Yor

yor is the ISO 639-3 code for Yoruba, a Niger-Congo language spoken primarily in southwestern Nigeria, with minority communities in Benin and Togo and a widespread global diaspora. Estimates of total speakers often range around 40 to 50 million, including both native and second-language users.

Classification and varieties: Yoruba belongs to the Yoruboid branch of the Benue-Congo subfamily within Volta-Niger, part of the larger Niger-Congo family. It comprises numerous dialects that are generally mutually intelligible to varying degrees, such as Lagos, Ekiti, Oyo, Ijebu, Egba, Ondo, and Ife varieties. Dialectal differences influence vocabulary, pronunciation, and some grammatical patterns, while a standard form is used in formal writing and education.

Phonology and writing system: Yoruba is a tonal language with three level tones (high, mid, low) that can distinguish meaning. The standard writing system is Latin-based and uses diacritics to indicate vowel quality and tone, including letters such as ẹ and ọ. Consonant systems include single letters as well as digraphs like gb, which represent distinct phonemes. Tone marks are common in formal texts, though casual writing may omit them.

Usage and status: Yoruba has a long oral and literary tradition, with significant influence in music, theatre, and storytelling. In modern education and media, Yoruba is widely used in Nigeria and in Yoruba-speaking communities abroad. It is taught in some schools and universities, and it features in published literature, newspapers, radio, and television, contributing to its ongoing vitality and study.