bigfrancis21:


Awo Idemili - Imo state

Idemili - Anambra state.

And? What is that mean't to mean? My friend, stop trying to draw similarities where there are none. In Imo State you have Nkwerre and in your enclave you have a place called Nkwelle. So what? Going by your earlier assertion one came from the other or they are related, abi What an arrogant creature! We in Imo State are in no way related to you people up north. We, at least those of us from the Orlu Zone, descend from around the town of Amaigbo. If anything this is our ancestral home and no where in Anambra! We do not share your self imposed belief of Igbo Origin! Come to think of it, as far as I can remember many people in Anambra never used to accept the term Igbo. this includes you Nri people, Onitsha, Ogbaru, Nkpor, and many others that I cannot care to mention. However, this is not so with people in Imo. We have NEVER denied being Igbo. Except for Ugwuta people, who are like their brothers in Anioma. However, there is no confusion about where we are from and Anambra is NOT where we are from. Get it?

adusim:


And? What is that mean't to mean? My friend, stop trying to draw similarities where there are none. In Imo State you have Nkwerre and in your enclave you have a place called Nkwelle. So what? Going by your earlier assertion one came from the other or they are related, abi What an arrogant creature! We in Imo State are in no way related to you people up north. We, at least those of us from the Orlu Zone, descend from around the town of Amaigbo. If anything this is our ancestral home and no where in Anambra! We do not share your self imposed belief of Igbo Origin! Come to think of it, as far as I can remember many people in Anambra never used to accept the term Igbo. this includes you Nri people, Onitsha, Ogbaru, Nkpor, and many others that I cannot care to mention. However, this is not so with people in Imo. We have NEVER denied being Igbo. Except for Ugwuta people, who are like their brothers in Anioma. However, there is no confusion about where we are from and Anambra is NOT where we are from. Get it?

Chillax bro. A gbojazina na I buro nkita.

I'm glad you brought up Nkwerre and Nkwelle but they are not the same in pronunciation - the former reflects southern and the latter Northern.

But, Awo Idemili in Southern Igboland?

O dikwa vely suplising.

bigfrancis21:


Chillax bro. A gbojazina na I buro nkita.

I'm glad you brought up Nkwerre and Nkwelle but they are not the same in pronunciation - the former reflects southern and the latter Northern.

But, Awo Idemili in Southern Igboland?

O dikwa vely suplising.

Yes, Awo Idemilli is the capital of Orsu LGA in Imo State. What is so 'surprising' about that? My friend, we should all learn to respect each other and know our boundaries. As you feel proud of yourself believe you me, so do we. You or any other Anambra person can NEVER, and I mean NEVER, speak on behalf of anyone in Imo State. We don't even take you people seriously and regard you lot as a bunch of fake, criminal interlopers.

OdenigboAroli:


Ide nnaa,ogini ka ina ekwu ifea??
What is spoken in Onicha streets is a combination of Idenmili and Onicha dialect.
But only us from that axis can decipher who is Idenmili and who is Onicha.
Infact,Obosi and Onicha speak near identical Igbo....yea,that sweet and smooth flow...lol

I still insist that the Igbo dialect used in onitsha town isn't Onitsha village dialect.
Onitsha people seem to use words like "jega" a lot, and they have the "v" factor. Afia becomes Avia, Fa becomes Va, etc. I dont think regular folks in onitsha township speak like the onitsha man.

For example, the English sentence, "go and take your bath", is translated as "jega chacha aru yi" by the Onitsha man. But is translated as " jee wuo aru yi" by the Obosi/Nkpor/Ogidi Idemili man. And the Idemili translation is the one used as 'street lingo' by Igbos in Onitsha township.

adusim:


Yes, Awo Idemilli is the capital of Orsu LGA in Imo State. What is so 'surprising' about that? My friend, we should all learn to respect each other and know our boundaries. As you feel proud of yourself believe you me, so do we. You or any other Anambra person can NEVER, and I mean NEVER, speak on behalf of anyone in Imo State. We don't even take you people seriously and regard you lot as a bunch of fake, criminal interlopers.

Not to also think there's Orsumoghu in Anambra state. Interesting.

bigfrancis21:


Not to also think there's Orsumoghu in Anambra state. Interesting.

