JAMB UTME - Yoruba Language - 2025

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The passage explains that many children and young people have abandoned the teachings and culture of their forebears. It goes on to say exactly what accusation these young people make: they claim that culture is ohun ateyinwa, meaning something outdated or old-fashioned, and that it no longer has anything useful to offer.

The option stating that culture is accused of being something outdated (oun ateyinwa) reproduces this claim word for word from the passage, which is why it is the correct answer.

The remaining options describe accusations that never appear in the text, such as culture being noisier than music or eating excessively. When a comprehension question asks what a group of people is quoted as saying, the safest approach is to locate the sentence that reports their words directly, since paraphrase distractors are usually built from unrelated vocabulary that sounds plausible but is absent from the source.

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Farmers traditionally sing while working on the land to keep rhythm, ease the labour, and encourage one another, and this category of song is known as orin ìṣẹ́, a work song.

An explanatory piece, a hunters' chant, and a sugarcane song each belong to different contexts: an explanation is informational rather than musical, ìjálá belongs to hunters rather than farmers, and a song about sugarcane names a crop rather than an activity. None of these describe the song genre tied to the act of farming itself.

Link each occupational song to the group that performs it: hunters sing ìjálá, farmers sing orin ìṣẹ́, and remembering this pairing prevents mixing up the genres.

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This question tests knowledge of the specific Yoruba term for a well-known cultural rite, the ceremony held to welcome and name a newborn child.

In Yoruba tradition, a newborn is formally given a name during a dedicated ceremony that usually takes place about a week after birth, attended by family and community elders who bless the child and confer names chosen for their meaning. The Yoruba term for this specific rite, literally "naming a child," is the one that correctly answers the question. It is distinct from a burial rite, from an ordinary story-telling occasion, and from a general discussion or meeting, none of which refers to a newborn-child ceremony.

A useful way to recognise this vocabulary is to notice how the word is built from "so," to make or turn something into, "ọmọ," child, and "orúkọ," name, so that the whole word literally means "to make the child into a name-bearer."

When a Yoruba vocabulary question describes a life-stage ritual, break the compound word into its parts to confirm what activity it names before choosing an answer.

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The passage states that many parents and teachers have confirmed that when children lack knowledge of their culture, it leads to suffering and the spread of sorrow within society (àìmọ̀ àṣà lórí àwọn ọmọde ń fa ìjiyà àti ìtànkálẹ̀ íbànújẹ́ nínu awùjọ). The question asks what could happen if culture were abandoned completely, and the passage's own evidence points to harm at the level of society as a whole.

The option stating that society will be ruined (àwùjọ á bàjẹ́) captures this consequence, since the passage links loss of culture directly to social breakdown rather than to a single household or individual.

Options describing a house being built, a head being crushed, or the world tearing apart either misstate the direction of the consequence or exaggerate it beyond what the passage supports. The passage's own cause-and-effect statement, tracing lack of cultural knowledge to societal harm, is the evidence that should guide the choice, not a general impression of what sounds dramatic.

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The phrase ohun ìjà means an instrument of fighting or warfare. Among the choices given, ọ̀fà (the arrow, shot from a bow) is the one that names a genuine traditional weapon used in Yoruba hunting and warfare, associated closely with warriors and with Ògún, the deity of iron and war.

The other items are everyday household or personal tools: obẹ is a kitchen knife, abẹ̀ is a small blade or razor used for shaving or minor cutting, and òpá is simply a stick or staff used for support or herding, not a dedicated weapon of combat.

When a Yoruba culture question asks for a weapon rather than a tool, look for the item whose primary traditional use was fighting or hunting rather than domestic work; the arrow fits that description precisely.

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Alárìnjó is the name of the traditional Yoruba travelling theatre troupe that moved from town to town staging masquerade performances. Their shows combined spoken drama, mime, and satire with drumming and singing, which is why their defining activity is correctly described as eré pẹ̀lú orin, drama performed with music.

Alárìnjó performances were not simply climbing plants, dance on its own without spoken drama, or poetry set to song; their hallmark was theatrical scenes, often comic or satirical, carried along by live musical accompaniment.

