Gbólóhùn Onítọ́kasí àti Ìṣàpèjúwe Gbòòrò
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Form relative clauses with tí to describe people, things, and places.
- Build subject relative clauses, in which tí is followed directly by a verb describing the head noun.
- Build object relative clauses, in which tí introduces a clause whose object position refers back to the head noun.
- Expand noun phrases by combining relative clauses with possession, demonstratives, and modifiers already under your control.
- Track reference clearly across a description that uses more than one relative clause.
- Recognize, without producing independently, relative clauses that combine with focus or negation, which later chapters will continue to develop.
Communication Scenario
Adé is helping a visiting cousin get to know the neighborhood, describing the people, houses, and shops nearby so the cousin can find them again later. A simple list of names and places is not enough — Adé needs to say things like "the woman who sells the beans," "the house that has the blue gate," and "the shop that is near the post office," so that each description picks out exactly the right person or place.
- This chapter introduces tí relative clauses productively for the first time, building on the receptive and formulaic exposure from Chapters 3 and 4.
- It shows how Yorùbá attaches a relative clause directly after the noun it describes, using tí plus an ordinary clause, rather than a separate relative pronoun system with case marking.
- By the end of the chapter, you should be able to write and speak descriptive profiles of people, places, and things using relative clauses, and to recognize — without yet producing — relative clauses combined with focus or negation.
Core Vocabulary
This chapter's vocabulary supports description of people, places, and objects: everyday descriptive adjectives, location words, and terms for shops, houses, and neighbors.
| Yorùbá | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ilé | house | recycled Volume I vocabulary |
| ọjà | market | recycled Volume II vocabulary |
| ìtajà | shop / store | recycled Volume II vocabulary |
| ẹnu ọ̀nà | gate / doorway | new productive item |
| aládùúgbò | neighbor | new productive item |
| aláwọ̀ búlúù | blue-colored (one) | new productive item, modifier compound |
| tí ó jìnnà sí | that is far from | relative-clause frame with locative meaning |
| tí ó súnmọ́ | that is near / close to | relative-clause frame with locative meaning |
| Yorùbá | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| obìnrin tí ó ń ta ẹ̀wà | the woman who sells beans | modeled full relative-clause phrase |
| ọkùnrin tí mo mọ̀ | the man whom I know | modeled full relative-clause phrase |
| ọmọdé | child | recycled Volume I vocabulary |
| arúgbó | elder / elderly person | recycled Volume II vocabulary |
| tí à ń pè ní | who/that is called | new productive item, used for naming/identifying |
Pronunciation and Orthography Focus
As noun phrases grow longer with a head noun, a relative marker, and a full clause, learners often start to rush or flatten tone in the middle of the phrase, especially on tí itself and on the pronoun that follows it. Tí carries a high tone and must not be reduced to an unmarked or low-toned syllable, even in fast speech.
- Practice saying obìnrin tí ó ń ta ẹ̀wà ("the woman who sells beans") slowly at first, keeping every tone mark distinct, then again at a natural pace.
- Pause briefly after the head noun and before tí when first practicing, then gradually smooth the phrase into one connected unit.
- Read the model dialogue below aloud twice: once noticing where each relative clause begins and ends, and once at natural conversational speed.
Copy out the four modeled relative-clause phrases from the vocabulary tables above, marking every tone by hand or by typing. Compare against the table. This continues the Tone and Orthography Checkpoint self-review established in Chapters 1 through 4.
Grammar and Sentence Patterns
This chapter develops tí relative clauses productively, building on the receptive/formulaic exposure from Chapters 3 and 4. It also expands noun phrases by combining relative clauses with possession, demonstratives, and modifiers.
Introduced: `tí` relative clauses
- Ilé tí ó ní ẹnu ọ̀nà aláwọ̀ búlúù ni ti Bàbá Adé. The house that has a blue gate is Bàbá Adé's. subject relative clause: tí + ó ní ... describes ilé
- Ìwé tí mo rà ní ọjà lánàá ti sọnù. The book that I bought at the market yesterday has gotten lost. object relative clause: tí + mo rà ... describes ìwé, the object of rà
Introduced: Subject relative clauses and object relative clauses
In a subject relative clause, the head noun is understood as the subject of the verb inside the relative clause; a weak subject pronoun such as ó or wọ́n usually appears right after tí to represent that subject. In an object relative clause, the head noun is understood as the object of the verb inside the relative clause; the object position after the verb stays empty, since the head noun outside the clause already fills that role in meaning.
