Òun, ohun, ohùn

Abstract

This article reports the results of an experimental study of the realisation of /h/ in Yoruba. The aim was to determine whether the 1974 orthography convention requiring that òun “3rd Sg” be written without “h” while ohun “thing” be written with the letter in order to distinguish between the two words had any empirical basis. The results show that “h” is rather more frequently realised in òun than in ohun. It is then argued that òun has a V-CV structure in harmony with other Yoruba pronouns, and that the dichotomy introduced in the 1974 orthography convention both lacks empirical support and breaks the pattern of Yoruba pronouns. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Keywords

• Yoruba
• orthography
• tone
• variation
• pronoun
• West Benue-Congo