Eke40seven:
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.

Okpo, Okpogho, ikpe, ikpeghe, abii, ayo are older versions of "money" in Igboland. You might notice it mostly in preserved ancient names like you have artist Munachi Abii or Late Dee Sam Mbakwe's wife Ahuikpeghe Mbakwe.

The reality is that the Southeast part of Nigeria has experienced a kind of language unification with few isolated cases in Northeastern Ebonyi State. We've all lost some parts of our original dialect to a centralised Igbo that unites us the more. That way even if you speak your corrupted dialect, someone from another area will be able to comprehend as we now share a lot in common.

Eke40seven:
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.

Ok,that's quite elaborate. In this context though, 'ime obodo dialect' invariably refers to non-Anambra dialects. I intially stated that there are 'funkified/diluted' igbo dialects in our urban areas,so one does not necessarily need to speak the Anambra dialect in the Southern regions.

Abagworo:


Okpo, Okpogho, ikpe, ikpeghe, abii, ayo are older versions of "money" in Igboland. You might notice it mostly in preserved ancient names like you have artist Munachi Abii or Late Dee Sam Mbakwe's wife Ahuikpeghe Mbakwe.

The reality is that the Southeast part of Nigeria has experienced a kind of language unification with few isolated cases in Northeastern Ebonyi State. We've all lost some parts of our original dialect to a centralised Igbo that unites us the more. That way even if you speak your corrupted dialect, someone from another area will be able to comprehend as we now share a lot in common.

Will you ascribe this language unification or centralization to Igbo izugbe or .....?

Eke40seven:
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.

This is why I am so proud to be from Imo/Abia! We discuss issues with intelligence and use constructive arguments that are laced with reason and enlightenment. Others should take a cue.

Abagworo:


Okpo, Okpogho, ikpe, ikpeghe, abii, ayo are older versions of "money" in Igboland. You might notice it mostly in preserved ancient names like you have artist Munachi Abii or Late Dee Sam Mbakwe's wife Ahuikpeghe Mbakwe.

The reality is that the Southeast part of Nigeria has experienced a kind of language unification with few isolated cases in Northeastern Ebonyi State. We've all lost some parts of our original dialect to a centralised Igbo that unites us the more. That way even if you speak your corrupted dialect, someone from another area will be able to comprehend as we now share a lot in common.

Sorry, the spelling should be 'okpo' instead of 'opo' (my bad) or 'okpogho' and yea we also use
'ikpe' or 'Ikpeghe' sometimes.
My emphasis was on the fact that we still strongly maintain those words instead of 'ego'. 'ego' is less used or even most times absent if we stick strictly to our dialect. And many Igbos will laugh or completely blank out when they hear us use the term.
I was thinking the 'Okpo' could have been a type of item/object used in those areas as money as you pointed out.

I would rather rephrase your last paragraph to say, that south eastern part (igbo) has decentralized the common language which they all used (since they are one people) through dispersion, migration, isolation and mixing with other language group, thus creating their separate unique dialects as they dispersed and the reverse is happening as centralisation is bringing the tongue closer at this point.
In order words, we spoke one common language from beginning before dialects began to evolve through migration and mixing with other groups, now, the cycle is turning back to what was obtained in the beginning where we spoke almost similar tongue although the language itself has evolved.

Abagworo:


Okpo, Okpogho, ikpe, ikpeghe, abii, ayo are older versions of "money" in Igboland. You might notice it mostly in preserved ancient names like you have artist Munachi Abii or Late Dee Sam Mbakwe's wife Ahuikpeghe Mbakwe.

The reality is that the Southeast part of Nigeria has experienced a kind of language unification with few isolated cases in Northeastern Ebonyi State. We've all lost some parts of our original dialect to a centralised Igbo that unites us the more. That way even if you speak your corrupted dialect, someone from another area will be able to comprehend as we now share a lot in common.