- Ọkùnrin tí ó ń ṣiṣẹ́ ní ilé iṣẹ́ àfìwéránṣẹ́ ni aládùúgbò mi. The man who works at the post office is my neighbor. subject relative: tí + ó ń ṣiṣẹ́ ... describes ọkùnrin
- Ọmọdé tí a rí lánàá jẹ́ ọmọ aládùúgbò wa. The child whom we saw yesterday is our neighbor's child. object relative: tí + a rí (empty object slot) ... describes ọmọdé
Notice that the relative clause does not change the basic SVO shape of the sentence that contains it. The relative clause simply expands the noun phrase; the larger sentence around it keeps its own subject, verb, and object in their usual positions.
English uses different relative pronouns depending on whether the head noun is a person ("who"), a thing ("which"), or either ("that"), and it sometimes drops the relative pronoun entirely ("the book I bought"). Yorùbá uses a single relative marker, tí, regardless of whether the head noun is a person, an animal, a thing, or a place, and tí is not optional the way English "that" sometimes is. Learners transferring English patterns often try to invent separate words for "who" versus "which"; Yorùbá does not require this distinction.
The reading passage below contains one place where a relative clause combines with focus ("it is the house that...") and one place where a relative clause combines with negation ("the person who did not..."). As in earlier chapters, this is recognition-only material; full instruction of relative clauses combined with focus and negation begins in later chapters of this unit.
Model Dialogue
Ipò: Adé ń ṣàlàyé fún ẹ̀gbọ́n rẹ̀ tí ó ṣẹ̀ṣẹ̀ dé nípa àwọn ilé àti ènìyàn tí ó wà nítòsí.
Setting: Adé is explaining to a cousin who has just arrived about the houses and people nearby.
Guided Practice
- Combine each pair of short sentences into one sentence using tí: (a) Mo ní ìwé kan. Ìwé náà ṣòro. (b) Obìnrin kan ń gbé lẹ́gbẹ̀ẹ́ wa. Ó ń kọ́ni ní ilé ìwé. (c) Mo rí ilé kan lánàá. Ilé náà ní ẹnu ọ̀nà aláwọ̀ búlúù.
- In the model dialogue, underline every relative clause introduced by tí. For each one, identify whether it is a subject relative clause or an object relative clause.
- Find the sentence in the dialogue where two relative clauses describe the same head noun. Identify both clauses and explain what each one adds.
- Locate the one focus-plus-relative-clause sentence and the one negation-plus-relative-clause sentence in the reading passage below. Identify what each one describes or corrects; do not attempt to produce a new sentence combining relative clauses with focus or negation yet.
Listening Practice
Ask an instructor, study partner, or qualified Yorùbá speaker to read the passage below aloud at a natural pace, or read it aloud yourself and then cover it before answering.
If no speaker is available, this is a Listening Script for Independent Use. Machine text-to-speech must be checked by a qualified Yorùbá speaker before use as a pronunciation model.
"Nínú àdúgbò kan, obìnrin kan tí gbogbo ènìyàn mọ̀ ń gbé nítòsí ọjà. Ilé tí ó ní ẹnu ọ̀nà aláwọ̀ búlúù ni ilé rẹ̀, àti pé ó jẹ́ ilé tí ó súnmọ́ sí igi ńlá kan tí ó ti wà níbẹ̀ láti ọ̀pọ̀ ọdún sẹ́yìn. Ọmọ tí ó ń ràn án lọ́wọ́ nínú ìtajà rẹ̀ jẹ́ ọmọdékùnrin tí ó ti mọ̀ ọ́n láti ọjọ́ ìbí rẹ̀. Ilé tí ẹnìkan kò tíì tọ̀ jẹ́ ilé tí ó wà lẹ́gbẹ̀ẹ́ ọjà, torí pé ẹni náà ṣẹ̀ṣẹ̀ kúrò láti ọ̀nà jíjìn. Ìyẹn gan-an ni ilé tí ọ̀pọ̀lọpọ̀ ń wá mọ̀ nípa rẹ̀ nísinsìnyí."
1. Where does the woman that everyone knows live, and what does her house look like?
2. Who helps her in her shop, and how long has he known her?
3. Identify the sentence that describes the house that no one has yet visited. Why has no one visited it?
4. Identify one relative clause that describes a place and one that describes a person.
Iṣẹ́ rẹ — Your task: Answer the four questions above in complete Yorùbá sentences.
