The Linguistic Analysis of the Structure of the Yoruba Numerals

Abstract

This paper adopts a descriptive approach in analyzing the counting system of the Yoruba language. It explains the technicalities of its arithmetical involvements which appear to have been contributing to the difficulty often encountered in its learning. The study relies on three major sources in gathering data for the descriptive analysis, namely, compilation of relevant list of Yoruba numerals, the researcher’s intuitive knowledge of the language coupled with his training as a linguist, and a search of the relevant literature. The work throws more light on the crucial roles of some affixes in realizing some odd numbers, multiples of twenty, centenary, bicentenary etc in their order of increase. The paper goes much further to examine the linguistic structure of numerals in a bid to bring to light some salient linguistic features that are of significant interest to the teaching of the grammar of the language. Here, we discover that Yoruba numerals derive more of its formation from different aspects of the language structure like sound level (phonology), form/structure level (morphology and syntax), and meaning level (semantics) as evidenced in instances like deletion, assimilation, coalescence, tonal changes, ambiguity, affixation, linguistic typology to mention a few. We also discover that unlike in English, the direction of counting in Yoruba is done from right-to-left. Not only this, it adopts base five, decimal (base ten) and vigesimal systems of counting. This is because the language employs a numeral structure where counting is done mostly in multiples of ogún (twenty). We therefore hope that the detail analysis given in this work will not only fill a gap in the study of the Yoruba language in particular but will also lead to the expansion of Yoruba linguistic database in general. We admit the views of the scholars that linguistic documentation such as this is necessary not only for the study of the language but for the record-keeping of its norm and values which are fast giving way for the impact of technology and domineering influence of the world languages.