I think some of these terms may originally have referred to particular types of currency, and not to money in general. Abii according to what I was told refers to manillas. Ayo refers to cowries. Thus in my area you would hear ego ayo or ego ayolo - i.e., literally 'cowrie money'. Okpo/Okpogho/Ikpe/Ikpeghe sound like cognate terms to me and seem to be related to Efik Okpoho, which appears originally to have referred also to manillas, but later came to be used generally for 'money'.

My opinion is that ego (or some now unknown archaic ancestor of the word with a *go/*gho root) was the proto-Igbo for money (Compare with Edo igho, Owo Yoruba ogho and other Yoruba owo). These other terms abii, okpogho, and ayo came in later to describe specific forms of currency, and in some places were able to displace the original general term for money (i.e, *go).

Interesting note: Okpogho also appears to have this *go/*gho root.

Radoillo:


I think some of these terms may originally have referred to particular types of currency, and not to money in general. Abii according to what I was told refers to manillas. Ayo refers to cowries. Thus in my area you would hear ego ayo or ego ayolo - i.e., literally 'cowrie money'. Okpo/Okpogho/Ikpe/Ikpeghe sound like cognate terms to me and seem to be related to Efik Okpoho, which appears originally to have referred also to manillas, but later came to be used generally for 'money'.

My opinion is that ego (or some now unknown archaic ancestor of the word with a *go/*gho root) was the proto-Igbo for money (Compare with Edo igho, Owo Yoruba ogho and other Yoruba owo). These other terms abii, okpogho, and ayo came in later to describe specific forms of currency, and in some places were able to displace the original general term for money (i.e, *go).

Interesting note: Okpogho also appears to have this *go/*gho root.

Interesting and buttressing facts you have raised up there.
Especially, the Efik origins of okpogho.
Outsiders, including non-igbos do actually comment on the 'calabar' flow of our dialect. This could be due to the proximity to the place and other underlying historical facts.
Also, I have also noticed (to my hearing) that urban Onitsha Igbo flows like the Bini language. That is my personal observation though
It got me thinking if this is just a coincidence or does it reflect an earlier interaction or integration with other neighbouring group of people?
Is that the pattern?

Eke40seven:


Interesting and buttressing facts you have raised up there.
Especially, the Efik origins of okpogho.
Outsiders, including non-igbos do actually comment on the 'calabar' flow of our dialect. This could be due to the proximity to the place and other underlying historical facts.
Also, I have also noticed (to my hearing) that urban Onitsha Igbo flows like the Bini language. That is my personal observation though
It got me thinking if this is just a coincidence or does it reflect an earlier interaction or integration with other neighbouring group of people?
Is that the pattern?

I'm not sure I would say Onitsha Urban flows like Bini. I honestly never really got that impression. The Ika nasalise some of their words in a fashion that is characteristically Bini, though.


Random question for southern Igbo folks: Is iwai or a similar-sounding word used in the south for 'money'? (Except for Ikwerre, of course). I've always been curious about that.

Radoillo:


I'm not sure I would say Onitsha Urban flows like Bini. I honestly never really got that impression. The Ika nasalise some of their words in a fashion that is characteristically Bini, though.


Random question for southern Igbo folks: Is iwai or a similar-sounding word used in the south for 'money'? (Except for Ikwerre, of course). I've always been curious about that.

I think iwai stands for money in certain parts of Imo state....

Ihuomadinihu:

I think iwai stands for money in certain parts of Imo state....

That's Ohaji of course which shares language affirnity with Ikwerre and more like "awai" in that axis. I don't think Okpogho or Ikpeghe was borrowed but rather it evolved at the same time among many tribes in Southern most tip of Nigeria. Ngwa for example used "ikpeghe" for money and so did Ogoni, Ndoki, Asa, Etche and Eleme. So also did some parts of Imo State like Obowo, Mbaise and Ihiteuboma. Okpogho was used when you move a bit Northeasternly and is also a shared name for money between many tribes of Ibibio, Igbo, Akoi background.