Associate Alárìnjó with travelling masquerade theatre powered by music, and you will not confuse it with genres that involve only dance or only chanted poetry.

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Ṣíṣe is the gerund form of the verb ṣe, meaning "to do" or "to perform." Doubling the first syllable of a Yoruba verb turns it into a noun describing the act of doing that verb, so ṣíṣe literally means "the doing/performing of something," which corresponds to iṣẹ́, work or task.

A house, a right/entitlement, and seeing are unrelated meanings that do not connect to the act of doing or performing; they belong to entirely different word families in Yoruba.

When a question asks for the meaning of a reduplicated Yoruba verb form like ṣíṣe, think of the base verb it comes from and translate that action into its related noun of work or activity.

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The passage opens by defining Yoruba culture directly: "àṣà Yorùbá jẹ́ àfihàn ìdánimọ̀, ìbùkún àti ìpẹ̀yà fún àwọn tí wọ́n bá tẹ̀síwájú nínú rẹ̀" (Yoruba culture is a display of identity, blessing, and heritage for those who continue in it). The passage's own words state that culture is a manifestation of identity.

Good character (ọmọlúwàbí), modern technology, and the religious history of the Egyptians are not statements the passage makes about what culture is; they either appear elsewhere in a different sense or do not appear in the passage's definition at all.

When a comprehension question asks what a passage says something is, return to the exact sentence in the text that defines it rather than relying on general knowledge of the topic.

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Yoruba drama is grouped into types based on its tone and purpose. A play that has no serious central theme but is instead filled with light complaints, exaggeration, and laughter is a comic play, known as eré aláwàdà. Its purpose is to entertain the audience through humour rather than to teach a lesson or narrate a serious event.

This matches the description in the question exactly, which is why the comic play (eré aláwàdà) is the correct answer.

A tragic play (eré ìbànújẹ́) is built around sorrow and serious conflict, the opposite of what the question describes, while an educational play and a historical play are organised around instruction or past events rather than humour. Matching a drama type to the mood described, here laughter and lack of serious plot, is the reliable way to answer this kind of classification question.

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Ìjálá is a chant traditionally performed by hunters and devotees of Ògún, the Yoruba god of iron and war. Its verses celebrate courage, skill in the hunt, and the strength of the hunter, so a typical example of ìjálá is a chant that praises a valiant, courageous person, matching ìyìn akíkanjú.

Ìjálá is not the same as an entertainment song sung purely for fun, a story told about a masquerade festival, or ordinary speech used while working; those describe other kinds of oral performance. What sets ìjálá apart is its focus on bravery and hunting prowess, delivered in a distinctive chanting style with its own vocabulary.

When identifying ìjálá in an exam question, listen for the theme of valour and hunting; that theme is the surest marker of the genre.

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The passage states the cause plainly: "pẹ̀lú ìtẹ̀síwájú ìmọ̀ ìjìnlẹ̀ àti imọ̀-ẹrọ, ọ̀pọ̀ àwọn ọmọde àti àwọn ọdọ ti kọ̀ ẹ̀kọ́ àti àṣà àwọn baba wọn sílẹ̀" (with the advance of science and technology, many children and youths have abandoned the teaching and culture of their fathers). The advance of science and technology is identified as the driver of this change.

Bad conduct, learning religious doctrine, and an unlucky star are not mentioned anywhere in the passage as reasons for children abandoning their culture; they are unsupported by the text.

For this type of question, trace the cause-and-effect language the passage uses, here "with the advance of...", to find the exact factor the writer blames.

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Yoruba oral literature separates historical accounts believed to be factual from stories that are imaginative or embellished. "Ìtàn aláwọ̀pupa" describes a story coloured with invention and exaggeration rather than a strictly factual record, placing it in the category of fiction. The Yoruba term for this kind of imaginative prose narrative is àròsọ, a story built from the writer's or narrator's imagination rather than verified fact.

This makes àròsọ the correct example of the kind of embellished story the question describes.

