gbking:

Thank you 
How come throughout the website people use a variety of different spellings for the same word? Is it because the language is mostly spoken so a correct spelling is only known by few or is it just slang?

For example you said what are you doing is "Ki l’o n se" however another person said "ki lon she" practically the same but spelt differently.

Some people make mistakes, and some ppl just type it as they say it.
I've taken Yoruba classes, so I can say my spelling is about 80% correct.

It's actually: KI NI O N SE?
But in the Yoruba language, we have this thing [forgot what it is called] when we shorten the "NI O" to "Lo". Because there are two vowels directly after each other, the "I" and the "O" in "Ni O".

For example  :

SE E FE JEUN?  will be "S'E FE JEUN"

You pronounce the "se" as "shey" in the first phrase. But in the second phrase, you pronounce "S'e" as "She" like the one in "[b]she[/b]ll".




EKU ODUN O!

Hello my friends,

please let me know this:

E si ku iyedun o. Emi wa yi o se opolopo odun laiye o. Odun tuntun ti o nbo, yi o ba wa layo ati alafia o.

Wishing you all here E ku odun!! and Ese gan for this,

Candy9:

Hello my friends,

please let me know this:

E si ku iyedun o. Emi wa yi o se opolopo odun laiye o. Odun tuntun ti o nbo, yi o ba wa layo ati alafia o.

Wishing you all here E ku odun!! and Ese gan for this,

E si ku iyedun o -greeting for ending this year.

Emi wa yi o se opolopo odun laiye o.- May our spirit see many more of this joyous season on this earth.

Odun tuntun ti o nbo -The new year that is coming

yi o ba wa layo ati alafia o. - will meet us with joy and good health.



Thanks my sister. Eku odun tuntun na

Candy9:

Hello my friends,

please let me know this:

E si ku iyedun o. Emi wa yi o se opolopo odun laiye o. Odun tuntun ti o nbo, yi o ba wa layo ati alafia o.

Wishing you all here E ku odun!! and Ese gan for this,

It depends on the dialect you prefer

Lagos Yoruba sounds better than 'Ekiti kete' which you are being bombarded with
But, there is Ijebu, Oyo, Ijesha, Ilesha, Ife and the rest

which interpretation do you want? Where is your Fiancée/husband from? And why are you learning the language in the first place?

Good morning, I would like Lagos Yoruba.
My learning is lifetime, I am involved since many years and lived in Lagos. This greeting was from a long life friend. I love not only the language but the stories, myth, religion and most of all the people.
And please why do you ask these about where my husband is from ? and why I learn? so to understand better and better,
Compliments of the season! and thank you.

Candy9:

Good morning, I would like Lagos Yoruba.
My learning is lifetime, I am involved since many years and lived in Lagos. This greeting was from a long life friend. I love not only the language but the stories, myth, religion and most of all the people.
And please why do you ask these about where my husband is from ? and why I learn? so to understand better and better,
Compliments of the season! and thank you.

The Yoruba I'm telling you is the typical Yoruba.

I've never given you a translation in my dialect.

Candy9:

Good morning, I would like Lagos Yoruba.
My learning is lifetime, I am involved since many years and lived in Lagos. This greeting was from a long life friend. I love not only the language but the stories, myth, religion and most of all the people.
And please why do you ask these about where my husband is from ? and why I learn? so to understand better and better,
Compliments of the season! and thank you.

There is nothing like Typical Yoruba
I am the original Lagos boy
So I speak Lagos Yoruba.  .   .   mi de, mi de style
Are you feeling me?  Ekiti kete is not typical Yoruba, very difficult to understand sometimes!

I just want to know the dialect that would suit you best. And, since you live in Lagos, for starters, try practicing "mi de" as much as possible ok?

Are you German or something? Doesnt seem like English is your first language.

@ Ileke Idi :thank yu for your translation, you have helped me so often
@ lagbaja: I said I lived in Lagos,

Greetings to all,

Hello Every one.