Ego on the other hand starts appearing after Owerri or in Isuama all the way to Delta State where it assumed other form like "igho" among Urhobo.

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.

Exactly. I'm very much aware of the differing dialect of Ihiala and Orumba in Anambra state. Many of their town names take on similarity with those of their counterparts neat the Imo state border. The town name of Ihiala alone is an indication of its SCI-inclination (rendered as Ifiani in the 'NCI' axis of Anambra state). It's why I mentioned specifically in the opening statements of my post of the first page that when I say 'Anambra dialect' I refer specifically to the Igbo spoken in Onitsha-Dunukofia-Idemili-Njikoka axis and it's the same dialect I used 'NCI' to refer to. I guess some people didn't see that part of my post, anyway.

My HOD during my final year is from Ihiala and I noticed his speech pattern tended to be heavy and nasalized, closely resembling southern dialects, except for drops of 'ife' here and there that he uses.

My uncle's wife is from Aguata and her Igbo is much more centralized than what's obtainable on the western flank of Anambra state.

So basically when one refers to Anambra Igbo, they are referring specifically to Onitsha/Dunukofia/Njikoka etc dialects.

It's the same way people who are not so conversant with Imo state assume by default that the main dialect spoken in Imo state is the Owerri-Mbaise dialect not knowing that there are other dialects that exist in Imo state as well different from Owerri.

pazienza:
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.

I've noticed the 'ga' phenomenon in the Nnewi dialect and Igbo Izugbe as well ie

Anyi nwelu efe digasi iche iche ebe a.
O nwegasi ngwa afia ofuu m golu.
O zugasi umu ife e ji esi ofe.

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!

@bold...I like your usage of Anambra dialect in that context. Now we're referring to the same thing when we use the phrase, 'Anambra dialect'.

bigfrancis21:
It's the same way people who are not so conversant with Imo state assume by default that the main dialect spoken in Imo state is the Owerri-Mbaise dialect not knowing that there are other dialects that exist in Imo state as well different from Owerri.

The general language spoken in Imo State emanates from street slangs of Aba which often times is modified in Onitsha and spread to Northern axis which also relies on Onitsha for its street slangs.

Owerri and Mbaise don't speak nasal form of Igbo and do have a different structure from the Igbo spoken from Orlu to Anambra State. So I wonder how you could even make such assumptions of it being used as Imo State Igbo.

"Ole ka idi" Or "Kedu ka idi" or "kee ka idi" is typical "how are you" in Igbo(South and North) but Owerri says "I ri kpole" or "Imela kpole". What I think really differentiates central urban Igbo on North and South basis is the "la" and "go" suffix as the other letters are interchangeable.

Ighotago and ighotala, Ibiago and ibiala etc.

adusim:


This is why I am so proud to be from Imo/Abia! We discuss issues with intelligence and use constructive arguments that are laced with reason and enlightenment. Others should take a cue.

This your post is totally unnecessary and against the Igbo unity we are trying to achieve here.

Abagworo:


The general language spoken in Imo State emanates from street slangs of Aba which often times is modified in Onitsha and spread to Northern axis which also relies on Onitsha for its street slangs.

Owerri and Mbaise don't speak nasal form of Igbo and do have a different structure from the Igbo spoken from Orlu to Anambra State. So I wonder how you could even make such assumptions of it being used as Imo State Igbo.

"Ole ka idi" Or "Kedu ka idi" or "kee ka idi" is typical "how are you" in Igbo(South and North) but Owerri says "I ri kpole" or "Imela kpole". What I think really differentiates central urban Igbo on North and South basis is the "la" and "go" suffix as the other letters are interchangeable.

Ighotago and ighotala, Ibiago and ibiala etc.

Truly, Owerri and Mbaise are nasal indeed. From the pronunciation of new as 'ohnhurnu', to 'ihnu'(face), 'hne'(ihe), 'ihnuoma'(ihuoma), 'otnu'(one), etc. The 'n' nasal sound seems to always accompany the 'h' letter, 'n' letter etc. This is one distinguishing factor of Owerri/Mbaise from central Igbo where all nasal sounds are dropped.

