Does Maraba support Yoruba tonal diacritics like ẹ, ọ, and ṣ?

Yes — completely. Yoruba is a tonal language where diacritics like ẹ, ọ, ṣ, è, and é change the meaning of words entirely. Maraba preserves all tonal markers in transcripts and uses them correctly in TTS output. We never strip diacritics, which would produce inaccurate or meaningless text.

Can Maraba handle Yoruba and English code-switching typical of Lagos business calls?

Yes. Lagos Yoruba speakers frequently switch between Yoruba and English mid-conversation — 'Ẹ káàárọ̀, I want to check if the product is available.' Maraba tracks both languages and responds naturally without losing context. This is not a workaround — it's built in from the ground up.

Which cities does Maraba serve for Yoruba-speaking businesses?

Maraba is available across all of south-west Nigeria on MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile networks. Businesses in Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Akure, Ado-Ekiti, Oshogbo, Ijebu-Ode, and Sagamu can all use Maraba with Yoruba-language AI voice.

Is Maraba suitable for Lagos restaurants and retail shops with Yoruba-speaking customers?

Yes — restaurants, retail shops, pharmacies, and clinics in Lagos serving Yoruba-speaking customers are among our most common use cases. Maraba handles order queries, availability checks, and reservation requests entirely in Yoruba, freeing your staff to focus on in-store service.

Yoruba AI

Yoruba AI that sounds
like a Lagosian.

The only commercial AI voice platform with native Yoruba speech recognition and text-to-speech — tonal diacritics preserved, Lagos code-switching handled, 24/7. Built for south-west Nigerian businesses.

Request beta See Yoruba pricing Hear Maraba in Yoruba →

What Maraba's Yoruba AI actually does

Yoruba is one of the most tonal languages in the world. Most AI platforms strip the tonal markers and produce text that is either wrong or meaningless. Maraba doesn't.

🎙️

Yoruba Speech Recognition (STT)

Maraba transcribes spoken Yoruba accurately — Lagos, Ibadan, and Abeokuta accents included. Tonal diacritics (è, é, ẹ, ọ, ṣ) are preserved in every transcript.

🔊

Yoruba Text-to-Speech (TTS)

Maraba speaks back in natural Yoruba with correct tonal pronunciation. This is not transliterated English — it is genuine Yoruba TTS built for real caller interaction.

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Yoruba–English Code-Switching

Lagos Yoruba speakers switch between languages constantly. "Ẹ káàárọ̀, I want to check my order status" is a perfectly normal sentence. Maraba handles it without missing a beat.

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Real-time Language Detection

A single Yoruba word identifies the language within 800ms. Maraba responds immediately in Yoruba — no menus, no language selection, no friction for the caller.

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Tone-Accurate Transcripts

In Yoruba, ọba (king) and oba (to be) are different words. Maraba preserves the distinction. Your transcripts reflect what was actually said — not a corrupted approximation.

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English Summaries for Your Team

Even if the call was entirely in Yoruba, your post-call summary arrives in English — caller intent, key details, and action items — so your whole team can act without needing to speak Yoruba.

Yoruba tonal markers — handled with precision

Tone in Yoruba is grammatical, not decorative. These five markers change meaning entirely — and Maraba handles all of them correctly.

èlow tone — èsì (answer)

éhigh tone — épo (oil)

ẹopen e — ẹlẹdẹ (pig)

ọopen o — ọba (king)

ṣsh-sound — ṣiṣe (doing)

When a Lagos customer says "Mo fẹ́ mọ bí a ṣe lè ràn mí lọ́wọ́" (I want to know how you can help me), the transcript you receive is phonetically accurate — not broken by tone-stripping. This matters for any downstream system that processes call logs.

How a real Yoruba call sounds

This example shows Maraba handling a Lagos restaurant booking call — the caller opens in Yoruba, switches to English, and Maraba follows naturally.

1

Caller dials, speaks Yoruba greeting
"Ẹ káàárọ̀" is enough — Maraba identifies Yoruba in under 800ms and responds in Yoruba immediately.
2

Caller switches to English
Common in Lagos. Maraba tracks the switch and responds in English without any awkward pauses or misunderstandings.
3

Query answered from your knowledge base
Menu, table availability, opening hours, location — Maraba answers from what you've configured. Never guesses.
4

Summary on your WhatsApp in 60 seconds
Caller name, intent, and outcome arrive on your phone within a minute of the call ending — no login required.

