Igbo language - Wikipedia

Igbo language - Wikipedia
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Niger–Congo language of the Igbo people, mainly spoken in Nigeria
Igbo
Ásụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò
Pronunciation
[ásʊ̀sʊ̀
ìɡ͡bò]
Native to
Nigeria
Region
Igboland
Abia
Anambra
Ebonyi
Enugu
Imo
; native speakers are also found in parts of
Delta State
and
Rivers State
Ethnicity
Igbo
Native speakers
34 million (2023)
Language family
Niger–Congo
Atlantic–Congo
Volta–Congo
Volta–Niger
Igboid
Igbo
Standard forms
Standard Igbo
Dialects
Afikpo,
Enuani
, Eche, Egbema, Mbaise, Ngwa, Nsa, Nsuka, Oguta, Ohuhu, Oka, Onitsha, Orlu, Owerri, Umuahia, Unwana, Ohafia
Writing system
Latin
Ọnwụ alphabet
Nwagu Aneke script
Neo-
Nsibidi
Ndebe script
Igbo Braille
Akagụ Script
Official status
Official language in
Nigeria
national status
Recognised minority
language in
Cameroon
Equatorial Guinea
Regulated by
Society for Promoting Igbo Language and Culture
Language codes
ISO 639-1
ig
ISO 639-2
ibo
ISO 639-3
ibo
Glottolog
nucl1417
Linguasphere
98-GAA-a
Linguistic map of Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Igbo is spoken in southern Nigeria, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea.
This article contains
IPA
phonetic symbols.
Without proper
rendering support
, you may see
question marks, boxes, or other symbols
instead of
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People
Ṇ́dị́ Ìgbò
Language
Ásụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò
Country
Àlà Ị̀gbò
Igbo
English:
iː
oʊ
EE
-boh
US
also
oʊ
IG
-boh
Standard Igbo:
Ásụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò
[ásʊ̀sʊ̀
ìɡ͡bò]
) is the principal native language of the
Igbo people
, an ethnicity in the Southeastern part of
Nigeria
Igbo languages are spoken by a total of 31 million people.
The number of
Igboid languages
depends on how one classifies a language versus a
dialect
, so there could be around 35 different Igbo languages. The core Igbo cluster, or Igbo proper, is generally thought to be one language but there is limited mutual intelligibility between the different groupings (north, west, south and east). A standard literary language termed 'Igbo izugbe' (meaning "general igbo") was generically developed and later adopted around 1972, with its core foundation based on the
Orlu
Isu
dialects), Anambra (
Awka
dialects) and
Umuahia
Ohuhu
dialects), omitting the
nasalization
and
aspiration
of those varieties.
History
The first book to publish Igbo terms was
History of the Mission of the Evangelical Brothers in the Caribbean
German
Geschichte der Mission der Evangelischen Brüder auf den Carabischen Inseln
), published in 1777.
Shortly afterwards in 1789,
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
was published in London, England, written by
Olaudah Equiano
, who was a former
slave
, featuring 79 Igbo words.
The narrative also illustrated various aspects of Igbo life in detail, based on Equiano's experiences in his hometown of Essaka.
10
Following the British Niger Expeditions of 1854 and 1857,
Samuel Ajayi Crowther
, published an Igbo primer coded by a young Igbo missionary named Simon Jonas, who travelled with him to
Aboh
in 1857.
11
The
language
was standardized in church usage by the Union Igbo Bible (1913).
12
Central Igbo is based on the dialects of two members of the Ezinifite group of Igbo in Central Owerri Province between the towns of Owerri and Umuahia in Eastern Nigeria.
13
From its proposal as a literary form in 1939 by
Ida C. Ward
, it was gradually accepted by missionaries, writers, and publishers across the region.
14
Standard Igbo aims to cross-pollinate Central Igbo with words from other Igbo dialects, with the adoption of
loan words
Chinua Achebe
passionately denounced language standardization efforts, beginning with Union Igbo through to Central and finally Standard Igbo, in a 1999 lecture sponsored by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in
Owerri
15
16
Historically, the Igbo language was spoken by a large number of enslaved people trafficked to the Americas from the
bight of biafra
, during the
Atlantic Slave Trade
Distribution
Igbo (and its dialects) is the dominant language in the following Nigerian states:
17
Abia State
Anambra State
Ebonyi State
Enugu State
Imo State
Northern Delta State
Phonology
Vowels
The oral vowel phonemes of Igbo, based on
Ikekeonwu (1999)
Igbo is a
tonal language
. Tone varies by dialect but in most dialects there seem to be three register tones and three contour tones. The language's tone system was given by
John Goldsmith
as an example of
autosegmental
phenomena that go beyond the linear model of
phonology
laid out in
The Sound Pattern of English
18
Igbo words may differ only in tone. An example is
ákwá
"cry",
àkwà
"bed",
àkwá
"egg", and
ákwà
"cloth". As tone is not normally written, these all appear as
⟨akwa⟩
in print.