In addition to 'la'/'go', vocabulary also distinguishes both NCI and SCI ie 'mbosi'/eshi(day), anyasi/abali(night), uutu/ututu(Enugu/Onisha versus Owerri/Aba), Eifie/Ehihie(afternoon), banye/biiga(enter) etc.

bigfrancis21:


Truly, Owerri and Mbaise are nasal indeed. From the pronunciation of new as 'ohnhurnu', to 'ihnu'(face), 'hne'(ihe), 'ihnuoma'(ihuoma), 'otnu'(one), etc.

Eh, i don't really understand this. Owerri and Mbaise don't really sound alike. In Owerri, the pronunciations will be Ohuu/ohuru, Ezu huu/Ihu, Hee/Ihe, Ihuoma and Otu.

bigfrancis21:


Truly, Owerri and Mbaise are nasal indeed. From the pronunciation of new as 'ohnhurnu', to 'ihnu'(face), 'hne'(ihe), 'ihnuoma'(ihuoma), 'otnu'(one), etc. The 'n' nasal sound seems to always accompany the 'h' letter, 'n' letter etc. This is one distinguishing factor of Owerri/Mbaise from central Igbo where all nasal sounds are dropped.

In addition to 'la'/'go', vocabulary also distinguishes both NCI and SCI ie 'mbosi'/eshi(day), anyasi/abali(night), uutu/ututu(Enugu/Onisha versus Owerri/Aba), Eifie/Ehihie(afternoon), banye/biiga(enter) etc.

You do not know much about Igbo dialects I guess. Owerri has silent "T" in their dialect and hence "o'u" is the typical Igbo "otu" , Anyasi or uchichi is dialectal as central Igbo is abali/abani for north/south, banye is banye or bai. Biiga becomes dialectal just like bii. Owerri has some nasal sounds which lack in Mbaise or Ezinihitte.

Other words are just interchanged.

"Ori kpa ori imekpa umu'akiri ogbede ahu" is a typical Owerri which you of course will find it difficult to translate.

"Judith nne'm ayola" is another very simple phrase you cannot interpret either.

Abagworo:


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.

I may have noticed that part during my service. Some on my students from deep down Ohaji/Egbema spoke a dialect sounding so close to Ikwerre I could barely understand. They could easily switch to Owerri-like Igbo when communicating with their friends and back to their native dialect among themselves.

Abagworo:


You do not know much about Igbo dialects I guess. Owerri has silent "T" in their dialect and hence "o'u" is the typical Igbo "otu" , Anyasi or uchichi is dialectal as central Igbo is abali/abani for north/south, banye is banye or bai. Biiga becomes dialectal just like bii. Owerri has some nasal sounds which lack in Mbaise or Ezinihitte.

Other words are just interchanged.

"Ori kpa ori imekpa umu'akiri ogbede ahu" is a typical Owerri which you of course will find it difficult to translate.

"Judith nne'm ayola" is another very simple phrase you cannot interpret either.

Indeed, Owerri is typically nasal. Especially in the pronunciation of 'h' words. You could hear the 'n' nasal sound in them.

Shebi I grew up there. Listen closely to them pronounce words like 'ohuru', 'ihu' etc you'd hear the silent 'n' nasal sound like the pronunciation comes from within the nostrils.

Abagworo:


"Ori kpa ori imekpa umu'akiri ogbede ahu"

Is this supposed to be Ori kpa Ori, 'ime a' umu'akiri ogbede ahu?

Abagworo:


You do not know much about Igbo dialects I guess. Owerri has silent "T" in their dialect and hence "o'u" is the typical Igbo "otu" , Anyasi or uchichi is dialectal as central Igbo is abali/abani for north/south, banye is banye or bai. Biiga becomes dialectal just like bii. Owerri has some nasal sounds which lack in Mbaise or Ezinihitte.

Other words are just interchanged.

