Ritual Intonation of Yoruba Praise-Poetry (Oríkì)

Among the Yoruba people of S. W. Nigeria, there are innumerable poetic genres, or manners of intonation, rigidly prescribed by ritual convention (labelled simply “chant” in the West). Some of these genres—notably Ijálá and Rárà—have already been treated by scholars at the textual and/or linguistic levels. Śangó praise-poetry has hitherto received attention only from the literary standpoint. In a recent classification of indigenous poetic genres (Olatunji), the rendering of ritual praise-poetry with a particular intonation is given the name Pípé Òrìşá: for each órìşá, or deity, Pìpè has its own characteristic intonation. Thus, a sub-genre of Pìpè Òrìşá (the religious counterpart to the aforementioned secular Rárá chanting) is here referred to as Şángó-Pìpé. Literally, pìpè (pronounced KPEE-KPAY) means “to call or summon;” the indigenous term pìpè òrìşà derives from a specific moment in a cult ceremony when the priest or priestess invokes the òrìşá.