Ngo "the brute", haven't seen you two days. You okay?

Thank you chinenye for teaching him to speak civil.

Zhea, Could you tell me the meaning and usage of "abi"? Is this Ikwerre? You wrote "I think its an igbo name, abi?" in your post.

English                      central igbo              Owerri
Comb                           Mbo isi                 Mvo ishi
Night                         Abali/ anyasi             Udishi
No                                Mba                     Olo
God is powerful            Chibuike                Chiwuike
Where?                         Ebe?                    Ole nga?
Clothes                         Efe                       Uwe
House                           Ulo                       Uyo
Welcome                      Ilola                      Iyola
Let be                         Hapu                     Hafu
human                         Madu                     Manu
Bring                           Wete                     We a
What                           Gini                       Nini

Guess Owerri should be considered a different tribe from igbo

some-girl:

English                      central igbo              Owerri
Comb                           Mbo isi                 Mvo ishi
Night                         Abali/ anyasi             Udishi
No                                Mba                     Olo
God is powerful            Chibuike                Chiwuike
Where?                         Ebe?                    Ole nga?
Clothes                         Efe                       Uwe
House                           Ulo                       Uyo
Welcome                      Ilola                      Iyola
Let be                         Hapu                     Hafu
human                         Madu                     Manu
Bring                           Wete                     We a
What                           Gini                       Nini

Guess Owerri should be considered a different tribe from igbo

That's the beauty of the dialect. Each dialect has it's special words and the amazing part is that they are commonly intelligible. But Chibuike and Chiwuike are the same thing. "wu" and "bu" belong to no dialect and are commonly interchangeable. Also not all Igbo dialects say what as "gini". Gini us central Igbo but Aros say "ngen", Ohafias say " Ishi ngirii". And in my dialect, we also recognize "shirt" as nwei and efe just like Owerri.

kazd:

Zhea, Could you tell me the meaning and usage of "abi"? Is this Ikwerre? You wrote "I think its an igbo name, abi?" in your post.

"Abi" means a type of money in both Etche(Rivers State and Ezilihite(Imo State).People also bare it as a name just like Aku,Ego and Okpo.

some-girl:

English                      central igbo              Owerri
Comb                           Mbo isi                 Mvo ishi
Night                         Abali/ anyasi             Udishi
No                                Mba                     Olo
God is powerful            Chibuike                Chiwuike
Where?                         Ebe?                    Ole nga?
Clothes                         Efe                       Uwe
House                           Ulo                       Uyo
Welcome                      Ilola                      Iyola
Let be                         Hapu                     Hafu
human                         Madu                     Manu
Bring                           Wete                     We a
What                           Gini                       Nini

Guess Owerri should be considered a different tribe from igbo

You made some mistakes there.Central Igbo is "uwe" and not "efe".More importantly,there is nothing like Owerri.Unless you meant to refer to Oratta dialect.

3rdly,I hope you were not trying to prove that Ikwerre is a dialect of Igbo because that will take us back into long and unnecessary debates.

Odumchi, "commonly intelligible"? How do you figure that?

I'm saying mutually intelligible because a man from Nsukka Enugu will understand the type of Igbo a man from Port Harcourt speaks. Usually, what helps in intelligibility is contact. A person from Asaba who goes to live in Aba will begin speaking Ngwa dialect but will also be able to speak Ukwuani.

For example, British English and American English are two separate dialects of the sane language and despite the fact that there may be some words unique to both, speakers of both can understand each other. It's the same way with Igbo.

Heres an example, can you tell me what odigi and ekpege mean?

I've never really understood this claim of "mutual intelligibility" between the Igbo speech forms. Mutual intelligibility means that the speakers involved can automatically communicate without having to learn each other's speech forms, and that isn't true for "Igbo". Honestly, I think this thing with urbanization (your Asaba-Aba & Nsukka-P.H. examples being a case-in-point), as well as 'central Igbo' and people speaking 'watered down' versions of their speech has really made people unaware of the degree of mutual unintelligibility.

Is odigi and ekpege supposed to be "o dighi" and "ekpeghe"? If so, then "o dighi" I recognize, "ekpeghe" I don't.

I get what you're trying to say regarding urbanization and the mixing of dialects. But however, true examples of this intelligibility lie with our elders. I am sure that the ndi ichie are really the ones who can understand the true difference between dialects and also speak and understand them well. However Igbo is Igbo so as long as it's one language.

You might be confusing "odigi" with "odighi" as in "it's not there".

"Odigi" means "no" it's short form is "odi" and "ekpege" and "okpogo" both mean "money". What I'm trying to say by that example is that it does not necessarily have to be central Igbo before it is considered Igbo. We might as well say that there are two types of Igbo, one standard written Igbo and another oral Igbo.

The nde ochia are dead, and our various elders do not hold a monopoly on speaking and understanding. So do you mind explaining how true examples of this intelligibility lies with these elders? You're talking as if they are the only native speakers.

Okay, I've heard "odii" before. I've never heard "ekpege", but I'm familiar with ikpei/ikpeyi/ikpeghe.

