‘Stop committing syntactic errors in Yoruba language’

THE Yoruba have been urged to stop committing syntactic errors, most especially with proverbs and other clichés.

The guest writer at the April edition of Yoruba Lakotun, a quarterly live audience participatory programme, Sunday Folorunso Adeniyi, said this at Ethnic Heritage Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The author of Esin Obinrin, Owu Iya gbon and other books said “Yoruba sayings have been bastardised by many people and this alteration affects the meaning of either the proverb or the cliché. In fact, many times, the meaning is lost because of the inappropriate word used. These sayings have become engrained in our daily lives that people do not know the actual saying anymore.”

He explained that “some of these proverbs have historical backgrounds while others are phonological. The infiltration of foreign languages into Yoruba culture is also one of the factors responsible for these syntactic errors. Yoruba writers are charged to be versed in the culture and language in order to correct these syntactic errors for posterity.”

Otunba Lekan Ajirotutu, a Yoruba broadcaster and lecturer, said: “There are lots of people who do not understand Yoruba language and culture. This has affected the quality of broadcast in the language and it has also impacted negatively on the movie industry.”

Commenting, Israel Bolaji, a public relations specialist,  noted that the movie industry needed to portray to Yoruba  culture in positive light in order not to scare people off.  He said: “The didactic lessons of the culture should be portrayed more to the outside world than the inimical acts. The world is desirous of seeing noble contents from the Yoruba and we must produce great content that will attract patronage by those in the Diaspora.”