Ẹ̀yà-ara Ẹ̀dá-ọmọ-ènìyàn

Description

The book Ẹ̀yà-Ara Ẹ̀dá-Ọmọ-Ènìyàn (parts of the human body) traces the etymology of body parts in the Yorùbá worldview through oral literature. 

All cultures and indigenous people have a distinct metalanguage for the parts of the human body, rooted in traditional knowledge and cosmology. So it is with my ancestors, whose depth of observation and appreciation of the situations and phenomena around them reached to their very core, a testament evident in the naming conventions for every part of the human body. Between the pages of this book are the meanings or reasons behind the names of body parts. It answers questions like, ‘why is the chest called so?’, ‘are there other terminologies for the kidney than the calqued ‘kíndìnrín’?’ That is not all; this book also contains accounts of herbs that have been tested as remedies for certain ailments of certain body parts.

Last but not least, it includes several proverbs and incantations that address specific parts of the human body. This book is far more than an exposé of the etymology or morphology of the body in Yorùbá; it is an archive of the pristine wisdom of our ancestors.