Speaking Practice
Tier 1 — Supported
Using three sentence pairs from this chapter (two short sentences and their combined relative-clause version), practice saying each pair aloud, noticing where tí appears.
Tier 2 — Guided
With a partner or on your own, describe five people, places, or objects in your own neighborhood, using at least two subject-relative-clause sentences and two object-relative-clause sentences.
Tier 3 — Independent
Give a one- to two-minute connected description of a neighborhood, real or invented, in which you describe at least three people, places, or objects using relative clauses, at least one of which combines a relative clause with possession or a demonstrative. Record yourself if possible and self-check against the Tone and Orthography Checkpoint below.
Reading Practice
Ilé Tí A Ń Wá
Adé béèrè lọ́wọ́ aládùúgbò rẹ̀ pé, "Ǹjẹ́ o mọ ilé tí Bàbá Kúnlé ń gbé?" Aládùúgbò náà dáhùn pé, "Bẹ́ẹ̀ ni, ilé tí ó ní òrùlé pupa ni tirẹ̀, ó sì súnmọ́ ilé ìtajà nla." Adé sì tún béèrè pé, "Ọkùnrin tí kò tíì dá owó padà fún mi ha ń gbé lẹ́gbẹ̀ẹ́ rẹ̀?" Aládùúgbò náà rẹ́rìn-ín, ó ní, "Rárá o, ilé tí ọkùnrin yẹn ń gbé jẹ́ èyí tí ó jìnnà sí ibí yìí. Ilé tí Bàbá Kúnlé ń gbé ni tí a ń wá, kì í ṣe ti ọkùnrin yẹn." Adé dúpẹ́, ó sì tẹ̀ síwájú láti wá ilé tí a ṣàpèjúwe fún un.
1. What does Bàbá Kúnlé's house look like, according to the neighbor?
2. Who is the man that has not yet paid Adé back, and where does he live?
3. Find the sentence near the end that combines focus with a relative clause to clarify which house Adé is looking for. What is being clarified?
Iṣẹ́ rẹ — Your task: Answer the three questions above. For Question 3, simply identify the focus-plus-relative-clause construction and explain its meaning; do not attempt to construct a new sentence combining focus and a relative clause on your own yet.
Writing Workshop
Write a connected descriptive profile of 90–120 words with full tone marks and dot-under letters throughout, describing a person, a place, and an object in your life, using subject relative clauses, object relative clauses, and at least one expanded noun phrase that combines a relative clause with possession or a demonstrative.
Include
- at least 1 subject relative clause with tí
- at least 1 object relative clause with tí
- at least 1 noun phrase combining a relative clause with possession or a demonstrative
- clear reference so a reader can tell who or what each clause describes
Avoid
- producing new focus-plus-relative-clause constructions
- producing new negation-plus-relative-clause constructions
- inventing separate words for "who" versus "which"
- dropping tí the way English sometimes drops "that"
- Every vowel that should carry a high or low tone mark has one.
- Every mid-tone syllable is left correctly unmarked.
ẹ,ọ, andṣare distinguished frome,o, andsthroughout.- Tone on tí and on the pronoun that follows it is correct in every relative clause.
- No unscheduled focus-plus-relative-clause or negation-plus-relative-clause construction has been produced independently.
Culture and Communication
When describing a person in conversation, many Yorùbá speakers identify someone first by relationship, role, or a well-known activity — "the woman who sells beans," "the man who works at the post office" — rather than by name alone, especially when the listener may not yet know the person's name. This pattern makes relative clauses a natural, everyday tool for introducing and identifying people in a community, not just a formal grammatical device.
Common Mistakes
Error: Producing a sentence such as *ìwé mo rà ní ọjà ti sọnù, omitting tí before the relative clause on the model of English "the book I bought is lost."
Correction: Keep tí in place, as in ìwé tí mo rà ní ọjà ti sọnù ("the book that I bought at the market is lost"). Unlike English "that," Yorùbá tí is not optional in a relative clause.
Error: Trying to use one word for people and a different word for things, on the model of English "who" versus "which," when describing a person versus an object.
Correction: Use tí for both, as in obìnrin tí ó ń ta ẹ̀wà ("the woman who sells beans") and ilé tí ó ní ẹnu ọ̀nà aláwọ̀ búlúù ("the house that has a blue gate"). Yorùbá does not distinguish relative markers by whether the head noun is a person or a thing.