In many cases, the two (or sometimes three) tones commonly used in Igbo dictionaries fail to represent how words actually sound in the spoken language . This indicates that Igbo may have many more tones than previously recognised. For example, the imperative form of the word
bia
"come" has a different tone to that used in statement
O bia
"he came". That imperative tone is also used in the second syllable of
abuo
"two". Another distinct tone appears in the second syllable of
asaa
"seven" and another in the second syllable of
aguu
"hunger".
A man speaking Igbo
The language features
vowel harmony
with two sets of oral vowels distinguished by
pharyngeal
cavity size described in terms of
retracted tongue root
(RTR). These vowels also occupy different places in vowel space:
[i
ɪ̙
ʊ̙
ɒ̙]
(the last commonly transcribed
[ɔ̙]
, in keeping with neighboring languages). For simplicity, phonemic transcriptions typically choose only one of these parameters to be distinctive, either RTR as in the chart on the right and Igbo orthography (that is, as
/i
i̙
u̙
o̙/
), or vowel space as in the alphabetic chart below (that is, as
/i
ɔ/
). There are also
nasal vowels
Adjacent vowels usually undergo
assimilation
during speech. The sound of a preceding vowel, usually at the end of one word, merges in a rapid transition to the sound of the following vowel, particularly at the start of another word, giving the second vowel greater prominence in speech. Usually the first vowel (in the first word) is only slightly identifiable to listeners, usually undergoing
centralisation
. /kà ó mésjá/, for example, becomes /kòó mésjá/ "goodbye". An exception to this assimilation may be with words ending in /a/ such as /nà/ in /nà àlà/, "on the ground", which could be completely assimilated leaving /n/ in rapid speech, as in "nàlà" or "n'àlà". In other dialects however, the instance of /a/ such as in "nà" in /ọ́ nà èrí ńrí/, "he/she/it is eating", results in a long vowel, /ọ́ nèèrí ńrí/.
19
Tone
The Igbo language is tonal in nature. This means that the meaning of a word can be altered depending on the tone used when pronouncing it. Igbo has two main tones: high and low. The high tone is usually marked with an acute accent (´) and the low tone is marked with a grave accent (`).
For example, the word
⟨akwa⟩
can mean "cry, egg, cloth, sew" depending on the tone used. If pronounced with a high tone on the first and last syllable it means "cry". But if pronounced with a low tone on the first syllable and high on the last syllable, it means "egg". If it is pronounced with low tone on both syllables, then it will mean "cloth" or "sew".
check quotation syntax
Another example is the word "eze" which means "king" or "teeth". In either case the first syllable is pronounced with a high tone. If the second syllable is pronounced with a low tone, it means "king". But if pronounced with a middle tone, it means "teeth".
check quotation syntax
The use of tonal inflection in Igbo language is very important because it helps to differentiate between words that would otherwise sound the same. It can be challenging for English speakers to learn how to use the tones properly, but with practice, it can be mastered.
Consonants
Igbo does not have a contrast among voiced occlusives (between voiced stops and nasals): stops precede oral vowels, and nasals precede nasal vowels. Only a limited number of other consonants occur before nasal vowels, including
/f,
z,
s/
Consonants of Standard Igbo (with nasal vowels)
Labial
Dental
Alveolar
Post-
alveolar
Palatal
Velar
Labial–
velar
Glottal
plain
lab.
Plosive
Affricate
voiceless
tʃ
kʷ
k͡p
voiced
dʒ
ɡʷ
ŋʷ
ɡ͡b
Sonorant
Fricative
voiceless
voiced
ɦ̃
Rhotic
In some dialects, such as Enu-Onitsha Igbo, the doubly articulated
/ɡ͡b/
and
/k͡p/
are realized as a voiced/devoiced labial–velar
implosive
. The approximant
/ɹ/
is realized as an
alveolar tap
between vowels as in
árá
. The Enu-Onitsha Igbo dialect is very much similar to Enuani spoken among the Igbo-Anioma people in Delta State.
