Greetings in Yoruba in addition to their primary function as expressions of salutations, also encode honour, prayers and good wishes.
Unless a person is saluting himself or herself ( which is also possible), Yoruba greetings usually happen between two parties who for the purpose of this writing we shall call the greeter: the giver, and the greetee: the receiver.
While there are a number of situation-specific ways to express greetings in Yoruba, the word kú particularly plays a generic role in bringing greetings to live.
Kú can be used alongside time, place, events or whatever is desired to be greeted for. While Kú does not have a particular meaning based on translation to other languages, it can be imagined as a salutation element which the greeter uses to acknowledge the experience of the greetee regarding what the greetee are being greeted for.
For example, to greet for the morning, the Yoruba would say kú àárọ̀ which would suggest that one is being greeted for experiencing the morning. In the same vein:
Kú ọ̀sán is used when one is being greeted for the afternoon
Kú ìròlẹ́ is used when one is being greeted for the early part of the evening
Kú alẹ́ is when one is being greeted for the night.
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