yoruba intelligence,
distilled.

YorubaGPT is a specialized Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot designed to understand and communicate in the Yorùbá language. It is built upon OpenAI's powerful language model technology but has been specifically instructed to act as an expert in Yorùbá language, culture, history, and traditions. The primary goal of this project is to create a modern, accessible, and engaging platform for the preservation and promotion of the Yorùbá heritage. It serves as a digital bridge, connecting a global audience with the richness of one of West Africa's most prominent cultures.

This platform is designed for a diverse audience. This includes:

• Native Speakers: Who can interact with an AI in their mother tongue, explore proverbs, and see their language represented in modern technology.
• Language Learners: Students of the Yorùbá language can use YorubaGPT as a practice partner, asking for translations, definitions, and sentence structures. It's a supplementary tool for learning.
• The Yoruba Diaspora: For those living outside of Yorubaland, this chatbot is a way to reconnect with their roots, expose their children to the language, and explore cultural nuances they may not have access to daily.
• Researchers and Academics: Scholars in linguistics, anthropology, and African studies can use the tool to explore linguistic patterns or get quick, context-aware information on cultural concepts.
• The Curious: Anyone with an interest in African languages, cultures, or the application of AI in new domains will find YorubaGPT to be a fascinating and educational experience.

This is a critical question. YorubaGPT is powered by a large language model (LLM), which is trained on a vast dataset of text from the internet. While it is highly capable, it is not infallible. The AI generates responses based on patterns it has learned, which means it can sometimes produce inaccurate information, misinterpret context, or "hallucinate" facts. It is essential to treat YorubaGPT as a knowledgeable but not an absolute authority. For critical academic, historical, or personal matters, you should always verify the information with trusted human experts and scholarly sources. Do not share any personal, sensitive, or confidential information in your conversations.

Absolutely. While YorubaGPT is not a structured, curriculum-based language course, it is an incredibly powerful supplementary tool for learning. You can ask it to: translate words and phrases from English to Yoruba (and vice-versa), explain the meaning of complex proverbs (òwe), construct sentences for you, and clarify grammar rules. The interactive nature of a chatbot makes learning dynamic and engaging. You can practice your conversational skills in a judgment-free environment. However, for a comprehensive education, it is best used in conjunction with formal lessons, textbooks, and practice with native speakers.

Diacritics are the dots and marks placed below or above letters in the Yoruba alphabet. They are not optional decorations; they are fundamental to the meaning of words. The two primary types of diacritics are tonal marks (for pitch) and dots under letters (for vowel sound). The dots appear under the letters 'E' (ẹ), 'O' (ọ), and 'S' (ṣ) to create unique sounds distinct from their plain counterparts. For example, 'e' is pronounced like the 'a' in 'gate', while 'ẹ' is like the 'e' in 'get'. Similarly, 'o' is like the 'o' in 'go', while 'ọ' is like the 'aw' in 'law'. The letter 'ṣ' represents the "sh" sound, as in 'shoe', distinct from the 's' sound in 'sun'. Without diacritics, the written Yoruba language becomes highly ambiguous and loses its precise meaning.

Yoruba is a tonal language, meaning the pitch of your voice when pronouncing a syllable changes the word's meaning entirely. There are three primary tones:

• High Tone: Marked with an acute accent (´), like in 'bé'. The pitch is high.
• Mid Tone: Usually left unmarked, like in 'be'. The pitch is neutral.
• Low Tone: Marked with a grave accent (`), like in 'bè'. The pitch is low.

The classic example to illustrate the power of tones is the word 'oko'. Spelled the same, its meaning is transformed by tones: oko (mid-mid) means 'farm' or 'hoe', ọkọ (low-mid) means 'husband', ọkọ̀ (low-low) means 'vehicle' or 'spear', and ókó (high-high) refers to a part of the male anatomy. This is why paying attention to tonal marks is crucial for both understanding and being understood in Yoruba.

Proverbs are the bedrock of Yoruba rhetoric and wisdom. The famous saying, "Òwe lẹṣin ọ̀rọ̀; bí ọ̀rọ̀ bá sọnù, òwe la fi ń wá a," translates to "A proverb is the horse that can carry a subject to its conclusion; if a matter is lost, a proverb is used to find it." This encapsulates their importance. Proverbs are used to teach morals, offer advice, comment on situations with nuance, and demonstrate intellectual and cultural depth. Instead of being direct, elders often use proverbs to guide and correct the young, allowing them to decipher the meaning themselves. Mastery of proverbs is a sign of wisdom and eloquence in Yoruba society.

The Òrìṣà (Orisha) are deities or divine spirits in the Yoruba traditional religion. They are not seen as separate gods in a polytheistic sense, but rather as emanations or intermediaries of the one Supreme Being, known as Olódùmarè (or Olórun). Each Òrìṣà represents a specific aspect of nature, humanity, or the cosmos. For example, Ṣàngó is the Òrìṣà of thunder, lightning, and justice. Ọ̀ṣun is the Òrìṣà of rivers, love, beauty, and fertility. Ògún is the Òrìṣà of iron, war, and technology. These deities are not distant figures; they are believed to actively engage with the world and can be communicated with through rituals, offerings, and divination, most notably the Ifá divination system.

Respect (ìbọ̀wọ̀) is a cornerstone of Yoruba culture, and it is most visibly expressed through greetings. Greetings are not a mere formality; they are a vital social lubricant that acknowledges age, status, and the time of day. There are specific greetings for waking up (Ẹ káàárọ̀), for the afternoon (Ẹ káàsán), for the evening (Ẹ káàlẹ́), and for welcoming someone (Ẹ káàbọ̀). Younger individuals are expected to show deference to elders, which can involve prostrating (ìdọ̀bálẹ̀) for males or kneeling (ìkúnlẹ̀) for females, although these practices vary. Using plural pronouns like 'ẹ' instead of 'o' when addressing an elder or someone of high status is also a mandatory sign of respect. Failure to greet properly can be seen as a sign of poor upbringing.

YorubaGPT is built using the API for one of OpenAI's Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) models, such as gpt-3.5-turbo or GPT-4. These models are designed for advanced natural language understanding and generation. The "magic" of YorubaGPT comes from the specific "system prompt" and instructions given to the base model. This prompt guides the AI to adopt the persona of a Yoruba cultural expert, prioritize the Yoruba language, and follow the specific conversational rules set by the developers. The performance and knowledge of the chatbot are therefore a combination of the raw power of the underlying OpenAI model and the quality of the specialized instructions it operates under.