To illustrate the effect of phonological analysis, the following inventory of a typical Central dialect is taken from Clark (1990). Nasality has been analyzed as a feature of consonants, rather than vowels, avoiding the problem of why so few consonants occur before nasal vowels;
[CjV]
has also been analyzed as
/CʲV/
20
Consonants of Central Igbo (no nasal vowels)
Labial
Alveolar
Alveolo-
palatal
Velar
Labial–
velar
Glottal
plain
pal.
plain
lab.
Nasal
Plosive
Affricate
voiceless
unaspirated
pʲ
t͜ɕ
kʷ
k͜ƥ
aspirated
pʰ
pʲʰ
tʰ
t͜ɕʰ
kʰ
kʷʰ
voiced
unaspirated
bʲ
d͜ʑ
ɡʷ
ɡ͜ɓ
aspirated
bʱ
bʲʱ
dʱ
d͜ʑʱ
ɡʱ
Fricative
voiceless
plain
nasalized
f̃
s̃
voiced
plain
ɣʷ
nasalized
z̃
Rhotic
plain
nasalized
ɾ̃
Approximant
voiceless
j̊
w̥
voiceless
nasalized
j̊̃
w̥̃
h̃
voiced
Syllables are of the form (C)V (optional consonant, vowel) or N (a
syllabic nasal
). CV is the most common syllable type. Every syllable bears a tone. Consonant clusters do not occur. The semivowels
and
can occur between consonant and vowel in some syllables. The semi-vowel in
/CjV/
is analyzed as an underlying vowel "ị", so that
-bịa
is the phonemic form of
bjá
'come'. On the other hand, "w" in
/CwV/
is analyzed as an instance of labialization; so the phonemic form of the verb
-gwá
"tell" is
/-ɡʷá/
Grammar
Igbo is an
isolating
language that exhibits very little
fusion
. The language is predominantly
suffixing
in a hierarchical manner, such that the ordering of suffixes is governed
semantically
rather than by fixed position classes. The language has very little
inflectional
morphology but much
derivational
and extensional morphology. Most derivation takes place with verbal roots.
21
Extensional suffixes, a term used in the Igbo literature, refer to morphology that has some but not all characteristics of derivation. The words created by these suffixes always belong to the same lexical category as the root from which they are created, and the suffixes' effects are principally semantic. On these grounds, Emenanjo (2015) asserts that the suffixes called extensional are bound lexical compounding elements; they cannot occur independently, though many are related to other free morphemes from which they may have originally been derived.
21
In addition to affixation, Igbo exhibits both partial and full
reduplication
to form
gerunds
from verbs. The partial form copies on the initial consonant and inserts a high front vowel, while the full form copies the first consonant and vowel. Both types are then prefixed with
o-
. For example,
-go
'buy' partially reduplicates to form
ògigo
'buying,' and
-bu
'carry' fully reduplicates to form
òbubu
'carrying'. Some other noun and verb forms also exhibit reduplication, but because the reduplicated forms are semantically unpredictable, reduplication in their case is not synchronically productive, and they are better described as separate lexical items.
21
Igbo pronouns do not index gender, and the same pronouns are used for male, female and inanimate beings. So the sentence,
ọ maka
can mean "he, she or it is beautiful".
Word classes
Lexical categories in Igbo include nouns, pronouns, numerals, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, and a single preposition.
22
The meaning of
na
, the single preposition, is flexible and must be ascertained from the context. Examples from Emenanjo (2015) illustrate the range of meaning:
(1)
3sg
bì
live
n'
Enugwū.
PREP
-Enugwū
O bì
n'
Enugwū.
3sg live
PREP
-Enugwū
'He lives
in
Enugwū.'
(2)
3sg
bì
live
ebeà
here
n'
ogè
PREP
-time
agha.
war
O bì ebeà
n'
ogè agha.
3sg live here
PREP
-time war
'He lived here
during
the time of the war.'
(3)
Ndị
people
Fàda
Catholic
kwènyèrè
believe
n'
atọ̀
PREP
-three
n'
ime
PREP
-inside
otù.
one
Ndị Fàda kwènyèrè
n'
atọ̀
n'
ime otù.
people Catholic believe
PREP
-three
PREP
-inside one
'The Catholics believe in the
Trinity
.'
21
Igbo has an extremely limited number of
adjectives
in a
closed class
. Emenanjo (1978, 2015)
23
21
counts just eight, which occur in pairs of opposites:
ukwu
'big',
nta
'small';
oji
'dark',
ọcha
'light';
ọhụrụ
'new',
ochie
'old';
ọma
'good';
njọ
'bad'.