I don't know if I got into the right forum, but, please, can you be so kind as to tell me the meaning of "Jin go lo ba" (Yoruba)?.

Thank you very much.

Igbo people, check his out. . . http://ig.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ih%C3%BC_Mbu . . . raises some questions though, the most pressing one being where the(se) writers are getting their terms from. Obia? Science? What is Ovuru? What is Nzu? Ilunilu? etc. etc. I wonder who is writing all this, and am I the only one who finds this Igbo wiki somewhat difficult to read? as in, I can't really make sense of most of what I read. I sometimes feel like I need a translator.

ChinenyeN:

Igbo people, check his out. . . http://ig.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ih%C3%BC_Mbu . . . raises some questions though, the most pressing one being where the(se) writers are getting their terms from. Obia? Science? What is Ovuru? What is Nzu? Ilunilu? etc. etc. I wonder who is writing all this, and am I the only one who finds this Igbo wiki somewhat difficult to read? as in, I can't really make sense of most of what I read. I sometimes feel like I need a translator.

you will find it difficult(not that it is not slightly difficult to me)because you are not grounded on igbo izugbe that what used in teaching igbo in primary and secondary school in nigeria.what  dialect of igbo will you want them to use? your own  or my own    or maybe onlytruth's own 

the truth is that if igbo is to evolve as a language then something has to give if not for the fact that igbo language has been stagnant for a long time i do not think a new word in igbo would be such a big deal.I wonder if the word laser existed in the english language or dictionary in 1860.

asha 80:

you will find it difficult(not that it is not slightly difficult to me)because you are not grounded on igbo izugbe that what used in teaching igbo in primary and secondary school in nigeria.what  dialect of igbo will you want them to use? your own  or my own    or maybe onlytruth's own 

the truth is that if igbo is to evolve as a language then something has to give if not for the fact that igbo language has been stagnant for a long time i do not think a new word in igbo would be such a big deal.I wonder if the word laser existed in the english language or dictionary in 1860.

Of course, I don't want them using my own Igbo. Not in any way. But I'm just interested in how they came about with all those words. I'm all for the development of new words. It's about time, but I would like to know how/where these new words are coming from/about. Speaking of how/where the new words are coming from, I see the writer(s) used my "orunotu" contribution I gave a while back in this topic.

In short, these people need to have some kind of encyclopedia to catalog all of these coinages and credit them. . . just my thoughts.

ChinenyeN:

Igbo people, check his out. . . http://ig.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ih%C3%BC_Mbu . . . raises some questions though, the most pressing one being where the(se) writers are getting their terms from. Obia? Science? What is Ovuru? What is Nzu? Ilunilu? etc. etc. I wonder who is writing all this, and am I the only one who finds this Igbo wiki somewhat difficult to read? as in, I can't really make sense of most of what I read. I sometimes feel like I need a translator.

I visited that site,i couldn't make anything from most of their translations,I wonder how they came abt it cos i truly don't agree that was "Igbo Izugbe"

ChinenyeN:

Obia? Science? What is Ovuru? What is Nzu? Ilunilu? etc. etc. I wonder who is writing all this, and am I the only one who finds this Igbo wiki somewhat difficult to read? as in, I can't really make sense of most of what I read. I sometimes feel like I need a translator.

Obia is native doctor or 'doctoring'.
Ovuru is brain
Nzu is tools/technology 'teknonzu'
Ilunilu, maybe proverbs?

ifyalways:

I visited that site,i couldn't make anything from most of their translations,I wonder how they came abt it cos i truly don't agree that was "Igbo Izugbe"   

Okay. I was thinking it was just me.

ezeagu:

Obia is native doctor or 'doctoring'.
Ovuru is brain
Nzu is tools/technology 'teknonzu'
Ilunilu, maybe proverbs?

