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Re: What Is This Word Called In Your Language? by bigfrancis21: 6:07pm On Dec 05, 2014 |
Radoillo: I do actually think Igbo language has a definite article for 'the' as seen in the example given above. However, nowadays people use 'the' instead of their Igbo forms in daily usage. For example, I gotelu 'the' efe? (I gotelu efe nwanu?) I sikwalu the nni? (I sikwalu nni nwa?). Lol. |
Re: What Is This Word Called In Your Language? by englishmart(m): 6:11pm On Dec 05, 2014 |
bigfrancis21:wow! Great 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: What Is This Word Called In Your Language? by Nobody: 7:13pm On Dec 05, 2014 |
bigfrancis21: I like your illustrations. But as I went through them I got the sense that 'nwanu' approximates to something like 'said' rather than 'the'. e.g: I gotelu oroma nwanu? Did you buy the said oranges? (I.e., the oranges you had earlier communicated to me that you were going to buy). 'Nwanu' appears to be a word showing that there had been an earlier discussion about the object (in this case an orange); and 'nwanu' is therefore not an article in the same sense as 'the' and 'a/an'. Look at these examples. a) He stabbed him in the throat. Translation: O sulu ya mma na akpili nwanu. The 'nwanu' in the above example isn't a good substitute for 'the' at all. A much better translation would be 'O sulu ya mma na akpili' (without an attempt to include an article because Igbo is basically an article-less tongue.) b) He threw a stone into the principal's car. Translation: O tubanyelu okwute na moto onye isi ulo akwukwo nwanu. Again, the 'nwanu' doesn't fit. Certainly, not as an Igbo equivalent of 'the'. c) Imagine translating the titles of the following plays, 'The Lion and the Jewel' and 'The Gods are not to Blame' as 'Odum nwanu na Ola nwanu' and Uta adirolu umu arusi nwanu'. Very odd, isn't it? Cut out the 'nwanu' and simply go with 'Odum na Ola', and 'Uta adirolu umu arusi', and you have more appropriate translations. Like I said, 'nwanu' is an emphatic word that shows there had already been a discussion about the object. It is not an article. For example: 'Nkechi kedukwanu ofe nwanu?' (Nkechi, where is the said soup?). The soup we've already talked about and the one you were supposed to bring. If you ask an Igbo man to translate: 'Bring out the meat I put in the freezer', what you will most likely get is 'Weputelu m anu m tinyelu na freezer'. He won't make attempts to find equivalents for 'the', because in Igbo there are none. 1 Like |
Re: What Is This Word Called In Your Language? by bigfrancis21: 7:17pm On Dec 05, 2014 |
Radoillo: I like your further explanation. However, the usage of 'the' in English is many times under emphatic circumstances, despite which in those circumstances it still stands in as a definite article. Below is a snapshot of google's definition of 'the' and the emphatic denotion comes first. English sentences like, where's the dress? where's the man? all require pre-discussed knowledge of the subject being discussed. Under these examples, 'the' still stands in as a definite article. Under emphatic contexts, 'nwanu' can be assumed to be Igbo language's definite article equivalent because a definite article is being referred to under such context. I mentioned 'emphatic context' previously when I mentioned Onitsha's use of 'nnii'. However, it is safe to conclude that Igbo language has a definite article, however used under emphatic conditions.
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Re: What Is This Word Called In Your Language? by englishmart(m): 7:27pm On Dec 05, 2014 |
bigfrancis21:wow! Nice comment 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: What Is This Word Called In Your Language? by bigfrancis21: 7:32pm On Dec 05, 2014 |
englishmart:I guess I was 'booking' a space. |
Re: What Is This Word Called In Your Language? by Nobody: 8:15pm On Dec 05, 2014 |
englishmart:ishan Edo state |
Re: What Is This Word Called In Your Language? by EMERIT2US(m): 8:27pm On Dec 05, 2014 |
naa in yoruba e.g ile naa-The house |
Re: What Is This Word Called In Your Language? by pansophist(m): 8:59pm On Dec 05, 2014 |
Languages are not a one way street. If you expect a direct translations of words between languages, then you're wrong ( except for nouns). For example the igbo sentence ''ịlụ di na nwunye'' translates to English as marry, but the literal translation of the igbo sentence will be ''the marriage between a man and a woman'' in English The word ''THE'' usually appears before a noun, and such structures might not exist in other languages. |
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