24
Adjectival meaning is otherwise conveyed through the use of stative verbs or abstract nouns.
Verbs, by far the most prominent category in Igbo, host most of the language's morphology and appear to be the most basic category; many processes can derive new words from verbs, but few can derive verbs from words of other classes.
21
Grammatical relations
Igbo does not mark overt case distinctions on nominal constituents and conveys grammatical relations only through
word order
. The typical Igbo sentence displays subject-verb-object (SVO) ordering, where the subject is understood as the sole argument of an intransitive verb or the agent-like (external) argument of a transitive verb. Igbo thus exhibits
accusative
alignment
It has been proposed, with reservations, that some Igbo verbs display ergativity on some level, as in the following two examples:
21
(4)
Nnukwu
big
mmīri
water
nà-ezò
AUX
-fall
n'iro.
PREP
-outside
Nnukwu mmīri nà-ezò n'iro.
big water AUX-fall PREP-outside
'Heavy rain is falling outside.'
(5)
it
nà-ezò
AUX
-fall
nnukwu
big
mmīri
water
n'iro.
PREP
-outside
Ọ nà-ezò nnukwu mmīri n'iro.
it AUX-fall big water PREP-outside
'Heavy rain is falling outside.'
In (4), the verb has a single argument,
nnukwu mmīri
, which appears in subject position, and in the transitive sentence (5), that same argument appears in the object position, even though the two are semantically identical. On this basis, authors such as Emenanjuo (2015) have posited that this argument is an absolutive and that Igbo therefore contains some degree of ergativity.
However, others disagree, arguing that the relevant category is not alignment but underlying argument structure; under this hypothesis, (4) and (5) differ only in the application of a transformation and can be accounted for entirely by the
unaccusative
hypothesis and the
Extended Projection Principle
25
the nominal argument is generated in object position, and either it is raised to the subject position, as in (4), or the subject position is filled with a
pleonastic pronoun
, as in (5).
Relative clauses
Igbo relative clauses are externally headed and follow the head noun. They do not employ overt relative markers or resumptive pronouns, instead leaving a gap in the position of the relativized noun. Subjects and objects can be relativized. Examples include (relative clauses bracketed):
21
(6)
3sg
zụ̀-tà-rà
buy-
SUFF
PRF
àkwa
egg
[mā-ra
[be.good-
PRF
mmā].
goodness]
Ọ zụ̀-tà-rà àkwa [mā-ra mmā].
3sg buy-SUFF-PRF egg [be.good-PRF goodness]
'She bought eggs that are good.'
(7)
Àkwa
egg
[ọ
3sg
zụ̀-tà-rà]
buy-
SUFF
PRF
mà-rà
good-
PRF
mmā.
goodness
Àkwa [ọ zụ̀-tà-rà] mà-rà mmā.
egg [3sg buy-SUFF-PRF] good-PRF goodness
'The eggs that she bought are good.'
Voice and valence
Igbo lacks the common valence-decreasing operation of
passivization
, a fact which has led multiple scholars to claim that "voice is not a relevant category in Igbo."
21
The language does, however, possess some valence-increasing operations that could be construed as
voice
under a broader definition:
(8)
Ógù
Ogu
a-vó-ọ-la
PREF
-be.open-
SUFF
PRF
Ógù a-vó-ọ-la
Ogu PREF-be.open-SUFF-PRF
'Ogu has become disgraced.'
(9)
Íbè
Ibe
e-mé-vọ-ọ-la
PREF
-make-be.open-
SUFF
PRF
Ogù.
Ogu
Íbè e-mé-vọ-ọ-la Ogù.
Ibe PREF-make-be.open-SUFF-PRF Ogu
'Ibe has disgraced Ogu.'
(10)
Àfe
clothes
isé
five
kò-ro
hang-
PRF
n'ezí.
PREP
-compound
Àfe isé kò-ro n'ezí.
clothes five hang-PRF PREP-compound
'Five items of clothing are hanging in the compound.'
(11)
Ókwu
Okwu
kò-we-re
hang-
INCH
PRF
afe
clothes
isé
five
n'ezi.
PREP
-compound
Ókwu kò-we-re afe isé n'ezi.
Okwu hang-INCH-PRF clothes five PREP-compound
'Okwu hung five items of clothing in the compound.'
Igbo also possess an applicative construction, which takes the suffix
-rV
, where
copies the previous vowel, and the applicative argument follows the verb directly. The applicative suffix is identical in form with the past tense suffix, with which it should not be confused.
