A TRANSLATED DOCUMENTATION OF SOME SELECTED BRIDAL SONGS IN EKITI DIALECT OF YORUBA

ABSTRACT

The researcher is interested in the documentation of some selected Bridal songs in Ekiti dialect of Yoruba. In many parts of the world including Ekiti State, there is a neglect of bridal songs due to increased interest in modern music. These bridal songs are part and parcel of Ekiti people‘s cultural activities and should therefore be preserved. Nida and Taber's Dynamic equivalence translation was adopted which laid so much emphasis on the impactful meaning that a translated text have on the target audience rather than word for word translation that focused on the form of a text. The writer believes that the ultimate goal of this collection is to promote Ekiti Language and cultural heritage for the benefit of the present and future generations and the society at large. The bridal songs in this work are distinguished by several instructions and activities which includes: A call on the ancestors spirit, the entrance of the bride, Marital cautious, motherly commitment, cautious to other maidens, farewell from the bride to her parents and Transition/ departure of the bride to her new home. The bridal songs are categorized as performing the following functions: Educational, Economical, socio cultural and Religious functions. The researcher got her data through the primary and secondary methods of data collection where she conducted interviews with knowledgeable native speakers of Ekiti dialect, using a xii phone's video and audio recorder as her tools and made use of scholars work on translation and Folk songs. From this research, I was able to conclude that bridal songs in Ekiti dialect had never been worked on due to the lack of documentation, also found out that these songs are no longer used as they are been replaced by circular music which eventually results in their gradual extinction. it is therefore important to record and document these songs in order to preserve them.