Beyond acknowledging the different parts of the day, kú can also be used to offer compliments. For example kú iṣẹ́, which suggests greeting the greetee for being invested in a particular activity. This particular greeting can be offered both genuinely and sarcastically by the greeter. Iṣẹ́ means work, job.
Another chief function of kú is to offer felicitations. Ọdún and ayẹyẹ mean festival and celebration respectively. When felicitations are intended to be given, we say kú ayẹyẹ or kú ọdún. The particular ayẹyẹ and ọdún being greeted for can be further described by adding words embodying them to the greeting, for example, kú ọdún tuntun, kú ayẹyẹ ìṣílé, where tuntun and ìṣílé mean “new” and “housewarming” respectively.
As it has been established that kú is used to acknowledge the experience of the one being greeted, it also functions to salute the greetee for enduring or surviving an event or episode. Ẹ (more on Ẹ in the next paragraph) kú ewu ọmọ is used to greet a woman who have just given birth and her well wishers for surviving the risk of childbirth. Ewu means risk or danger, while ọmọ is child. Ẹ kú ewu ọkọ̀ is used for someone who has just landed from a long trip. Ọkọ̀ is the general expression for vehicles.
It is important to note that Yoruba greetings put status and hierarchy into consideration when expressing the utterances in question. Ẹ represents the word “you” when used for two or more people, in other words, Ẹ is the plural “you”. Ẹ however, can also be used to address one person in the process of greeting. Here, it suggests respect for the greetee. Therefore kú àárọ̀ when used for one person with honour is presented as ẹ kú àárọ̀. Ẹ as expected performs its original function of plurality in situations when it is used for two or more people. It remains the same ẹ kú àárọ̀ when addressed to two or more people regardless of their status and hierarchies.
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