22
For example:
25
(12)
Íbè
Ibe
nye-re
give-
PRF
APPL
1sg
Ógù
Ogu
ákwụkwọ.
book
Íbè nye-re m Ógù ákwụkwọ.
Ibe give-PRF-APPL 1sg Ogu book
'Ibe gave the book to Ogu for me.'
Verb serialization
Igbo permits
verb serialization
, which is used extensively to compensate for its paucity of prepositions. Among the meaning types commonly expressed in serial verb constructions are instruments, datives, accompaniment, purpose, and manner. (13) and (14) below illustrate instrumental and dative verb series, respectively:
21
(13)
3sg
nà-èji
AUX
PREF
-use
mmà
knife
à-bacha
PREF
-peel
jī.
yam
Ọ nà-èji mmà à-bacha jī.
3sg AUX-PREF-use knife PREF-peel yam
'He peels yams with a knife.'
(14)
3sg
zụ̀-tà-rà
buy-
SUFF
PRF
akwụkwọ
book
nye
give
m̄.
1sg
Ọ zụ̀-tà-rà akwụkwọ nye m̄.
3sg buy-SUFF-PRF book give 1sg
'He bought a book and gave it to me.'
Writing system
See also:
Igbo Braille
An ikpe 'court case' recorded in
nsibidi
by J. K. Macgregor in the early 20th century
Igbo-language advertisement in
Abia State
. Note the use of the letter
The Igbo people invented
Nsibidi
ideograms
, which spread to their neighbors such as Ekoi people, and Ejegham people for basic written communication.
26
Nsibidi is an ancient system of graphic communication indigenous to peoples in southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon in the Cross River region. It is also used by neighboring Ekoi, Ejegham, Efik, and Ibibio peoples. They have been used since at least the 16th century, under the Aro Confederacy,
citation needed
but died out publicly
dubious
discuss
after they became popular amongst secret societies such as the
Ekpe
, who used them as a secret form of communication.
27
Nsibidi, however, is not a full writing system, because it cannot transcribe the Igbo language specifically. In 1960, a rural land owner and
dibia
named Nwagu Aneke developed a syllabary for the Umuleri dialect of Igbo, the script, named after him as the
Nwagu Aneke script
, was used to write hundreds of diary entries until Aneke's death in 1991. The Nwagu Aneke Project is working on translating Nwagu's commentary and diary.
28
History of Igbo orthography
Before the existence of any official system of orthography for the Igbo language, travelers and writers documented Igbo sounds by utilizing the orthographies of their own languages in transcribing them, though they encountered difficulty representing particular sounds, such as implosives, labialized velars, syllabic nasals, and non-expanded vowels. In the 1850s, German philologist
Karl Richard Lepsius
published the
Standard Alphabet
, which was universal to all languages of the world, and became the first Igbo orthography. It contained 34 letters and included digraphs and diacritical marks to transcribe sounds distinct to African languages.
29
The Lepsius Standard Alphabet contained the following letters:
a b d e f g h i k l m n o p r s t u v w y z gb gh gw kp kw ṅ nw ny ọ s ds ts
29
The Lepsius orthography was replaced by the Practical Orthography of African Languages (Africa Orthography) in 1929 by the colonial government in Nigeria. The new orthography, created by the
International Institute of African Languages and Cultures (IIALC)
, had 36 letters and disposed of diacritic marks. Numerous controversial issues with the new orthography eventually led to its replacement in the early 1960s.
29
The Africa Orthography contained the following letters:
a b c d e f g gb gh h i j k kp l m n ŋ ny o ɔ ɵ p r s t u w y z gw kw nw
29
Ọnwụ
Main article:
Igbo alphabet
Igbo version of the
Book of Mormon
, with the letters Ị, Ọ and Ụ visible
The current Ọnwụ alphabet, a compromise between the older
Lepsius alphabet
and a newer alphabet advocated by the
International Institute of African Languages and Cultures
(IIALC), is presented in the following table, with the
International Phonetic Alphabet
equivalents for the characters:
30
Letter
Pronunciation
/a/
/b/
Ch
ch
/tʃ/
/d/
/e/
/f/
/ɡ/
Gb
gb
/ɡ͡b~ɠ͡ɓ/
Gh
gh
/ɣ/
Gw
gw
/ɡʷ/
/ɦ/
/i/
/ɪ̙/
/dʒ/
/k/
Kp
kp
/k͡p~ƙ͡ƥ/
Kw
kw
/kʷ/
/l/
/m/
/n/
/ŋ/
Nw
nw
/ŋʷ/
Ny
ny
/ɲ/
/o/
/ɔ̙/
/p/
/ɹ/
/s/
Sh
sh
/ʃ/
/t/
/u/
/ʊ̙/
/v/
/w/
/j/
/z/
The graphemes
⟨gb⟩
and
⟨kp⟩
are described both as coarticulated
ɡ͡b
and
k͡p
and as implosives, so both values are included in the table.