"Ori kpa ori imekpa umu'akiri ogbede ahu" is a typical Owerri which you of course will find it difficult to translate.

"Judith nne'm ayola" is another very simple phrase you cannot interpret either.

I also know the o'u(otu), u'u'u(ututu) renderings of 't' sound in Owerri. In fact, I speak it to my soon-to-be landlord here from Mbaise. Lol. But urban Owerri has modified sort of that Owerri speakers switch between 'otu' and 'o'u', the use of the latter being used more when speaking natively within themselves. Some Owerri people speak 'o'u' anytime anyday though. And when they pronounce the 't' sound in some sounds, there's also that nasal sound undertone to it equally.

Ihuomadinihu:

Eh, i don't really understand this. Owerri and Mbaise don't really sound alike. In Owerri, the pronunciations will be Ohuu/ohuru, Ezo huu/Ihu, Hee/Ihe, Ihuoma and Otu.

I didn't say they sound alike. There are dialectic variations between both but they share a lot of similarities though. They both have one common feature to them - nasal pronunciation of certain words. Words such as 'ohuru', 'ihu' etc when spelt on paper would make you think that's how they are pronounced but when a proper Owerri/Mbaise person pronounces, there's that nasal undertone to it.

We all might seem to pronounce those words without any nasal undertones given our exposure to their pronunciations in secondary school while learning Igbo, a distinguishing feature of Igbo Izugbe from nasal southern dialects but those nasal undertones are there in Owere and Mbaise.

bigfrancis21:


I also know the o'u(otu), u'u'u(ututu) renderings of 't' sound in Owerri. In fact, I speak it to my soon-to-be landlord here from Mbaise. Lol. But urban Owerri has modified sort of that Owerri speakers switch between 'otu' and 'o'u', the use of the latter being used more when speaking natively within themselves. Some Owerri people speak 'o'u' anytime anyday though. And when they pronounce the 't' sound in some sounds, there's also that nasal sound undertone to it equally.

Owerri has some nasal effects which lack in Mbaise like I stated earlier but you seem to erroneously believe that Owerri dialect is similar to central Igbo spoken in Owerri township. It isn't at all and many people in Owerri township cannot even speak Oratta dialect. Owerri township speaks the same Igbo as spoken in Port-Harcourt, Aba, Umuahia, Afikpo, Orlu, Okigwe, Bonny, Abiriba, Igbere, Obehie, Umuebulu, Obigbo, Eberi and other towns who use that type of Igbo as a means of general communication even though they all have their own dialect or in some instances distinct language.

Abagworo:


Owerri has some nasal effects which lack in Mbaise like I stated earlier but you seem to erroneously believe that Owerri dialect is similar to central Igbo spoken in Owerri township. It isn't at all and many people in Owerri township cannot even speak Oratta dialect. Owerri township speaks the same Igbo as spoken in Port-Harcourt, Aba, Umuahia, Afikpo, Orlu, Okigwe, Bonny, Abiriba, Igbere, Obehie, Umuebulu, Obigbo, Eberi and other towns who use that type of Igbo as a means of general communication even though they all have their own dialect or in some instances distinct language.

Bro, I know the typical Owerri. Our neighbours were Owerri and it's indeed different from the general Igbo in Owerri township. If you doubt me, all you have to do is listen to core Owerri songs by Owerri musicians such as Chima Obareze.

bigfrancis21:


I didn't say they sound alike. There are dialectic variations between both but they share a lot of similarities though. They both have one common feature to them - nasal pronunciation of certain words. Words such as 'ohuru', 'ihu' etc when spelt on paper would make you think that's how they are pronounced but when a proper Owerri/Mbaise person pronounces, there's that nasal undertone to it.

We all might seem to pronounce those words without any nasal undertones given our exposure to their pronunciations in secondary school while learning Igbo, a distinguishing feature of Igbo Izugbe from nasal southern dialects but those nasal undertones are there in Owere and Mbaise.