What is your point?

bigfrancis21:


Not to also think there's Orsumoghu in Anambra state. Interesting.

Orsumoghu people, much of Ihiala LGA and Nnewi South are Orsu people in Anambra State while the other half is in Orlu area of Imo State. Awo Idemili is Orsu and so is Isseke and Osumenyi. That is why I often ask Chino not to create an imaginary clear cut boundary.

abagoro:


Orsumoghu people, much of Ihiala LGA and Nnewi South are Orsu people in Anambra State while the other half is in Orlu area of Imo State. Awo Idemili is Orsu and so is Isseke and Osumenyi. That is why I often ask Chino not to create an imaginary clear cut boundary.

Ihiala dialects doesn't in anyway resemble those of Idemili/Njikoka/Dunukofia/Awka/Anaocha dialects cluster, they are closer to those of their neighbours in Imo state.

The dialects cluster of Orumba North and south and most parts of Aguata,is equally far away from the Idemili/Dunukofia/Anaocha/Oyi/Njikoka/Awka/Onitsha cluster, but closer to Okigwe/Umunneochi/isiukwuato cluster.

The very idea of a homogenous Anambra language/ dialect, distinct from the dialects of old Imo state( now Abia and Imo), is entirely false. Anambra is but an artificial creation, just like Imo and the rest.

The language/dialects people identify as Anambra dialect, the type you hear Osuofia use in nollywood movies, is basically what is spoken in the Anaocha/ Idemili/Onitsha/Awka/Njikoka/Oyi/Dunukofia cluster. Anything else outside this cluster is often heavy and a bit nasal.

pazienza:



Ihiala dialects doesn't in anyway resemble those of Idemili/Njikoka/Dunukofia/Awka/Anaocha dialects cluster, they are closer to those of their neighbours in Imo state.

The dialects cluster of Orumba North and south and most parts of Aguata,is equally far away from the Idemili/Dunukofia/Anaocha/Oyi/Njikoka/Awka/Onitsha cluster, but closer to Okigwe/Umunneochi/isiukwuato cluster.

The very idea of a homogenous Anambra language/ dialect, distinct from the dialects of old Imo state( now Abia and Imo), is entirely false. Anambra is but an artificial creation, just like Imo and the rest.

That explains why we should be more concerned about related kiths and kins in Sister Igbo states. I believe people within the same dialect cluster are quite related. Some people emphasize too much on artifical boundaries.

pazienza:
The language/dialects people identify as Anambra dialect, the type you hear Osuofia use in nollywood movies, is basically what is spoken in the Anaocha/ Idemili/Onitsha/Awka/Njikoka/Oyi/Dunukofia cluster. Anything else outside this cluster is often heavy and a bit nasal.

I've seen so many people here in the culture section write that anambra igbo dialect is onitsha mainly. This assertion is very wrong. Anambra have 177 communities and 177 slightly different dialects. Anambra dialects are so close that whenever different anambra people speak,it sound alike. We have our native dialects-yes, but even when we use them, it will only differ slightly from the so called onitsha dialect.words like ife,ihe,ive are all present in anambraa dialects. Nde,nda,kedu(how or where ) are seen across anambra. So i want to make it clear that anambra does not speak onitsha dialect but fussion of different anambra dialects.
This is what i saw in another thread. The socalled Anambra dialect is just a fusion of different dialects.

Ihuomadinihu:

That explains why we should be more concerned about related kiths and kins in Sister Igbo states. Some people emphasize too much on artifical boundaries.

Exactly. This has been my message, people should stop holding unto artificial creations like states,and think of the extended kinship we have throughout Igboland.

Ihuomadinihu:

I've seen so many people here in the culture section write that anambra igbo dialect is onitsha mainly. This assertion is very wrong. Anambra have 177 communities and 177 slightly different dialects. Anambra dialects are so close that whenever different anambra people speak,it sound alike. We have our native dialects-yes, but even when we use them, it will only differ slightly from the so called onitsha dialect.words like ife,ihe,ive are all present in anambraa dialects. Nde,nda,kedu(how or where ) are seen across anambra. So i want to make it clear that anambra does not speak onitsha dialect but fussion of different anambra dialects.
This is what i saw in another thread. The socalled Anambra dialect is just a fusion of different dialects.