⟨m⟩
and
⟨n⟩
each represent two phonemes: a nasal consonant and a syllabic nasal.
Tones are sometimes indicated in writing, and sometimes not. When tone is indicated, low tones are shown with a grave accent over the vowel, for example
⟨a⟩
⟨à⟩
, and high tones with an acute accent over the vowel, for example
⟨a⟩
⟨á⟩
Other orthographies
A variety of issues have made agreement on a standardized
orthography
for the Igbo language difficult. In 1976, the Igbo Standardization Committee criticized the official orthography in light of the difficulty notating diacritic marks using typewriters and computers; difficulty in accurately representing tone with tone-marking conventions, as they are subject to change in different environments; and the inability to capture various sounds particular to certain Igbo dialects. The Committee produced a modified version of the Ọnwụ orthography, called the New Standard Orthography, which substituted
⟨ö⟩
and
⟨ü⟩
for
⟨ọ⟩
and
⟨ụ⟩
⟨c⟩
for
⟨ch⟩
, and
⟨ñ⟩
for
⟨ṅ⟩
31
The New Standard Orthography has not been widely adopted, although it was used, for example, in the 1998
Igbo English Dictionary
by
Michael Echeruo
More recent calls for reform have been based in part on the rogue use of alphabetic symbols, tonal notations, and spelling conventions that deviate from the standard orthography.
29
There are also some modern movements to restore the use of and modernize nsibidi as a writing system,
32
33
which mostly focus on Igbo as it is the most populous language that used to use nsibidi.
Ndebe Script
In 2009, a Nigerian software engineer and artist named Lotanna Igwe-Odunze developed a native script named Ndebe script. It was further redesigned and relaunched in 2020 as a standalone writing system completely independent of Nsibidi.
34
35
The script gained notable attention after a write-up from Nigerian linguist
Kola Tubosun
on its "straightforward" and "logical" approach to indicating tonal and dialectal variety compared to Latin.
34
36
Proverbs
Proverbs
and idiomatic expressions (ilu and akpalaokwu in Igbo, respectively) are highly valued by the Igbo people and proficiency in the language means knowing how to intersperse speech with a good dose of proverbs. Chinua Achebe (in
Things Fall Apart
) describes proverbs as "the
palm oil
with which words are eaten". Proverbs are widely used in the traditional society to describe, in very few words, what could have otherwise required a thousand words. Proverbs may also become euphemistic means of making certain expressions in the Igbo society, thus the Igbo have come to typically rely on this as avenues of certain expressions.
37
Usage in the diaspora
As a consequence of the
Atlantic slave trade
, the Igbo language was spread by enslaved Igbo people throughout slave colonies in the Americas. Examples can be found in
Jamaican Patois
: the pronoun
/unu/
, used for 'you (plural)', is taken from Igbo,
Red eboe
refers to a fair-skinned black person because of the reported account of a fair or yellowish skin tone among the Igbo.
38
Soso
meaning
only
comes from Igbo.
39
See
List of Jamaican Patois words of African origin
for more examples.
The word
Bim
, a name for Barbados, was commonly used by enslaved
Barbadians
Bajans
). This word is said to derive from the Igbo language, derived from
bi mu
(or either
bem
Ndi bem
Nwanyi ibem
or
Nwoke ibem
) (English:
My people
),
40
41
but it may have other origins (see:
Barbados etymology
).
citation needed
In
Cuba
, the Igbo language (along with the
Efik language
) continues to be used, albeit in a creolized form, in ceremonies of the
Abakuá
society, equivalent or derived from the
Ekpe
society in modern Nigeria.
citation needed
In modern times, Igbo people in the diaspora are putting resources in place to make the study of the language accessible.
citation needed
Present state
The
Magnificat
in Igbo translation (
Church of the Visitation
, Jerusalem)
There are some discussions as to whether the Igbo language is in danger of extinction, advanced in part by a 2006
UNESCO
report that predicted the Igbo language will become extinct within 50 years.
