It was during one of our night devotion at home, a scriptural passage was called out and I opened my Bible to read it out loud. My Bible, being bilingual (Yoruba/English), I decided to read the Yoruba version and could hear Dad correcting my pronunciation of some words.
After devotion that night, my mind kept playing those words over and over again and then this whole inspiration I’m about to share with you came in.
Please, I’ll advice you read patiently through.
I know you’ve heard about this before and most definitely done it in basic school, but, patiently read through to the end. There’s a word for you.
Do you know?
The tone of the voice can be used to indicate a speaker’s feeling or attitude in order to understand his/her message?
Same way, the tone marks (àmì ohùn), which is usually applied to the top of the vowel within each syllable of a word in the Yoruba language, is used to better read, write, speak and understand the language.
Hence, the wrong usage of the tone marks introduces a new meaning and changes the original content, thereby, making the message loose it’s value.
Check these out:
Igba (re-re) – Two hundred
Ìgbá (do-mi) – Garden egg
Ìgbà (do-do) – Time/Season
Ìgbá (re-mi) – Calabash
The Yoruba language has three types of tone marks, namely; Dò (falling tone), Re ( flat tone) and Mí (Rising tone) – sounds just like the musical ‘do-re-mi’.
The above example spelt as ‘igba’ in Yoruba language may mean different things depending on the tone marks applied… without the tone mark, readers can mix it up and just go ahead to call it what they like not minding if it suits the context.
The above explanation can be likened to Homographs in English.
Homographs are words spelt the same way but sounds different and have different meaning.
E.g Content : it could mean happy/satisfied OR all that is contained inside something.
What am I trying to draw your attention to?
Dear Readers, up
As humans, there are certain similar physical features we possess that generally classify us as humans e.g. nose, eyes, ears, mouth, legs, e.t.c.
But, as much as we have these similar characteristics, though we may differ in gender, age, race or socio-economic status, we each have certain unique abilities that makes us stand out from the others. It differentiates us.
These unique abilities are your tone marks that pronounces you to the world and brings meaning to your existence.
Without it, you may not make the right sense expected of you.
So, instead of going about trying to be exactly like someone else, in a world of creatives, why not discover what makes you shine and gives you your uniqueness.
Push out your own unique identity. Stand out!
The world doesn’t need people that are all the same. The world needs YOU! Embrace your uniqueness.
Hi, I am Boluwatife Adesina, a counselor who loves to write.
I am passionate about life, love and relationships, so, I write down my views about them, which birthed this blog.
I hope that you, my dear reader, can relate too as you read each post.
If my blog inspires you or causes you to reflect about life or your relationship for a minute, kindly take a minute to share to others as well.
Thank you.
Very good
🥰 Thanks for engaging