I 've not noticed this nasal undertone in those words though,i will have to pay more attention when the natives use this dialect.

bigfrancis21:


Bro, I know the typical Owerri. Our neighbours were Owerri and it's indeed different from the general Igbo in Owerri township. If you doubt me, all you have to do is listen to core Owerri songs by Owerri musicians such as Chima Obareze.

We both agree that Owerri has nasal effects but that was and is still not the argument. I came in because you assumed that Igbo spoken in Owerri is Oratta dialect and I only made it clear that they are not the same. Around that Owerri axis there are 4 related but distinct dialects.

1 is Uratta which is the original dialect of Owerri township and its immediate environs

2 is Ezinihitte/Mbaise

3 is Etche/Ngor

4 is Ohaji/Ikwerre.

5 Mbieri and Akabo speak Isu with noticeable Uratta influence.

Abagworo:


We both agree that Owerri has nasal effects but that was and is still not the argument. I came in because you assumed that Igbo spoken in Owerri is Oratta dialect and I only made it clear that they are not the same. Around that Owerri axis there are 4 related but distinct dialects.

1 is Uratta which is the original dialect of Owerri township and its immediate environs

2 is Ezinihitte/Mbaise

3 is Etche/Ngor

4 is Ohaji/Ikwerre.

5 Mbieri and Akabo speak Isu with noticeable Uratta influence.

Yea, I agree with you. If you noticed, I mentioned both Owerri and Mbaise (I didn't group the 2 together as one) because I recognize their distinctness, although similar.

There's also Ngor-Okpala too (Imerienwe Axis).

bigfrancis21:


Bro, I know the typical Owerri. Our neighbours were Owerri and it's indeed different from the general Igbo in Owerri township. If you doubt me, all you have to do is listen to core Owerri songs by Owerri musicians such as Chima Obareze.

Bigfrancis do you know the people of orrata or the people that speak the language andalso their history.

Abagworo:


We both agree that Owerri has nasal effects but that was and is still not the argument. I came in because you assumed that Igbo spoken in Owerri is Oratta dialect and I only made it clear that they are not the same. Around that Owerri axis there are 4 related but distinct dialects.

1 is Uratta which is the original dialect of Owerri township and its immediate environs

2 is Ezinihitte/Mbaise

3 is Etche/Ngor

4 is Ohaji/Ikwerre.

5 Mbieri and Akabo speak Isu with noticeable Uratta influence.

Mbano should be in no.5 and that of no.3 Ngor when they speak their dialict it sound some how like orrata with a mixture of ngwa inwhich one might think the person is speaking ngwa untill you notice the orrata part of it. What about Ezinihite i dont notice much diffrence between it and ngwa because the sound alike, the only diffrence i'v notice is the si(ngwa), shi(ezinihite) can you explain more on this.

letu:
Mbano should be in no.5 and that of no.3 Ngor when they speak their dialict it sound some how like orrata with a mixture of ngwa inwhich one might think the person is speaking ngwa untill you notice the orrata part of it. What about Ezinihite i dont notice much diffrence between it and ngwa because the sound alike, the only diffrence i'v notice is the si(ngwa), shi(ezinihite) can you explain more on this.

Ngwa and Ezinihitte are alike except for the nasal differences and some Oratta influence on Ezinihitte. Ngwa seems to have adopted the nasal aspect and their Ezinihitte brothers left that out.

Ngor just like Etche sounds like a mix of Ngwa and Oratta with slight differences like Oratta will say "Ishi nini", they will say "ika nni" or "isi nni" which in central Igbo is written as "isi gini" or "ikwuru gini". However when you move a bit Southwest towards Ikwerre around the Isu-Etche and Ohaji area, the dialect becomes more Ikwerre-like and not easily distinguishable with some Ikwerre dialects spoken around Elele, Ubima, Omerelu etc.

Mbano speaks an Isu dialect just like Mbaitoli, Ikeduru, Nwangele, Amaraku etc. They have their differences as well but are Isu based.