Within every community, knowledge lies with the elders. Those who are older have had more exposure to Igbo dialects and therefore possess a greater knowledge of the Igbo language.

ChinenyeN:

I've never really understood this claim of "mutual intelligibility" between the Igbo speech forms. Mutual intelligibility means that the speakers involved can automatically communicate without having to learn each other's speech forms, and that isn't true for "Igbo". Honestly, I think this thing with urbanization (your Asaba-Aba & Nsukka-P.H. examples being a case-in-point), as well as 'central Igbo' and people speaking 'watered down' versions of their speech has really made people unaware of the degree of mutual unintelligibility.

You are on point.The people that actually killed the dialects were the people that standardized Igbo language.That is why an Nsukka man can understand some Ikwerre and vice-versa.They borrowed words from all Igbo dialects and created a form of Igbo mutually intelligible to everyone.It helped in fostering unity and ease in communication amongst Igbo speakers.

One of the most voiced out critic of standard Igbo is Chinua Achebe.

Odumchi how about this. Let's go to Ngwa and find an elder who has never been outside of Ngwa, and who only speaks Ngwa, then go Ika and find an elder who has never been outside of Ika and would only speak Ika, and then go to Ekpeye and find an elder who has never been outside of Ekpeye and would only speak Ekpeye and then go to Izii and find an elder who has never been out of Izii and would only speak Izii, and then go to Oru and find an elder who has never been outside of Oru and would only speak Oru, and then finally, bring all of them together and test this claim of mutual intelligibility. According to you, the Igbo speech forms are mutually intelligible. So these various should have no problem communicating with each other on first sight.

My point is, it doesn't work that way. Instead it is those who are traveled that would have more exposure and know more, not necessarily those who are younger.

Abagworo, exactly right. The standardization helped make communication in some way possible, and now that that has occurred, some seem to think that there exists an actual inherent mutual intelligibility. The only true instances/examples of mutual intelligibility are regionally limited. Beyond that, there is no such thing as all dialects being mutually intelligible.

ChinenyeN:

Odumchi how about this. Let's go to Ngwa and find an elder who has never been outside of Ngwa, and who only speaks Ngwa, then go Ika and find an elder who has never been outside of Ika and would only speak Ika, and then go to Ekpeye and find an elder who has never been outside of Ekpeye and would only speak Ekpeye and then go to Izii and find an elder who has never been out of Izii and would only speak Izii, and then go to Oru and find an elder who has never been outside of Oru and would only speak Oru, and then finally, bring all of them together and test this claim of mutual intelligibility. According to you, the Igbo speech forms are mutually intelligible. So these various should have no problem communicating with each other on first sight.

My point is, it doesn't work that way. Instead it is those who are traveled that would have more exposure and know more, not necessarily those who are younger.

ChinenyeN, they would still communicate, but with occasional need for explanation on certain clan-specific vocabularies.

The sentence structures in Igbo language are almost identical in general. For example, in my own case, there are times in which I communicated with some Igbo who I've never heard their dialects before. I just occasionally ask them to further explain some words(note: not the whole sentence) that are not generic. Like I once asked someone to explain what he meant by 'ilo'(outside) since my dialect uses 'ezi', and I've never heard that usage before then.

But I must admit that there are certain dialects that are way off Igbo language. Possibly Ika and some dialects in Ebonyi that are Igboid(i.e sound like Igbo) not are not Igbo imho. No offence intended.

What I said above would not hold true in this case.

mbatuku1:

ChinenyeN, they would still communicate, but with occasional need for explanation on certain clan-specific vocabularies.

The sentence structures in Igbo language are almost identical in general. For example, in my own case, there are times in which I communicated with some Igbo who I've never heard their dialects before. I just occasionally ask them to further explain some words(note: not the whole sentence) that are not generic. Like I once asked someone to explain what he meant by 'ilo'(outside) since my dialect uses 'ezi', and I've never heard that usage before then.

mbatuku1:

But I must admit that there are certain dialects that are way off Igbo language. Possibly Ika and some dialects in Ebonyi that are Igboid(i.e sound like Igbo) not are not Igbo imho. No offence intended.

What I said above would not hold true in this case.

You personally admitted after 1st denying but went as far as saying the dialects are not Igbo.The truth is that you are not quite aware of the difference between standardized Igbo and real dialects."ezi" and "iro" are the same thing and could as well be called "ama' or "mbrezi".You seem not to be aware that you have learnt a mix of dialects leaving out the few you have had little or no contact with.

Let us take a look at this Igbo phrase "how are you" in 8 different dialects


kedu

kekime

ndaa

ndii otu

olia

alaa

imeagha

imelakpole


Notice that each pair has some similarities but is totally deviated from the next pair.Tell me if without interaction you would understand all those dialects?

Honestly, mbatuku1, no offense intended but I really do suspect that you do not really know what you're talking about. You likely have not actually heard Ngwa. You likely have also never heard Ekpeye being spoken. I'm even suspecting that you may not have had interactions with Abiriba speakers, but these are all just my suspicions based on your comments.