42
Professor of African and African Diaspora Literatures at University of Massachusetts, Chukwuma Azuonye, emphasizes indicators for the endangerment of the Igbo language based on criteria that includes the declining population of monolingual elderly speakers; reduced competence and performance among Igbo speakers, especially children; the deterioration of idioms, proverbs, and other rhetorical elements of the Igbo language that convey the cultural aesthetic; and
code-switching
code-mixing
, and
language shift
43
External and internal factors have been proposed as causes for the decline of the Igbo language and its usage. Preference for the English language in post-colonial Nigeria has usurped the Igbo language's role and function in society,
43
as English is perceived by Igbo speakers as the language of status and opportunity.
43
This perception may be a contributor to the negative attitude towards the Igbo language by its speakers across the spectrum of socio-economic classes.
42
Igbo children's reduced competence and performance has been attributed in part to the lack of exposure in the home environment, which impacts intergenerational transmission of the language.
43
English is the official language in Nigeria and is utilized in government administration, educational institutions, and commerce. Aside from its role in numerous facets of daily life in Nigeria, globalization exerts pressure to utilize English as a universal standard language in support of economic and technological advancement.
42
A 2005 study by Igboanusi and Peter demonstrated the preferential attitude towards English over the Igbo language amongst Igbo people in the communication, entertainment, and media domains. English was preferred by Igbo speakers at 56.5% for oral communication, 91.5% for written communication, 55.5–59.5% in entertainment, and 73.5–83.5% for media.
44
The effect of English on Igbo languages amongst bilingual Igbo speakers can be seen by the incorporation of English loanwords into Igbo and code-switching between the two languages. English loanwords, which are usually nouns, have been found to retain English semantics, but typically follow phonological and morphological structures of Igbo. Lexical items conform to the vowel harmony intrinsic to Igbo phonological structures. For example, loanwords with syllable-final consonants may be assimilated by the addition of a vowel after the consonant, and vowels are inserted in between consonant clusters, which have not been found to occur in Igbo.
45
This can be seen in the word
sukulu
, which is a loanword derived from the English word school that has followed the aforementioned pattern of modification when it was assimilated into the Igbo language.
46
Code-switching, which involves the insertion of longer English syntactic units into Igbo utterances, may consist of phrases or entire sentences, principally nouns and verbs, that may or may not follow Igbo syntactic patterns. Igbo affixes to English verbs determine tense and aspectual markers, such as the Igbo suffix -i affixed to the English word 'check', expressed as the word
check-i
45
The standardized Igbo language is composed of fragmented features from numerous Igbo dialects and is not technically a spoken language, but it is used in communicational, educational, and academic contexts. This unification is perceived by Chukwuma Azuonye as undermining the survival of Igbo by erasing diversity between dialects.
43
Each individual dialect possesses unique untranslatable idioms and rhetorical devices that represent Igbo cultural nuances that can be lost as dialects disappear or deteriorate.
43
Newly coined terms may fail to conform to a dialect's lexical formation in assimilating loan words.
43
Proverbs are an essential component of the Igbo language that convey cultural wisdom and contextual significance to linguistic expression. Everyday usage of Igbo proverbs has declined in recent generations of speakers, which threatens loss in intergenerational transmission.
47
A recent study of the Ogwashi dialect of Igbo demonstrated a steep decline in youth's knowledge and use of proverbs compared to elder speakers.
43
In this study, youths employed simplified or incomplete proverbial expressions, lacked a diverse proverbial repertoire, and were deficient in their understanding of proper contextual usages as compared to elders who demonstrated competence to enhance linguistic expression with a diverse vocabulary of proverbs.
43
See also
Delta Igbo
Igbo mythology
Igbo music
Igbo-Ukwu
List of Igbo people
Ukwuani
Language portal
Notes
Ethnologue: Igbo Language
Igbo language
at
Ethnologue
(28th ed., 2025)
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Aspects of the morphology-syntax interface in four Nigerian languages
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ISBN
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UNHCR
. 20 May 2008
. Retrieved
18 December
2012
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link
"Igbo"
Lexico
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Oxford University Press
. Archived from
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25 July
2019
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Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary
. Merriam-Webster.
OCLC
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. Retrieved
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2019
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ISBN
978-160-264-3
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Columbia University
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on 25 December 2003
. Retrieved
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2022
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Columbia University
. Retrieved
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2022
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Okwu ID
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. Retrieved
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2023
Goldsmith, John A. (June 1976).
Autosegmental Phonology
(PDF)
(Ph.D. thesis). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived from
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on 22 March 2005.
Welmers, William Everett (1974).
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. University of California Press. pp.
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ISBN
0520022106
Clark, Mary M. (1990).