A play (eré) is a performed dramatic form rather than a narrated story, an explanation (àlàyé) is a factual account meant to clarify something, and praise poetry (oríkì) is a chanted tribute to a person or lineage, none of which match the description of an imaginative, coloured narrative. Distinguishing genres by their purpose, entertainment through invention versus factual clarification versus tribute, is the key to this kind of classification question.

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In the sentence Ó fi èbùn náà fún mi sí orí tabili (he/she put the gift for me on top of the table), the word sí introduces the location where the gift was placed, on top of the table. A word that links a noun to the rest of the sentence to show relationships such as place, direction, or time is called a preposition, which in Yoruba grammar is termed ọ̀rọ̀ amúlò.

Sí is not a sign of devotion, a demonstrative word pointing something out, or a narrative word used for storytelling; its only job here is to connect the action of placing the gift to the place it was placed, which is exactly the work a preposition does.

To spot a preposition in a Yoruba sentence, look for a short word that answers where, when, or in what direction something happens; sí, ní, and lára are common examples.

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This question tests the ability to complete a sentence with the clause that follows logically from what has already been stated.

The sentence begins by stating that the speaker is going to the hospital. A hospital is a place people visit specifically for medical reasons, so the continuation that makes sense is one that gives a medical reason for the visit, namely that the speaker is unwell. This connects cause to effect directly: being unwell is the reason for going to a hospital, in the same way going to a place of worship would logically follow a statement about wanting to pray, not about visiting a hospital.

The other options either describe an unrelated destination, an unrelated intention to turn back, or an unrelated errand to buy herbs, none of which follows naturally from the specific statement about heading to a hospital.

For sentence-completion questions, test each option by asking whether it gives a reason, result, or detail that a listener would naturally expect to follow the opening statement, rather than one that is merely grammatically possible.

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Ìlà yìí fi ìmọ̀ràn hàn. Kì í se oro lásán, ṣùgbọ́n àlàyé ẹ̀kọ́ àti ìmúlò rere. O je owe igbani niyanju.

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Èsìn ìbílẹ̀ means the indigenous or traditional religion of a people, as opposed to religions introduced from outside, such as Christianity or Islam. Traditional Yoruba religion centres on the worship of the orisa, deities such as Ògún, Ṣàngó, and Ọbàtálá, so worship of Ọbàtálá is a genuine example of an indigenous Yoruba religion.

Cherub worship belongs to a Christian tradition, and the other two options do not name a recognised indigenous Yoruba deity or practice, so they cannot represent the original faith of the Yoruba people the way orisa worship does.

When a question asks for an example of Yoruba traditional religion, look for the name of an orisa; worship built around one of the orisa is always the indigenous option.

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"Ídàbí" comes from the verb "dàbí", which means "to resemble" or "to seem like". When used to introduce a comparison, this idea is expressed in everyday speech as "bí ẹni pé", meaning "as if" or "as though", the phrase used whenever something is described as appearing or seeming a certain way without actually being so.

This matches the tested word closely, since both "dàbí" and "bí ẹni pé" carry the sense of likeness or apparent resemblance, making it the correct option.

A house, various kinds of something, and something that was made are all unrelated concepts that do not carry any sense of resemblance or comparison. When a Yoruba vocabulary question tests a word built on "dà" or "bí", it is worth checking whether the correct option expresses similarity or seeming, since these roots consistently signal comparison in the language.

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This question tests knowledge of which group of performers is traditionally associated with a specific genre of Yoruba oral poetry.

Ìjálá is a chanted poetic form performed specifically by hunters, traditionally recited to honour Ògún, the deity associated with iron and hunting, and to recount hunting exploits, animal lore, and hunters' experiences in the forest. Its distinctive vocabulary, imagery drawn from wildlife and the bush, and its ceremonial occasions are all tied to hunting culture, which is why hunters, rather than drivers, market traders, or any other occupational group, are the performers historically identified with this chant.

Yoruba oral literature assigns different chant and poetry forms to different social or occupational groups, for example herders, hunters, or praise singers, and recognising which genre belongs to which group is a recurring feature of this area of the syllabus.

When a question names a specific chant genre and asks who performs it, recall the occupational or ceremonial group historically linked to that genre rather than guessing from the sound of the word alone.