Live call example — Lagos restaurant

Caller: Ẹ káàárọ̀! Mo fẹ́ mọ̀ bóyá ẹ ní ìjókòó fún ẹni mẹrin ní òru àná?

Maraba: Ẹ káàbọ̀! Bẹ̀ẹ̀ ni, a ní ìjókòó fún ẹni mẹrin lósán àti ní alẹ. Àkókò wo ni ẹ fẹ́ wá?

Caller: Tonight around 8pm — is that okay?

Maraba: Yes, we have a table for four available at 8pm tonight. Can I take your name to hold the reservation?

Caller: It's Adunola Olatunde.

Maraba: Perfect — table for four at 8pm tonight for Adunola Olatunde. We'll see you then! Is there anything else you'd like to know?

Integrate Yoruba STT via API

Developers can submit audio for Yoruba transcription and receive tone-accurate transcripts via the Maraba REST API.

# POST audio for Yoruba transcription
import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://maraba.ai/api/v1/transcribe/",
    headers={
        "X-API-Key": "your_api_key_here",
        "Accept": "application/json",
    },
    json={
        "audio_url": "https://storage.example.com/call-yoruba-001.wav",
        "language_hint": "yo",  # ISO 639-1 — Yoruba
        "preserve_diacritics": True,  # critical for Yoruba tones
    }
)

transcript = response.json()
# {
#   "text": "Ẹ káàárọ̀! Mo fẹ́ mọ̀ bóyá ẹ ní ìjókòó",
#   "language_detected": "yo",
#   "confidence": 0.95,
#   "diacritics_preserved": true
# }

Built for south-west Nigerian businesses

Any business in Lagos, Ibadan, or Abeokuta serving Yoruba-speaking customers can deploy Maraba in minutes.

🍽️ Lagos restaurants and food businesses

Reservation calls, menu enquiries, and delivery order updates — all handled in Yoruba and English. Your kitchen staff can focus on food instead of answering phones during rush hour.

🏥 Clinics serving south-west Nigeria

Yoruba-speaking elders often prefer not to speak English on the phone. Maraba meets them in their language — booking appointments, confirming doctor availability, and noting callback requests.

🏠 Real estate agents (Lagos Island, Ibadan)

Property enquiry calls in Yoruba — asking about rental prices, property availability, and viewing slots — are handled by Maraba 24/7. Never miss a lead because a property manager was in a meeting.

💊 Pharmacies (Abeokuta, Ibadan, Oshogbo)

Yoruba-speaking patients ask for stock checks, dosage information, and branch hours. Maraba handles these accurately from your knowledge base without a pharmacist being interrupted.

Where Maraba serves Yoruba-speaking businesses

Available on all Nigerian networks across every south-west state and the FCT.

Lagos Ibadan Abeokuta Akure Ado-Ekiti Oshogbo Ile-Ife Ijebu-Ode Sagamu Ogbomosho Ilorin Abuja (FCT)

Frequently asked questions

Common questions from Lagos and south-west Nigerian business owners about Maraba's Yoruba AI.

Does Maraba preserve Yoruba tonal diacritics like ẹ, ọ, and ṣ?

Yes — completely. Tone in Yoruba is grammatical. Stripping diacritics produces meaningless or incorrect text. Maraba never strips Yoruba tonal markers in transcripts or TTS processing. ọba (king) stays ọba, not oba.

Can Maraba handle the Yoruba–English code-switching common in Lagos?

Yes. Lagos Yoruba speakers frequently switch between Yoruba and English within a single sentence. This is not an edge case — it is the norm. Maraba is trained to handle it naturally and responds in whichever language the caller is currently using.

Which cities does Maraba serve for Yoruba businesses?

Maraba is available across all of south-west Nigeria — Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Akure, Ado-Ekiti, Oshogbo, Ilorin, and more. All calls route through Africa's Talking on MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile. No special equipment needed.

Is Maraba more accurate than standard Whisper for Yoruba?

Yes. Standard Whisper is trained overwhelmingly on English data and performs poorly on Yoruba, particularly with tonal accuracy. Maraba's Yoruba STT is fine-tuned specifically on Nigerian Yoruba voices from Lagos, Ibadan, and Abeokuta — making it significantly more accurate for real-world business calls.

Is there a Yoruba STT API for developers?

Yes. Use the Maraba REST API at /api/v1/ with language_hint "yo" for Yoruba. Authentication uses X-API-Key header only. Full documentation is in the developer portal at maraba.ai/developer/.

Yoruba AI that soundslike a Lagosian.