No. The classical dialect people identify as Anambra dialect, the one you hear in nollywood, onitsha township, is not a fusion of all the dialects spoken in all 177 Anambra state communities. It's the dialect cluster found in Idemili/Anaocha/Dunukofia/Njikoka/Awka/Oyi/Onitsha parts of Anambra.

The rest of the communities in Anambra speak with major variations,and can pretend to speak the classical Anambra cluster to outsiders. But speak their real dialects at home.
When you have time, visit Umunze, a typical Orumba town, flavour the musician is from this town, try to communicate with the locals
in Umunze and notice how heavy and nasal their Igbo dialect is, it's nothing close to what flavour use in his music or the stereotyped Anambra dialect.

pazienza:


No. The classical dialect people identify as Anambra dialect, the one you hear in nollywood, onitsha township, is not a fusion of all the dialects spoken in all 177 Anambra state communities. It's the dialect cluster found in Idemili/Anaocha/Dunukofia/Njikoka/Awka/Oyi/Onitsha parts of Anambra.

The rest of the communities in Anambra speak with major variations,and can pretend to speak the classical Anambra cluster to outsiders. But speak their real dialects at home.
When you have time, visit Umunze, a typical Orumba town, flavour the musician is from this town, try to communicate with the locals
in Umunze and notice how heavy and nasal their Igbo dialect is, it's nothing close to what flavour use in his music or the stereotyped Anambra dialect.

Thanks. Am only trying to correct the impression made on this thread. The dialect used by actors like Osuofia and Edochie is not strictly Onitsha dialect as some people would want us to believe. I also wanted to correct the impression that 'all Anambra dialects' sound like the Anambra township dialect.

pazienza:

When you have time, visit Umunze, a typical Orumba town, flavour the musician is from this town, try to communicate with the locals

in Umunze and notice how heavy and nasal their Igbo dialect is, it's nothing close to what flavour use in his music or the stereotyped Anambra dialect.

Am aware of the fact that Umunze dialect is quite different from the township dialect and they tend to use /ive/ in place of /ife/.

Ihuomadinihu:

Thanks. Am only trying to correct the impression made on this thread. The dialect used by actors like Osuofia and Edochie is not strictly Onitsha dialect as some people would want us to believe. I also wanted to correct the impression that 'all Anambra dialects' sound like the Anambra township dialect.

Nteje is in Oyi,and hence fall within the dialect cluster, outsiders recognize as 'Anambra dialect', only people from this cluster would be able to differentiate Nteje from Nkpor. To an average Imo person, they all sound alike. But when an Average Imo person hear an Orumba man speak, he would know it's different from the stereotyped Anambra dialect.

Ihuomadinihu:

Am aware of the fact that Umunze dialect is quite different from the township dialect and they tend to use /ive/ in place of /ife/.

Umunze use 'ihe' for ife, 'ha' for fa, 'udunu' for Ugbua/kita, 'kan' for ebea. It's totally different from the stereotype Anambra dialect, and totally similar to what is obtainable in Abia and Imo,both in words and language structure.

pazienza:


Umunze use 'ihe' for ife, 'ha' for fa, 'udunu' for Ugbua/kita, 'kan' for ebea. It's totally different from the stereotype Anambra dialect, and totally similar to what is obtainable in Abia and Imo,both in words and language structure.

Thanks. So Flavour has never used his dialect in any of his songs. I was misinformed about the /ive/ part though.
In that case, Umunze dialect is quite......
Lol, the tables have turned.

Ihuomadinihu:

Thanks. So Flavour has never used his dialect in any of his songs. I was misinformed about the /ive/ part though.

Haha! You are now getting the gist. He had never used Umunze dialect in his songs. He always use the stereotyped Anambra dialect with some dose of other random Igbo dialects, he is an Enugu boy, and in Enugu city,Anambra dialect rules!

pazienza:


Umunze use 'ihe' for ife, 'ha' for fa, 'udunu' for Ugbua/kita, 'kan' for ebea. It's totally different from the stereotype Anambra dialect, and totally similar to what is obtainable in Abia and Imo,both in words and language structure.