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The passage explains that although the villagers first suspected wild animals, the village hunter, who is skilled at tracking animals, examined the scene and reported that he could find no animal footprints at all to support the idea that an animal was responsible.

No garden being eaten is not what the passage says; the garden was in fact being damaged, which is precisely the problem being investigated. The passage never mentions that an animal was actually caught, so that cannot be the reason the villagers changed their thinking. Absence of animal noise is also not stated anywhere in the passage as evidence.

Because it was specifically the hunter's report of finding no animal footprints that undermined the idea of an animal being responsible, that report is what made the villagers realise it was not an animal.

Examination tip: when a comprehension question asks what made a character realise something, search the passage for the specific piece of evidence given, here the hunter's statement about footprints, rather than assuming a general explanation.

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This question is loosely worded, but it is asking for something in Yoruba speech that people habitually point to or refer back to when making an argument, described here as an àtọ́ka (a pointer or reference). In Yoruba oral tradition, that role belongs to àwọn òwe, proverbs.

Yoruba speech leans heavily on proverbs as ready-made points of reference: a speaker cites a proverb the way a writer cites a source, to point to accepted wisdom and strengthen an argument. This function is captured in the well known saying that a proverb is the horse used to trace and recover a lost line of speech.

Application, complex sentence structure, and machinery do not serve this referencing function in everyday speech, while proverbs are specifically kept and reused as fixed points that a speaker points back to; that is why proverbs are the best fit here, even though the question's phrasing is not fully precise.

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The passage opens by describing what the villagers discovered every morning: their farmland kept getting damaged and their food supply kept reducing without any clear cause. This was the very first problem the village faced, before any suspects, hunters, or vigilante groups are mentioned.

Wild animals entering the village is only the villagers' first guess about the cause of the problem, not the problem itself, and the passage goes on to say the hunter found no footprints to support that idea. An epidemic disease and a shortage of water are not mentioned anywhere in the passage; neither illness nor lack of water is described as affecting the villagers.

Because the passage explicitly states that the villagers woke to find their farmland ruined and their food reduced without measure, the initial problem they faced was the destruction of their farmland together with the ongoing disappearance of their food.

Examination tip: in a comprehension passage, distinguish the actual event described from characters' guesses about its cause, since a question asking what problem occurred wants the event itself, not the suspected cause.

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"Yọjú" is formed from "yọ" (to emerge or come out) and "ojú" (face), and in everyday Yoruba usage it describes the act of appearing, coming into view, or showing oneself, for example when someone peeps out of a window or steps briefly into sight. The closest match among the choices is the phrase meaning "to show oneself" (fi ara hàn), since this captures the sense of becoming visible or making an appearance.

A common mix-up is to treat "yọjú" as simply "to see a face" (rí ojú), but that phrase describes the act of viewing someone else, not the act of making oneself visible. "Yọjú" is about the subject appearing, not about an onlooker seeing them, which is why "fi ara hàn" is the better match.

The remaining options, relating to speaking through the mouth or walking, describe unrelated actions that share no root or meaning with "yọjú". When a vocabulary question tests a compound word, breaking it into its component parts, as with "yọ" and "ojú" here, usually reveals which option fits the underlying sense.

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Gbolohun àșe máa ń bẹ̀rẹ̀ pẹ̀lú àsọyé tí ó fún ní ìtọ́sọ́nà tàbí àṣẹ.

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In Yoruba culture, several traditional customs (\u00e0\u1e63\u00e0) mark different stages and events in life, each with its own name. \u00cck\u00e0w\u00e9 refers to the practice or culture of reading. \u00cck\u00f3r\u00e8 is the harvest festival, celebrating the gathering of crops such as yam or maize. \u00cc\u1eb9\u0300y\u00e0 relates to separation or parting. \u00ck\u1eb9\u0301 \u1ecdm\u1ecd (the naming ceremony) is the custom performed to welcome and formally name a newborn child, usually within the first seven to nine days after birth, when family and community gather to bless the child and confer its name.

Since the question asks specifically about the custom of celebration connected with a child, the practice that fits is the naming ceremony, because it is the traditional celebration organised specifically to welcome a child into the family and community.

