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Iwe

Ìwé is the Yoruba word for book. It refers to any written or printed work that contains text, information, or narrative, including novels, textbooks, journals, and newspapers. In standard Yoruba orthography the noun is written with diacritics as Ìwé, reflecting tonal markings; in casual or international texts it is often rendered without diacritics as Iwe. The term appears in many compound forms, such as Ìwé ìtàn (history book) and Ìwé-ẹ̀kọ (textbook). A typical sentence is Mo ka ìwé, meaning “I am reading a book.” The plural form is awọn ìwé, used as in awọn ìwé to mean “the books.”

The concept of the book is central to Yoruba literacy and education, serving as a primary medium

See also Yoruba language, diacritics in Yoruba, literacy, and education.

for
storytelling,
record-keeping,
and
the
dissemination
of
knowledge.
In
Yoruba-speaking
regions,
the
word
is
widely
encountered
in
schools,
libraries,
and
media,
reflecting
the
importance
of
written
material
in
cultural
transmission
and
learning.
The
orthography
of
ìwé,
with
its
tonal
diacritics,
is
an
aspect
of
Yoruba
writing
that
helps
distinguish
meaning
and
grammatical
function
in
written
text;
when
diacritics
are
omitted,
the
word
appears
as
Iwe.