Okay. So where did those words come from? Are they new coinages, or words that people have since been using, and if so, which people(s) have been using words?

ezeagu:

Obia is native doctor or 'doctoring'.
Ovuru is brain
Nzu is tools/technology 'teknonzu'
Ilunilu, maybe proverbs?

Brian =Uburu/Ubulu ,Uvuru is def. not Igbo Izugbe(Umuahia,Abia and some part of Imo)
Ilunilu "= proverbs for Igbo Izugbe?Bikokwanu
Nzu or Uzu,as in "nka na uzu"

Hi,
I'm looking for resources to strengthen my Igbo as I don't really speak it much in a number of years. Please direct me or it would be nice to have a live voice to practice it with me. I want to learn some Yoruba too but Igbo is my native tongue. Thx

ifyalways:

Brian =Uburu/Ubulu ,Uvuru is def. not Igbo Izugbe(Umuahia,Abia and some part of Imo)
Ilunilu "= proverbs for Igbo Izugbe?Bikokwanu
Nzu or Uzu,as in "nka na uzu"

In the traditional Igbo that i was taught,

And isnt deaf: nkiti? or ntiike
brain: oburu-isi
doctor: (Native doctor) dibia

And i personally dont like these new modern Igbo words. Igbo is a traditional language and in my perspective, there doesnt need to be a word for everything. Thiese new Igbo words are confusing, and ikwurugi eziokwu I doubt they will ever become popular.

soserious:

Hi,
I'm looking for resources to strengthen my Igbo as I don't really speak it much in a number of years. Please direct me or it would be nice to have a live voice to practice it with me. I want to learn some Yoruba too but Igbo is my native tongue. Thx

Hey soserious, a few tips while learning Igbo are:

remeber, think like an Igbo when speaking it not like youre speaking English because thigns like adjective order and verb use come into place. For example in Igbo "ulo ukwu" meaning "big house" would result in "house big" if literally translated into English.

Another way is to live and work with native speakers so that you will understand the language naturally rather than memorization. With this in mind, Good luck!

odumchi:

In the traditional Igbo that i was taught,

And isnt deaf: nkiti? or ntiike
brain: oburu-isi
doctor: (Native doctor) dibia

And i personally dont like these new modern Igbo words. Igbo is a traditional language and in my perspective, there doesnt need to be a word for everything. Thiese new Igbo words are confusing, and ikwurugi eziokwu I doubt they will ever become popular.

Obia, ovuru and nzu are all Igbo words that have been used for hundreds of years, the only one that may be new is 'ilunilu' which isn't even new because ilu is a proverb.

odumchi:

In the traditional Igbo that i was taught,

And isnt deaf: nkiti? or ntiike
brain: oburu-isi
doctor: (Native doctor) dibia
[b]
And i personally dont like these new modern Igbo words. Igbo is a traditional language and in my perspective, there doesnt need to be a word for everything. [/b]Thiese new Igbo words are confusing, and ikwurugi eziokwu I doubt they will ever become popular.

and one wonders why igbo language is not developing and evolving and why one cannot speak it without adding english to it.black people can be their worst enemies, i can imagine a croat saying the same thing.

ezeagu:

Obia, ovuru and nzu are all Igbo words that have been used for hundreds of years, the only one that may be new is 'ilunilu' which isn't even new because ilu is a proverb.

True.

asha 80:

and one wonders why igbo language is not developing and evolving and why one cannot speak it without adding english to it.black people can be their worst enemies, i can imagine a croat saying the same thing.

Whether anyone likes it or not, new words will be and have been added to Igbo, it's natural for a living language. The word 'Beke' did not exist until the arrival of William Baikie and his people. 'Mahadum' was created in the 20th century. There's no way that a living language will not add new words, especially with a people who are in constant progression like the Igbo.

odumchi:

And i personally dont like these new modern Igbo words. Igbo is a traditional language and in my perspective, there doesnt need to be a word for everything. Thiese new Igbo words are confusing, and ikwurugi eziokwu I doubt they will ever become popular.