Examination tip: match each Yoruba custom to the life event it marks, the naming ceremony for a newborn child, marriage rites for a wedding, and burial rites for a death.

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This question tests recognition of a compound noun, a noun formed by joining two or more words into a single naming unit, as opposed to a simple, single-word noun or a verb.

Among the options, a river and a spouse or vehicle are each a single, unanalysed noun, while a word meaning "to know" is a verb rather than a noun at all. The remaining option joins the general word for a vehicle with a second word describing motion by wheel, combining two separate elements into one naming unit for a specific kind of vehicle, a car. That structure, two independent words fused together to name one distinct thing, is exactly what defines a compound noun in Yoruba grammar.

Spotting compound nouns is useful because Yoruba builds a large part of its modern vocabulary this way, joining an existing word to a descriptive term to name something more specific, much as "aṣọ" (cloth) combines with other words to name particular garments.

When identifying a compound noun, check whether a word can be split into two independently meaningful Yoruba words that together narrow down to one specific thing; if it can, it is compound rather than simple.

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The question Asa ayeye omode ni ...? asks: "What is the cultural celebration for a child?" This tests knowledge of Yoruba traditional customs and ceremonies.

The correct answer is Iko omo, which refers to the naming ceremony in Yoruba culture. The naming ceremony is the traditional celebration held for a newborn child, typically on the seventh or eighth day after birth. It is one of the most important cultural rites associated with children in Yoruba society. During this ceremony, the child is formally given a name, prayers and blessings are offered, and symbolic items such as honey, kola nut, water, palm oil, and salt are used to express wishes for the child's future.

The other options refer to different cultural events:

• Ikave refers to a reading or educational ceremony
• Ikore is the harvest festival, a celebration of agricultural abundance
• Ipeya refers to a different type of cultural gathering, not specifically associated with children

The naming ceremony (Iko omo) is the defining cultural celebration directly tied to the arrival of a new child.

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As with any question on this genre, oríkì is Yoruba oral poetry composed to praise a person, family, town, or object by celebrating its qualities and achievements. That core purpose is captured in ìyìn ẹni, the praising of a person.

Oríkì should not be confused with pleading or begging, with a formal accusation, or with a picture-based story; those describe entirely different kinds of speech or narrative, none of which share oríkì's function of celebrating and honouring its subject.

Whenever oríkì appears in a question, anchor your answer to the idea of praise; every correct description of the genre will point back to that single function.

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This question tests recognition of which Yoruba word is a standard, correctly formed term as opposed to unfamiliar or non-standard combinations.

"Àkọ́lé," meaning a title or heading, is a well-established, single unit of Yoruba vocabulary that is used consistently across written and spoken Yoruba, for example as the heading placed at the top of a letter, essay, or newspaper article. It has a fixed, recognisable form and a clear, stable meaning, which is what makes it the word that reads as genuinely well-formed among the options presented.

The other options combine or modify related word parts in ways that either alter the core meaning, as with a word suggesting unification of separate things into one, or produce a less commonly attested form, which makes them less secure choices when a question is testing familiarity with standard vocabulary rather than word-building rules in the abstract.

When a Yoruba vocabulary question asks which word is correct or fitting among similar-looking options, favour the option you can confidently recall being used in ordinary written or spoken Yoruba, since JAMB vocabulary questions often include one authentic, frequently used word alongside less common variants.

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This question tests knowledge of the author of a foundational work of Yoruba prose literature.

"Ògbójú Ọdẹ nínú Igbó Irúnmalẹ̀" is a landmark Yoruba novel that follows a hunter's adventures through a world of forests, spirits, and mythical creatures, blending Yoruba folklore with narrative fiction. It was written by D.O. Fagunwa, widely regarded as a pioneer of written Yoruba fiction, whose works established the fantastical hunter's-tale genre in Yoruba literature. This distinguishes his authorship from other well-known Yoruba literary figures, whose own works are associated with different titles and genres, such as drama or poetry rather than this particular hunter's narrative.

Knowing which author is linked to which title is a recurring feature of Yoruba literature questions, since JAMB frequently pairs a well-known book title with a set of plausible author names.

