USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Yoruba Affairs - Google AI on Olabiyi Yai

Wow, I never could have thought that it has been four years since OBY passed away. He was my first undergraduate academic supervisor. What a great thinker!

Funny enough, Baba Awise Agbaye, Professor Wande Abimbola, and I spent almost one hour on the phone talking about Olabiyi Yai two days ago. The fact of the matter is that no genius has ever passed through our terrestrial space with a deeper understanding of the idea of Yorubaness and the systemic text linguistics of the language than Yai. With his unique knowledge to write deeply in French, Spanish, Portuguese, English, his native Egun, and Yoruba, his endowment for intellection was non-pareil!

Thanks, Oluwatoyin, for giving us a a quick peek into this man's uniqueness.

MOA

On Monday, September 30, 2024 at 04:30:32 AM GMT+1, Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovdepoju@gmail.com> wrote:

Olabiyi Babalola Yai (1939-2020) was a Yoruba studies expert and polymath who wrote about the Yoruba language and culture, including the concept of ori: 

• Yoruba language

  Yai used the Yoruba language to differentiate between innovations that are in line with norms and those that are not. For example, the verb dá means "to break, to split, to create, to depart". Dá àṣà means "to innovate, to create a new style". 
• Ori

  In the Yoruba religion, ori is a vessel that processes conscious thought. Ifa elders often point to their heart when admonishing someone to think clearly, rather than their head. 
• Scholarship

  Yai's work was described as an exercise in textural sculpture, with a range and sturdiness similar to mountain rocks or ancient trees. His scholarship was influenced by his knowledge of Euro-American, Lusophonism, and Afro-Brazilian cultures, but he always linked them back to their original African roots. 

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