This mentality is much much more common that people may think.

Anyway, new words/expressions are and have since been developing (albeit, rather slowly though).

Odumchi

Hey soserious, a few tips while learning Igbo are:

remeber, think like an Igbo when speaking it not like youre speaking English because thigns like adjective order and verb use come into place. For example in Igbo "ulo ukwu" meaning "big house" would result in "house big" if literally translated into English.

Another way is to live and work with native speakers so that you will understand the language naturally rather than memorization. With this in mind, Good luck!

Thanks for the tips, I'm not often around any native speakers though.

ezeagu:

Obia is native doctor or 'doctoring'.
Ovuru is brain
Nzu is tools/technology 'teknonzu'
Ilunilu, maybe proverbs?

|@ezeagu,your translation of the bolded words are wrong.Obia means stranger,as in 'Onye Obia' and Nzu is native chalk.it is used for prayers and incantations by traditional title holders and native doctors.Ilunilu(ihunihu) means face to face.

donkarly:

|@ezeagu,your translation of the bolded words are wrong.Obia means stranger,as in 'Onye Obia' and Nzu is native chalk.it is used for prayers and incantations by traditional title holders and native doctors.Ilunilu(ihunihu) means face to face.

lol
Ilunilu is actually Ilu.
Nzu,i assume to be a typo,[i]Uzu [/i]eg nka na uzu is technology.
In some parts of Igboland,Obia means Dibia .

donkarly:

|@ezeagu,your translation of the bolded words are wrong.Obia means stranger,as in 'Onye Obia' and Nzu is native chalk.it is used for prayers and incantations by traditional title holders and native doctors.Ilunilu(ihunihu) means face to face.

Igbo is a tonal language and one word could mean different things depending on tone, I'm sure you know that. I could argue with someone that says their from Awka that they are actually saying that they come from a vegetable. Obia with a low town on the 'a' means doctoring. Dibia is an easier way of saying 'Di Obia' which means 'master of the mystics, sciences, knowledge of the universe, magic, or shrine'. Ilunilu is 'Ilu na ilu', 'proverb upon proverb', which can be understood as philosophy, the only variations I know for face or forward are 'Ihu' and 'Iru', maybe 'Ilu' is 'face' in another dialect as well, I don't know.

ifyalways:

lol
Ilunilu is actually Ilu.
Nzu,i assume to be a typo,[i]Uzu [/i]eg nka na uzu is technology.
In some parts of Igboland,Obia means Dibia .

ezeagu:

[b]Igbo is a tonal language and one word could mean different things depending on tone, [/b]I'm sure you know that. I could argue with someone that says their from Awka that they are actually saying that they come from a vegetable. Obia with a low town on the 'a' means doctoring. Dibia is an easier way of saying 'Di Obia' which means 'master of the mystics, sciences, knowledge of the universe, magic, or shrine'. Ilunilu is 'Ilu na ilu', 'proverb upon proverb', which can be understood as philosophy, the only variations I know for face or forward are 'Ihu' and 'Iru', maybe 'Ilu' is 'face' in another dialect as well, I don't know.

i didn't consider that but i get your point.i translated them using my dialect.you two seem to know igbo better than me,though i made an A in my SSCE is it possible then to look at the central igbo meaning of those words leaving the different dialects?it is often said that igbo is incomplete but i believe there must be common words meaning the same thing generally accepted by all igbos.

@Ezeagu ur last post is priceless!who could have thought of that "di obia" thanks a million.@Don,o nweghi onye macha ihe nile,a na amu,a na amuta.

Alcofrybas:

Hello Every one.

I don't know if I got into the right forum, but, please, can you be so kind as to tell me the meaning of "Jin go lo ba" (Yoruba)?.

Thank you very much.

I think it refers to being cheated, financially.
Jingo lo ba
Jingo = swindler
lo = that
ba = happened [to that person]

so Jingo lo ba = That person met/suffered from a swindler