When asked to match a Yoruba literary title to its author, recall the genre and subject matter of the work, since an author's known body of work, such as Fagunwa's hunter narratives, usually points directly to the correct name.

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Oríkì is a well known genre of Yoruba oral poetry recited to celebrate a person, a lineage, a town, or even an animal, by listing their attributes, achievements, and defining qualities. Its whole purpose is to praise and honour its subject, which is why it is correctly described as ìyin eni, the praising of a person.

Oríkì is different from a news report, since it does not narrate current events; it is different from an explanation of how something is done; and it is different from general knowledge about the world, since its content is always centred on exalting a specific subject rather than teaching a fact.

Remember oríkì by its function: whenever a Yoruba literature question asks what a genre is used for celebrating someone's identity and achievements, the answer is oríkì, and its defining feature is praise.

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This question tests understanding of the meaning of a specific Yoruba noun built from a verb phrase describing physical harm.

"Ìpalára" is formed from the verb phrase "pa ara ... lára," to cause harm or injury to a body, and functions as the noun for that harm, that is, an injury or wound sustained by a person. This is why it corresponds most closely to the term describing the state of having been physically hurt, rather than to an accusation directed at someone, to hair or bodily irritation, or to general weakness or illness, which describes a different, non-injury condition of the body.

Distinguishing "ìpalára" from a word for sickness matters because Yoruba, like many languages, has separate vocabulary for damage caused by an external event, such as a fall or a blow, and for illness arising internally, such as fever. The question is testing that a candidate keeps these two categories apart.

When a Yoruba vocabulary question gives a compound built around "ara," body, check first whether the compound describes an external injury or an internal state of health, since these are frequently confused.

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The proverb "Bí iná kò bá tàn, ẹ̀fúfù ò lè mú un lọ" (If the fire does not catch, the wind cannot carry it away) uses fire as a picture of trouble that a person themselves must first start, and wind as a picture of outside forces or people that only make an existing problem worse. The proverb's real message is that outside forces cannot create trouble out of nothing; there must already be an opening or spark from the person involved.

The option stating that if a person does not give room for trouble, they will not experience trouble (bí ẹnìyàn kò bá fi àyè fún wàhálà, kò ní ṣe wàhálà) expresses this figurative meaning correctly: without an initial cause from the person, external pressure has nothing to act on.

Restating the proverb literally, that fire spreads once lit and wind fans it, only repeats the surface image without explaining its figurative lesson, while claiming that wind never carries anything contradicts the proverb's own words. Yoruba proverbs almost always carry a figurative lesson about human behaviour, so the correct interpretation should explain the underlying moral, not restate the literal scene.

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This question tests the ability to identify which word in a set functions as a noun, "orúkọ" in Yoruba grammar, as opposed to a verb.

Three of the words describe actions: singing, going, and eating, and each behaves as a verb because it can only complete a sentence when paired with a subject performing the action, for example "o kọrin," "o lọ," or "o jẹ." The remaining word names a thing, a dwelling or house, and can stand as the subject or object of a sentence on its own, for example "ilé náà tóbi," the house is big. That grammatical behaviour, naming a person, place, or thing rather than an action, is what marks it as the noun in this group.

A quick test for separating nouns from verbs in Yoruba is to ask whether the word can be preceded by a determiner such as "náà" ("the") or a quantity word; only a noun accepts that construction naturally.

When asked to pick out a noun among Yoruba words, check first whether each word denotes an action or a thing, since that single distinction settles most of these questions quickly.

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The word "yárá" has two different meanings in Yoruba depending on how it is used and pronounced: as a noun it can mean "room", but as an adverb describing how an action is performed, it means "quickly" or "fast". In the sentence "Ó yárá gba ìpè nàà" (He quickly answered the call), "yárá" is placed directly before the verb "gba" (to take or answer), showing that it is describing the manner of the action rather than naming an object.

Because it modifies how the call was answered, "yárá" here means "quickly" (ní kiákiá), which is the correct match.