Chapter Summary
This chapter introduced tí relative clauses as a productive Yorùbá grammar system, developing both subject relative clauses and object relative clauses, and expanded noun phrases by combining relative clauses with possession and demonstratives. You practiced describing people, places, and objects clearly, wrote a descriptive profile, and continued to notice, without producing, relative clauses combined with focus and negation in supported reading material.
Chapter Review
Apá A — Ìṣàyẹ̀wò Gírámà (Grammar Check)
1. Explain the difference between a subject relative clause and an object relative clause, using one example of each from this chapter.
2. Why can tí not be dropped from a Yorùbá relative clause the way "that" is sometimes dropped in English?
Apá B — Ìṣàyẹ̀wò Ara Ẹni (Self-Check)
1. Did you find subject relative clauses or object relative clauses easier to produce? Why?
2. Where in your own speaking or writing did you catch yourself trying to drop tí or invent a separate word for "which"?
Ìfojúsí ẹkọ̀ tẹ́lẹ̀ — Cumulative review check
Before continuing to Chapter 6, confirm you can do the following:
- Form at least two subject relative clauses and two object relative clauses with tí.
- Combine a relative clause with possession or a demonstrative in at least one noun phrase.
- Describe a person, a place, and an object clearly enough for a listener or reader to identify each one.
- Combine relative clauses with focus constructions and serial verbs from Chapters 3 and 4 in a single connected account.
Practical Performance Task
Iṣẹ́ aṣeyọrí — Abala 5
Ìṣàpèjúwe Àdúgbò — A Neighborhood Description
Produce a connected spoken and written description of a neighborhood, real or invented, identifying and describing at least three people, places, or objects using relative clauses.
- Speaking: Deliver a one- to two-minute connected spoken description (Speaking Practice, Tier 3).
- Writing: Submit your 90–120 word written profile (Writing Workshop).
- Self-review: Complete the Tone and Orthography Checkpoint for both your spoken notes and written account.
Assessment note: This task provides formative evidence of your developing subject-relative-clause and object-relative-clause control, and of expanded noun phrases combining relative clauses with possession or demonstratives. Focus-plus-relative-clause and negation-plus-relative-clause constructions are not assessed as independent production in this chapter.
Answer Key
Listening Practice Questions
- She lives near the market, in a house that has a blue gate and is near a big tree that has stood there for many years.
- A young boy who has known her since his birth helps her in her shop.
- The sentence is "Ilé tí ẹnìkan kò tíì tọ̀ jẹ́ ilé tí ó wà lẹ́gbẹ̀ẹ́ ọjà" (the house that no one has yet visited is the house that is beside the market); no one has visited it because the owner has just returned from a distant journey.
- A relative clause describing a place: "ilé tí ó ní ẹnu ọ̀nà aláwọ̀ búlúù" (the house that has a blue gate). A relative clause describing a person: "ọmọ tí ó ń ràn án lọ́wọ́" (the child who helps her).
Reading Practice Questions
- Bàbá Kúnlé's house has a red roof and is near a big shop.
- The man who has not yet paid Adé back lives far from that place, according to the neighbor.
- The sentence is "Ilé tí Bàbá Kúnlé ń gbé ni tí a ń wá, kì í ṣe ti ọkùnrin yẹn" (it is the house where Bàbá Kúnlé lives that we are looking for, not that of that man), clarifying which house is actually being sought.
Guided Practice — Sample Combined Sentences
(a) Ìwé tí mo ní ṣòro. (b) Obìnrin tí ó ń gbé lẹ́gbẹ̀ẹ́ wa ń kọ́ni ní ilé ìwé. (c) Ilé tí mo rí lánàá ní ẹnu ọ̀nà aláwọ̀ búlúù.
Chapter Review — Apá A
1. In a subject relative clause, the head noun is the subject of the relative clause's verb, as in "obìnrin tí ó ń ta ẹ̀wà" (the woman who sells beans); in an object relative clause, the head noun is the object of the relative clause's verb, as in "ìwé tí mo rà" (the book that I bought). 2. Yorùbá tí is a required relative marker rather than an optional connector; unlike English "that," it cannot be omitted from the clause.
Chapter Review — Apá B
Self-check items have no single fixed answer. Confirm your responses against the cumulative review checklist above.
Looking Ahead
Ohun tí o lè ṣe báyìí — What you can do now
You can now form subject relative clauses and object relative clauses with tí, expand noun phrases by combining relative clauses with possession and demonstratives, and describe people, places, and objects clearly enough for someone else to recognize them. You continue to recognize, without producing, relative clauses combined with focus and negation.