True. My elder brother is married to an Umunze woman. People in my place sometimes jocularly refer to Southern Anambrarians ( especially from the Orumba and the Ihiala areas) as Imo people 'mistakenly' included in Anambra.

pazienza:


Haha! You are now getting the gist. He had never used Umunze dialect in his songs. He always use the stereotyped Anambra dialect with some dose of other random Igbo dialects, he is an Enugu boy, and in Enugu city,Anambra dialect rules!

Yeah. You can say that again! Am only glad that some 'Anambra' dialects would be equally classified as unclassy by some people,snice it does not necessarily sound like the steroetyped dialect.

pazienza:


Haha! You are now getting the gist. He had never used Umunze dialect in his songs. He always use the stereotyped Anambra dialect with some dose of other random Igbo dialects, he is an Enugu boy, and in Enugu city,Anambra dialect rules!

He doesn't even speak Enugu dialect per se. I was raised in Enugu City myself. An Enugu boy will never say "Ife bala aba abago". He'll say "Iye..." I think he chose his 'singing dialect' to appeal to a certain demographic.

Radoillo:


True. My elder brother is married to an Umunze woman. People in my place sometimes jocularly refer to Southern Anambrarians ( especially from the Orumba and the Ihiala areas) as Imo people 'mistakenly' included in Anambra.

Lol,is it that obvious. It's not my business though.

Radoillo:


True. My elder brother is married to an Umunze woman. People in my place sometimes jocularly refer to Southern Anambrarians ( especially from the Orumba and the Ihiala areas) as Imo people 'mistakenly' included in Anambra.

True, but Southern Anambrarians are proud Anambra people,they see being in Anambra as a thing of pride. Some of them would go extra lenght to fit into the stereotyped Anambra dialect and culture.

I use to have a class mate from Ogbunka in Orumba south, his family name was originally 'Okereke', but they changed it to 'Okeke' to fit into the stereotyped Anambra dialect.
In some of those communities, their traditional rulers were traditionally called Ezes, but these days, they are now answering Igwes, all in an effort to fit in.

Radoillo:


He doesn't even speak Enugu dialect per se. I was raised in Enugu City myself. An Enugu boy will never say "Ife bala aba abago". He'll say "Iye..." I think he chose his 'singing dialect' to appeal to a certain demographic.

True. Enugu city lingo, is a corrupted Anambra dialect. I am an Enugu born and brought up too. I use Iye and Ife interchangeably, and Enugu city lingo, seem to use Ihe and not ife, but i do mix them up. Lol! Ife m nor,bu sulu gaba! *grins*

Ihuomadinihu:

Yeah. You can say that again! Am only glad that some 'Anambra' dialects would be equally classified as unclassy by some people,snice it does not necessarily sound like the steroetyped dialect.

I don't classify any igbo dialect as unclassy, i love all Igbo dialects.

Only people with inferiority complex issues,go about classifying other dialects not theirs,as unclassy.

I am 'pan igbotic', if there is any word like that lol, i try to visit and learn different Igbo dialects as much as i can.

pazienza:


True. Enugu city lingo, is a corrupted Anambra dialect. I am an Enugu born and brought up too. I use Iye and Ife interchangeably, and Enugu city lingo, seem to use Ihe and not ife, but i do mix them up. Lol! Ife m nor,bu suru gaba! *grins*

Yea, I think the Anambra tongues had a very huge impact on the development of the urban Enugu dialect. You know, in the old days, before the Old Anambra was split, the Anambra people had a huge educational advantage over the Enugu people. And this meant they were the ones who were moving to Enugu City in greater numbers than the natives of what would become Enugu State to occupy the civil service positions. And Enugu was a civil service town, so it was basically Anambra people all over the place. (That may be changing now though, since the splitting of states.)

My street was basically a mix of Anambra (predominant) and Imo immigrants. Enugu State folk were conspicuously absent. It was unavoidable that Anambra would leave clear impressions on urban Enugu dialect.

I never said 'Ife' though. It was always 'Iye' for me. Till today, I speak urban Enugu. Even though it's been nearly 10 years since I left Enugu. The stereotyped Anambra just doesn't roll off my tongue. I can converse fluently in my dialect though. But whoever hears me speak it immediately knows I didn't grow up speaking it.

pazienza:


Umunze use 'ihe' for ife, 'ha' for fa, 'udunu' for Ugbua/kita, 'kan' for ebea. It's totally different from the stereotype Anambra dialect, and totally similar to what is obtainable in Abia and Imo,both in words and language structure.

