ogun

See also: Ogun, Ogún, and Ogün

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Proposed to have derived from Proto-Yoruboid *ó-gwũ. Cognates include Ifè ogu, Igala ógwu, and Olukumi ogun. Likely related to Nupe ekun and Gbari ekun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ō.ɡũ̄/

Noun

ogun

1. war, battle (physical or mental)

   ogun àgbáyé ― world war

   Ogun ti ja gbogbo ilú wa.

   A war has ravaged all of our cities.

   • 2008 December 19, Yiwola Awoyale, Global Yoruba Lexical Database v. 1.0‎, number LDC2008L03, Philadelphia: Linguistic Data Consortium, →DOI, →ISBN:

     Ìlérí ilé kò mọ ti à ń jagun; kùfẹ̀kùfẹ̀ kò mọ ìjà; ijọ́ tí a bá rí ogun là á mọ ojo.

     Boasting at home has nothing to do with waging a war; bragging has nothing to do with fighting; it is the day of battle that we know the coward. (proverb against boasting or bragging)

   • 2008 December 19, Yiwola Awoyale, Global Yoruba Lexical Database v. 1.0‎, number LDC2008L03, Philadelphia: Linguistic Data Consortium, →DOI, →ISBN:

     Ọ̀rẹ́ẹ̀ mí gbogun tì mí lẹ́nu iṣẹ́.

     My friend was waging a war against me at work.

Derived terms

• adágundúródàgbàlagbà (“one who stops a war from reaching the elderly”)
• aságun (“deserter”)
• ẹgbẹ́ ọmọ-ogun (“army, armed forces”)
• ẹgbẹ́ ọmọ-ogun orí-omi (“navy”)
• ẹgbẹ́ ọmọ-ogun òfuurufú (“air force”)
• jagun-jagun (“soldier”)
• ogun abẹ́lé (“civil war”)
• ogun-àjàkúakátá (“fight-to-finish war or battle”)
• ogunkógun (“a particularly bad war”)
• ológun (“warrior, soldier”)
• Ológun (“name derived from ológun”)
• olórí ogun (“commander, general”)

Descendants

• → Gullah: ogun
• → Lucumí: ogún
• → Trinidadian Creole English: ogun

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ō.ɡũ̄/

Noun

ogun

1. a black mangrove tree (Avicennia africana)

Etymology 3

Yoruba numbers ^(edit)

		200
←  10	←  19	20	21  →	30  →
		2
Cardinal: ogún     Counting: ogún     Adjectival: ogún     Ordinal: ogún     Adverbial: ìgbà ogún     Distributive: ogoogún     Collective: gbogbo ogún     Fractional: ìdá ogún

Proposed to have derived from Proto-Yoruboid *ōgwṵ́. Cognates include Ifè ogú, Igbo ọgụ, Igala ógwú, Itsekiri ogun, and Olukumi ọgbọ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ō.ɡṹ/

Numeral

ogún

1. twenty

   ogún náírà ― twenty naira

   Eélòó ni ìwé yìí? — Ogún dọ́là ni.

   How much is this book? — It's twenty dollars.

   Synonym: okòó

   • 2008 December 19, Yiwola Awoyale, quoting C. L. Adéoyè, Àṣà àti Ìṣe Yoruba‎, number LDC2008L03, 1979, Ibadan: Oxford University Press, page 46, quoted in Global Yoruba Lexical Database v. 1.0, Philadelphia: Linguistic Data Consortium, →DOI, →ISBN:

     Ogún ọmọ ni mo bí, ọmọọ koríko; ọgbọ̀n ọmọ ni mo bí, ọmọ èrùwà; kàkà kì a bí ẹgbàá ọ̀bùn, bí a bí ọ̀kan ṣoṣo ọ̀gá, ó tó.

     (If I boast that) it was twenty children that I gave birth to, they are weeds children; (if I boast that) it was thirty children that I gave birth to, they are grass children; rather than give birth to two thousand children, if we give birth to one distinguished children, that is enough. (proverb on quality children)

   1. (after a noun) twentieth

      Ojú ewé kelòó l'a kà kẹ́hìn? — Ojú ewé ogún l'a kà.

      Which page did we read last? — We read the twentieth page last.

Usage notes

Since this number does not have a m-based form, similar to other multiples of ten afterwards, if it's describing a total number of items, it comes before the noun.

1. ọmọ ogún ọdún ni mi. – I am twenty years old.
2. ọmọ ọdún méjìlélógún ni mi. – I am twenty-two years old.

However, if it is describing an ordinal sequence, it comes after the noun.

1. Ọmọ ogún l'ó jẹ́. – He's the twentieth child.

Derived terms

• ogoogún (“all twenty”)
• ogóje (“one hundred and forty”)
• ogójì (“forty”)
• ogún ogún (“twenty by twenty”)
• ológún (“owner of twenty”)
• ọgọ́fà (“one hundred and twenty”)
• ọgọ́jọ (“one hundred and sixty”)
• ọgọ́rin (“eighty”)
• ọgọ́rùn-ún (“one hundred”)
• ọgọ́sàn-án (“one hundred and eighty”)
• ọgọ́ta (“sixty”)
• (only used to form àádọ́wàá (“one hundred and ninety”)) ọgọ́wàá (“two hundred”)

Descendants

→ Lucumí: ogún

Etymology 4

Cognates include Ifè ogú and Igala ógwú, from Proto-Yoruboid *ó-gwṹ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ō.ɡṹ/

Noun

ogún

1. heritage, inheritance, legacy

   owó-orí sísan lórí ogún ― inheritance tax

   • 2008 December 19, Yiwola Awoyale, Global Yoruba Lexical Database v. 1.0‎, number LDC2008L03, Philadelphia: Linguistic Data Consortium, →DOI, →ISBN:

     Agbójúlógún faraa rẹ̀ fòṣì ta

     Anyone who builds his hope on some future legacy will become vulnerable to destitution. (proverb against irrational expectation)

Derived terms

• ajogún (“heir”)
• ajogún-ìgbàlà (“inheritor of salvation”)
• ogúnkógún (“bad inheritance”)
• orogún (“co-wife”)
• ìwé ìpíngún (“legal will”)

References

• Anderson, Gregory D.S., Bolanle Arokoyo and K. David Harrison. 2012. Olùkùmi Talking Dictionary. Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. http://www.talkingdictionary.org/olukumi
• Awoyale, Yiwola (19 December 2008), Global Yoruba Lexical Database v. 1.0‎, number LDC2008L03, Philadelphia: Linguistic Data Consortium, →DOI, →ISBN
• Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (1992), Quadrilingual Glossary of Legislative Terms (English-Hausa-Igbo-Yoruba), Lagos: Federal Cabinet Office and Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council
• Salem Ǒchála È̩jè̩bá (2016), A Grammar of Ígálâ, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria: The Linguistic Association of Nigeria (LAN), →ISBN
• SIL International (2016), Dictionnaire Ifè‎ (in French)