To start with, in Linguistics, there’s sth we call “LOANWORDS”, which is; a word BORROWED from an older language which can retain its meaning or evolve slightly or even have a completely different meaning in the language that borrowed it.
Before we go into Yoruba vs Edoid languages, I will start my point , with concrete examples from German, Dutch and English language.
German as a language can be traced back to 4th millennium BC, Dutch can be traced back to the 6th century, and English is just 1,400 years old, this makes German the oldest between these 3 languages.
“Wie” in German means “How”
“Wie” in Dutch means “who”
Even though, “Wie” has evolved in meaning in the Dutch language, the Dutch will NEVER say because of this “Wie” doesn’t have Germanic root anymore.
“Blitz” in German means “lightning”
“Blitz” in English means “to attack suddenly/ aerial bombardment”
Even though “Blitz now has a completely different meaning in English, still the English recognized it’s a loanword from German.
Now let’s switch to Yoruba Vs Edoid word.
“Ade” in Yoruba means “Crown”
“Ade” in Edo means “centre/middle”
“Oba” in Yoruba means “king/Ruler/Head” etc.
“Oba” in Edo means “Shine/king”
“Uwa” in Yoruba means Character/Attitude etc
“Uwa” in Edo means “Prosperity/wealth” etc.
We have hundreds of Yoruba words that mean either thesame thing or completely different thing in Edo languages, but this does not change the FACT that all these words were loaned from YORUBA.
Proof 1; Iho Eleru in Isarun in Ondo state, where Yoruba speaking people skeleton was found, the skulls there date back to 13,000 years old, this means Yoruba ancestors have been using words like “Ade, Oba, Uwa, etc way before the Edo ancestors discovered they were human beings.
Proof 2; The Conquest of Oranmiyan in Idu land now called Edo brought a lot of cultural and language transfer from Ile Ife to Edo land, this includes Obaship, Bronze & Brass Making, Horse riding, gods and pantheons ( Olokun, Ogun, Sango etc), which is evident till today!!.
Proof 3; In Benin, the Yoruba language is called “urhuazenomo” (the language that is spoken to the omo). “Omo” is the name of the Oba of Benin, because Oba of Benin, is the son of Adimula which is “Ooni of Ife”,
Proof 4; proof 4 is a backup to proof 3, during the time of Oba Eweka, an handwritten letter he wrote to the ooni(oghene) of Ife, started with “My dear father”, which proves truly that, Oba of Benin is the son “omo” of Adimula.
The Ooni of Ife is the most Supreme Divine King on the Guinea coast.
Peoplesmind