In essence Umunze speaks Isu dialect . It is also the same way Ezinifite, Osumenyi, Isseke, Akwaihedi etc speak Orsu dialect as spoken in parts of Imo State. Same way parts of Ohaji speaks Ikwerre language and Oguta speaks Ukwuani. Same way Oyigbo speaks Ndoki and parts of Ngor-Okpala speak Etche.

pazienza:


I don't classify any igbo dialect as unclassy, i love all Igbo dialects.

Only people with inferiority complex issues,go about classifying other dialects not theirs,as unclassy.

I am 'pan igbotic', if there is any word like that lol, i try to visit and learn different Igbo dialects as much as i can.

Your comment is objective. I'm equally 'pan igbotic' and i can't thank God enough for making me Igbo. I appreciate the diversity in Igbo land and i would never classify people/dialect different from mine as unclassy or 'ndi ime bush'.

pazienza:


True, but Southern Anambrarians are proud Anambra people,they see being in Anambra as a thing of pride. Some of them would go extra lenght to fit into the stereotyped Anambra dialect and culture.

I use to have a class mate from Ogbunka in Orumba south, his family name was originally 'Okereke', but they changed it to 'Okeke' to fit into the stereotyped Anambra dialect.
In some of those communities, their traditional rulers were traditionally called Ezes, but these days, they are now answering Igwes, all in an effort to fit in.

Really? This is rather pathetic.

I think we are rather getting the root of this 'classy' and 'unclassy' dialect wrongly.
This phenomenon is present in any 'multi-dialectal' language. It is not the structure or tone of the dialect that should be referred to as 'classy' or 'unclassy' but the unexposed speaker or the in/ability to speak a dialect that unify the people in that area in their demographic conglomeration, which is usually a city. (this should not be mistaken for the situation in England in the Elizabethan era or thereabout, when there was a class difference between the language of the high class educated people and the ordinary pub commoner).
For instance, in Aba, there is an urban dialect spoken there which is quite different from Ngwa. Now, if someone from Alayi or Igbere for example, who has never left his/her enclave for the most popular city in that area, he/she will likely use his/her local dialect to communicate because toning it down to suite the common urban dialect there may be difficult. Now, having that in mind, even more exposed family members who have lived in that city for long may refer to that person as "onye Ime obodo". The "Ime obodo", is not the language itself, in our Igbo situation but a reference to the unexposed experienced to a unifying dialect.
This situation I mentioned above is just only appropriate for people who dwelled mainly in Igbo speaking regions.

Now, for someone like me who wasn't born there and grew up learning my local bende/alayi dialect, I just tone. down my dialect or join the Igbo Izugbe and other anambara and aba and whatever dialect, mine might sound a bit off. Now will I be termed as "Ime Obodo" noting that my English is quite clear and unaffected by any regional influence (its really hard to point out my ethnicity from my English, which is usually a mark of classiness, at least, where I grew up)


And to my dialect, the use of some terms is completely strange or foreign to other igbos..
e.g we say 'opO' (the capitalised 'O' stretched) to mean money I.e 'ego'. although we use ego too. I was thinking, this ' 'Opo' could have been a long lost ancient medium exchange of goods and services in that area. is there any of such situation in other places? Some of these words may be archaic meaning of some terms in general use or words which have switched to mean other things with time. Dialects sometimes can be a very veritable way of tracing our history and heritage and even adding more words to our lexicon.
We also tend to use 'e' 'pen' in place of 'a' in 'pant' in some instance
e.g. eka for aka (hand); eziza for aziza (broom); ekwukwo for akwukwo (book). However, many like azu (fish), ala (land) and anu (meat) remains the same.

While some names are very funny to me e.g 'Uzoeru' (road to eru) we call 'arochukwu', 'eruchukwu' 'Ugbalu', I.e 'ogbenye alu' (Not to be married to the poor), 'Lekwauwa' (see the world), Uguru (harmattan) Okai (dont know the meaning)
we bear okoronkwo, okorie, okereke but I have never heard of 'Okoroafor'
while we pronounce some names differently but spell them differently. e.g we pronounce 'enyaele' but spell 'Anyaele', egwu for 'Agwu'.
These are the ones I remember.
However one thing am proud about my people is that we still maintain these names.