A descriptive grammar of Yoruba, a major West African language spoken by over twelve million people, first published in 1966.

In important respects, this book represents an independent approach to Yoruba grammar. It attempts to present the Yoruba language as it really is, rather than as seen largely from the perspective of other languages. The grammatical structure of the language is thus presented in a new way. The major parts of speech of the language are, for the first time, established uniformly on the criteria of function alone. A chapter is devoted to a systematic and novel treatment of each such part of speech, related both to the wide array of sentence types, and to its sounds and the way they are combined in words.

First published in 1921, and cited on the Africa's Best 100 Books List, this is a standard work on the history of theYorubas from the earliest times to the beginning of the British Protectorate. The first part of the book discusses the people, theircountry and language, religion, government, land law, manners and customs. The second part is divided into four periods, dealing first with mytheological kings and deified heroes; with the growth, prosperity and oppression of the Yoruba people; the time of revolutionary wars and disruption; and, finally, the arrest of disintegration, inter-tribal wars, and the coming of the British. There are two appendices, on dealing with treaties and agreements, the other giving tables of Yoruba kings, rulers, and chiefs. The book also includes an index and map of the Yoruba country.