An Ngwa, Ika, Izii, Ekpeye and Oru cannot come together and on first sight just communicate like that. I would know. My blood aunt just about a year ago or so got married to an Ika man. It was her traditional marriage ceremony (Ngwa and Ika), and there is no way the traditional ceremony would have been able to hold without a translator (who just so happened to be one other Ngwa that married into that very same Ika family years ago), since neither side could understand each other.

@Chinenye
I get the point you're trying to make about elders from various clans who haven't travelled out of their domain not understanding each other. That's not totally true because I remember my Grandmother who's from Nkanu in Enugu communicating in her dialect to an Ikwerre man who has never left Port-hacourt.

@Abagworo
I think we're both saying that same things. Specific words/phrases peculiar to different dialects might be hard for me to figure, but not a whole sentence in a conversation, save for some strange dialects in Ebonyi state(no offence to Ebonyi people). I'll give another example, I once met a lady speaking something sounding like Igbo. I asked her where she's from and what language she's speaking. She said Ebonyi and she's Igbo. I was like what the heck where you speaking. Couldn't understand anything, but her occasional use of 'chineke'. I understand they claim Igbo but in my opinion their dialect is too adulterated due to the location on the outskirts of Alaigbo to be called Igbo(more like Igbos who dont speak Igbo).

@ChinenyeN

I'm Ngwa and speak nothing but Ngwa(no central Igbo)

@Afam4eva

That's exactly what I'm saying. Except for Igboid dialects, most Igbo groups can communicate without a interpreter.

^^^

What do you mean by claiming Igbo? We are all Igbo regardless of dialect. Whether we speak Ukwuani, Ikwerre, Wawa, Abakiliki, Aro, Ngwa, Abiriba, Ika, Ekpeye, or Nri we are all one Igbo people.

Just because you don't understand the form of Igbo I speak doesn't mean that I'm not Igbi and vise versa. What do you mean by adulterated? How are you sure that the way you perceived her dialect wasn't the way she perceived yours. As far as language is concerned, her dialect is as much Igbo as yours or mine.

^^^
She was worried herself that other Igbos dont understand her dialect. I deduced she's been making efforts to learn central Igbo. I speak Ngwa and I dont have any problem with a majority of Igbo groups I come across. That's the difference. I agreed with her being Igbo, but her dialect is far from Igbo.

@mbatuku1.The level of isolation of a dialect makes it less exposed to others,hence in the course of growing up,they end up knowing little about the dialect.

Frankly I went to an Ngwa/Ebonyi introduction of my friends and was surprised that they could not understand one another.I ended up being an interpreter.The thing was funny to me because I could easily understand both and wondered why they could not.

I seem more exposed to various Igbo dialects and easily understand even the ones I never heard than most Ngwas I've met.Ngwas generally seem stuck to their dialect and central Igbo.

It's not just Ngwa people. Most Igbos will have a problem with some dialects in Ebonyi state.

I've never encountered any problem folks from Anambra, Enugu or Imo, even though I've never heard their dialects before.

Even Enuani and Ukwuani are so easy for me to understand.

Mbatuku1, forgive me if I'm finding it difficult to believe that you as an Ngwa (supposedly speaking nothing but Ngwa) have not had difficulties in communication. Dii to akhu Ngwa la i di ikwu? I am also Ngwa. I only speak Ngwa. No central.

Afam, you just did the exact same thing Odumchi did by giving me an example with urbanization. It's like telling me that because an Asaba communicated with an Ngwa in Aba city, that the dialects are mutually intelligible. I've stated it before. This thing with urbanization has got some of you overstating the degree of inherent intelligibility.

@ ChinenyeN

Father-Obingwa. Mum-Isialangwa

I never said I haven't encounter problems. They are just minor words that I simply ask the speaker to explain further. I gave some examples above. Pls read well.

By encountering difficulties I don't mean you understanding them. I mean them not being able to understand you.

I think it's just the same problem both parties have. Just few words/phrases that need further explaining because they are unique to individual dialects.

Moreover, some dialects share close to 90% similar words/phrases with others. Just the intonations of the speakers that distinct them.

mbatuku1:

I think it's just the same problem both parties have. Just few words/phrases that need further explaining because they are unique to individual dialects.

Moreover, some dialects share close to 90% similar words/phrases with others. Just the intonations of the speakers that distinct them.

The truth is that Ngwa is far South of Ebonyi hence the gap in intelligibility.An Abiriba,Edda,Ohafia,Nkporo etc find the dialects of Ehugbo,Ikwo,Mgbo,Ezza and Izzi very intelligible.

Again most Imo and Anambra people do not speak their dialect but a central Igbo with a slight differnce that could indicate the speakers dialect.But believe me an Anam man and an Egbema man are as deviated as Ngwa and Ezza.

Mbatuku1, I'm inclined to ask you to write in Ngwa, if you wouldn't mind. I'd really like to know the type of Ngwa you speak that's got you making these comments. If you'd like I could prompt you with a question/statement.

I cant write Ngwa. I can only speak it. It's like you're still not convinced. lol.

Both of my parents are Ngwa, so the only Igbo I learnt from them was nothing but Ngwa.