Options referring to a decision, a burnt house, or a playroom all treat "yárá" as a noun, which does not fit its position in the sentence, since a noun could not sit between the subject "ó" and the verb "gba" in this way. Checking a word's position and function in the sentence, not just its dictionary form, is essential whenever a Yoruba word can serve more than one grammatical role.

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"Șe" jẹ́ ọ̀ro ìfarapa tí a fi n dá àtẹ̀gùn gbolohun àșẹ sílẹ̀.

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This question tests knowledge of the Yoruba term for the celebration held to mark a birthday.

In Yoruba culture, a birthday is marked with a festive gathering involving family, friends, food, music, and well-wishes for the celebrant, and the general Yoruba word for this kind of celebration or party is the one that correctly answers the question. It is distinct from the words for a town, a story or historical account, and an unrelated term that does not refer to a festive occasion, none of which describes a celebratory gathering of this kind.

This term applies broadly to festive occasions in Yoruba culture beyond birthdays as well, covering celebrations held for a range of joyful events, which is why it is the word most directly associated with marking an occasion such as a birthday with festivity.

When a Yoruba culture question asks for the term describing a celebration or party, look for the vocabulary specifically tied to festivity and joyful gathering rather than words describing places, records, or unrelated customs.

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Traditional Yoruba family life (ẹbí) is organised around close kinship ties, and one of the most basic units within an extended family is the group of children born to the same mother, referred to as ọmọ-ìyá. This bond of shared maternal descent is a defining feature of how a Yoruba family is structured and understood.

A decision, a system of government, and a story are not kinship categories; they describe entirely different aspects of life and cannot define how family membership is organised. Family structure in Yoruba culture is built on blood and marriage ties, and ọmọ-ìyá names exactly one such tie.

When a question asks what a Yoruba family is built with or organised around, look for the option that names a kinship relationship rather than an abstract idea like decision-making or governance.

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In the sentence Òjò ń rọ bí i pé ọ̀run ń șú (the rain is falling as if the sky is pouring), the speaker is not stating a fact directly but comparing the intensity of the rain to an imagined event. The phrase that introduces this comparison is bí i pé, which means "as if" or "as though."

This phrase is what grammarians call the comparison marker: it signals that what follows is not literally true but is used to intensify the description of the rain. The remaining words in the sentence, òjò (rain), rọ (to fall/rain), and ọ̀run (sky), simply name the things being talked about; none of them performs the work of setting up a comparison.

When a question asks for the comparison word in a Yoruba sentence, look first for a phrase built around bí (like/as), since that is the standard way Yoruba introduces a simile.

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A proverb, or òwe, is a short traditional saying that expresses wisdom or a moral lesson gained from experience, often using imagery or comparison to make its point memorable. Among the Yoruba, proverbs are so valued in speech that they are described as "the horse of conversation", carrying meaning that ordinary words alone cannot express as effectively.

The option identifying a proverb as a wise saying (ọ̀rọ̀ ọgbọ́n) captures this core definition, which is why it is the correct answer.

The remaining options describe unrelated ideas: a facial expression, a living creature, or a stage play, none of which define what a proverb fundamentally is. When a question asks for the definition of a familiar literary term like òwe, the correct option is usually the one built from the term's own defining feature, here wisdom (ọgbọ́n), rather than an unrelated noun.

Antwortdetails

This question tests understanding of how marriage is traditionally regarded within Yoruba culture, specifically whose approval and involvement a marriage requires.

In Yoruba tradition, marriage is not treated as a private arrangement between two individuals alone; it is a union that involves and must be approved by the families of both the bride and the groom. Elders from each family are consulted, rites such as introduction visits and bride price negotiations are carried out between the families, and the marriage is considered properly sanctioned only once both families have given their consent. This is why family, rather than a title such as "mister," a leadership role, or the idea of just two individuals in isolation, is what Yoruba tradition holds as the party whose approval validates a marriage.

This family-centred view of marriage reflects a broader value in Yoruba culture, which treats major life events as matters affecting the wider kin group rather than individuals alone.

When Yoruba culture questions ask who approves or is involved in a traditional practice such as marriage, look for the answer that reflects the communal, family-based structure of Yoruba society rather than an individual-centred one.