bond, was most helpful and was willing to walk many miles with me and act as interpreter.
I had a daily visitor, a little girl of perhaps six years of age, with an easy name Titi (pronounced Tee-tee) She used to come in and stand quietly, watching everything I did.  Our sole conversations, at the beginning, were greetings and salutations, Yoruba is a tonal language and it is possible to have three words, with the same spelling but with three entirely different meanings. To a Yoruba speaker the meaning was quite clear because he would say one with a level tone, one with an upward tone and the third, downwards.
The classical illustration is the word oko, which means a hoe a boat or a husband. It could be embarrassing if a woman went to market to buy a hoe and through the wrong tone asked for a husband.
Greetings and salutations were very easy for all started with the three lettered word ‘Eku!’ To this could be tacked an unending list of endings. ‘Eku’ means I salute you, followed by ‘aro’ for morning, equals our Good morning. It is easily seen why I stuck to greetings for so long. This wealth in salutations added to the friendliness of the Yoruba people.
In English, we are limited to bidding the time of day, morning, afternoon evening etc., but the friendly Yoruba, can keep talking, even to a complete stranger, in salutations for working, singing, eating or a variety of ends to the prefix ‘Eku.’
One morning little Titi waddled into my room with a large, two year old baby on her back, supported by a strip of home woven cloth. After the usual ‘Ekuaro’ I tried hard to recall the Yoruba word for load or burden. I said ‘Ekueru’ i.e. saluting her for carrying a burden. Titi was not amused. I had to get my dictionary to understand her reply. “Eru ko, aburo mi ni.” “Its not a burden, he’s my brother” What a lovely reply.
I must have told that story in hundreds of addresses to children, third-world talks and Christian Aid sermons.
Adulawo TV



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Understanding Ẹdan Ògbóni

Image
Understanding Ẹdan Ògbóni  Ògbóni; Ògbóràn  Erelú; Àbíyè Eríwo yà!; À yà gbó, À yà tó!  The old ones; Increase with age. Titled female elders; May children be born to live The Lord of secrets, descend!; For longevity and prosperity! Ẹdan Ògbóni is a pair of male and female brass figures with iron stems, usually joined at the top by an iron chain. It is an emblem of membership in the Ògbóni society, which wielded considerable political, judicial, and religious powers among the Yoruba in precolonial times and still does, to some extent, today.  In the past the society (known as Òṣùgbó among the Ẹ̀gbá and Ìjẹ̀bú Yorùbá) functioned as a town council, a civic court, and an electoral college for selecting a new king and dethroning a bad or unpopular one. It imposed curfews in times of crisis and also executed serious offenders. Much of the society's authority derives from its role as the vital link between the community and the Earth that susta...
Read more

Justice System in Yorubaland

I have said it before, when a man fails to know the value of the WÚRÀ he holds in his hand, some covetous  children of other men will visit him with PÁNDA to give him in exchange of WÚRÀ. Whereas WÚRÀ is GOLD, not very beautiful to behold when in it's crude form but which can become a most glittering, everlasting and very expensive piece of jewelry when processed polished. Whereas PÁNDA is an imitation, a combination of adulterated and inferior metals melted together and made to appear very beautiful to the eyes but they can remain only beautiful for a short time. When you call something CUSTOMARY, it evidently comes from CUSTOM! Our forefathers had CUSTOMS FOR JUDICIARY. People, friends, families, neighbours, villages, even husbands and wives will always have quarrels and disagreements amongst themselves, it is natural, but there was a mechanism available to settle ALL DISPUTES. We had a FAR MORE RELIABLE SYSTEM OF DEMOCRACY in Yoruba land before we were drawn into the new order. ...
Read more

Iya ni Wura

Image
Iya Ni Wura  In the 1800s Books and travellers' accounts described Yorùba women as powerful traders, warriors, priestesses, mothers and political voices. They held down families, towns and trade networks.  Finance & Economy – Yoruba Women dominated local markets, from kola nuts to textiles. Some became wealthy merchants, controlling trade routes that linked the Yoruba to coastal ports. Spiritual Authority – As priestesses of Òrìṣà like Ọṣun, Yemoja, and Ọya, women carried immense influence in guiding communities through rituals and festivals. Family & Society – A Yoruba woman was the backbone of the extended family system. She was both nurturer and strategist, raising children, managing farms, and ensuring survival during wars and displacements of the 1800s. Resilience in Crisis – During wars and slave raids, women organised escapes, rebuilt settlements and town as well as negotiating peace in some regions. European visitors often wrote with surprise about how independ...
Read more