The Tonal System of Igbo
. De Gruyter.
doi
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ISBN
9783110130416
Emenanjo, Nolue (2015).
A Grammar of Contemporary Igbo: Constituents, Features and Processes
. Oxford: M and J Grand Orbit Communications.
Green, M. M.; Igwe, G. E. (1963).
A Descriptive Grammar of Igbo
. Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin: Institut für Orientforschung.
{{
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link
Emenanjo, Nolue (1978).
Elements of Modern Igbo Grammar – a descriptive approach
. Ibadan, Nigeria: Oxford University Press.
Payne, JR (1990). "Language Universals and Language Types". In Collinge (ed.).
An Encyclopedia of Language
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(PDF)
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(PDF)
on 21 December 2023.
J. K., Macgregor (January–June 1909).
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Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
39
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209–
219.
doi
10.2307/2843292
JSTOR
2843292
Oraka, Louis Nnamdi (1983).
The foundations of Igbo studies
. University Publishing Co. pp. 17, 13.
ISBN
978-160-264-3
Azuonye, Chukwuma (1992).
"The Nwagu Aneke Igbo Script: Its Origins, Features and Potentials as a Medium of Alternative Literacy in African Languages"
Africana Studies Faculty Publication Series
(13).
University of Massachusetts Boston
Ohiri-Aniche, Chinyere (2007). "Stemming the tide of centrifugal forces in Igbo orthography".
Dialectical Anthropology
31
(4):
423–
436.
doi
10.1007/s10624-008-9037-x
S2CID
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– via Hollis.
Awde, Nicholas;
Wambu, Onyekachi
(1999).
Igbo Dictionary & Phrasebook
. New York: Hippocrene Books. pp.
27
ISBN
0781806615
Oluikpe, Esther N. (27 March 2014). "Igbo language research: Yesterday and today".
Language Matters
45
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110–
126.
doi
10.1080/10228195.2013.860185
S2CID
145580712
"Nsibidi"
blog.nsibiri.org
"Update on the Ndebe Igbo Writing System"
Sugabelly
. 5 January 2013.
Tubosun, Kola (13 July 2020).
"Writing Africa's Future in New Characters"
Popula
"Nigerian Woman, Lotanna Igwe-Odunze, Invents New Writing System For Igbo Language"
Sahara Reporters
. 5 July 2020.
Elusoji, Solomon (3 October 2020).
"The Igbo Language Gets Its Own Modern Script, But Will It Matter?"
Channels Television
. Retrieved
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2020
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"Sexual Taboos and Euphemisms in Igbo: An Anthropolinguistic Appraisal"
(PDF)
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112–
148.
doi
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(2nd ed.). University of the West Indies Press. p. 168.
ISBN
976-640-127-6
. Retrieved
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2008
McWhorter, John H. (2000).
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. University of California Press. p. 77.
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2008
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. University of the West Indies Press. p. 101.
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. Macmillan Caribbean Publishers Limited. p. 25.
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16
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98.
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17
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452.
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. Springer International. pp.
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References
Awde, Nicholas;
Wambu, Onyekachi
(1999).
Igbo: Igbo–English / English–Igbo Dictionary and Phrasebook
. New York: Hippocrene Books.
Emenanjo, 'Nolue (1976).
Elements of Modern Igbo Grammar
. Ibadan: Oxford University Press.
ISBN
978-154-078-8
Emenanjo, Nolue (2015).
A Grammar of Contemporary Igbo: Constituents, Features and Processes
. Oxford: M and J Grand Orbit Communications.
Green, M.M.; Igwe, G.E. (1963).
A Descriptive Grammar of Igbo
. Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin: Institut für Orientforschung.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: publisher location (
link
Ikekeonwu, Clara (1999). "Igbo".
Handbook of the International Phonetic Association
. Cambridge University Press. pp.
108–
110.
ISBN
0-521-63751-1
Nwachukwu, P. Akujuoobi (1987).
The argument structure of Igbo verbs
. Lexicon Project Working Papers. Vol. 18. Cambridge: MIT.
Obiamalu, G.O.C. (2002). "The development of Igbo standard orthography: a historical survey". In Egbokhare, Francis O.; Oyetade, S.O. (eds.).
Harmonization and standardization of Nigerian languages
. Cape Town: Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS).
ISBN
1-919799-70-2
Ojiaku, Uche Jim (2007).
Surviving the iron curtain: A microscopic view of what life was like, inside a war-torn region
. America Star Books.
ISBN
978-1-4241-7070-8
External links
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Igbo
Scholia
has a profile for
Igbo
(Q33578)
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of
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