I think it's most appropriate to bring to you guys' attention the dialect situation in our [beloved] Igboland. Urbanization and the mass movement of populations from rural areas to urban/semi-urban centers has resulted in the cross-pollination of dialects, which has tampered with the "purity" of many of our tongues. In addition to that, carelessness, laziness and indifference have also resulted in the gross exchange of words between dialects; such that people now answer names and speak in manners previously foreign to their culture zones. Personally, I don't have have a problem with people naming their children whatever they please; however, what I do take conflict with is when it threatens the integrity of their own people's naming-habits and patterns.

Based on my observations, I've realized that the groups that try their hardest to protect the "purity" of their dialects and cultures are those in Abia (particularly the Ngwa, Ohafia, Abiriba, and Aro). I've come across so many people from these areas (both online and offline) who were instilled and drilled with respect for their peoples' languages and customs that it's simply striking. With a hint of envy, I must admit that the Ngwa are really trying. They've done so much both to protect the integrity of their customs/dialects that it's hard not to notice. It didn't come to me as a surprise when I learned that a particular Ngwa author had published an Ngwa-English dictionary titled "Okwu Ngwa". The Abiriba/Ohafia/Aro are often criticized for their chauvinism. However, it is because of that same chauvinism that they're languages and cultures are still alive today. In the diaspora, you'll see Abiriba people celebrating Igwa Mang and speaking okwu Ebriba impeccably; Ohafia youths learning Ikperikpe Ogu; and Aro people celebrating Aro Day and etc.

I think the groups that are most vulnerable to "cultural and linguistic dilution" are those found in the heartland. Since it's densely-populated and inhabited by a significant number of people from other areas of Igboland, its people are highly susceptible to the introduction of foreign elements. [In my opinion] if we are to save ourselves, we must begin documenting our dialects, creating dictionaries, and keeping records of our tradition.

Uche inyi kwan (What do you think)?

You are right. Ndi na agbali na isu oku ala ha bu ndi Ngwa,Ohafia,Abiriba. I don't know about Aro people.

There's hardly any abiriba,ohafia or nwa person i know that doesn't speak their dialect.

I don't bother and that's because I personally cannot even lay claim to any dialect. A nam ede/asu udi Igbo obula dabara m n'onu.

kreami diva: You are right. Ndi na agbali na isu oku ala ha bu ndi Ngwa,Ohafia,Abiriba. I don't know about Aro people.

There's hardly any abiriba,ohafia or nwa person i know that doesn't speak their dialect.

Aro people (those from Arochukwu) try. Here in the US, we celebrate Aro Day and have national Aro conventions in addition to many other things.

Some similarities I've observed among these groups are: the formation of national assemblies/conventions where all sons/daughters of their communities congregate, the observation of special days set aside for the celebration of anything and everything native (I've seen Ngwa Day, Aro Day, Ohafia Day, and Abiriba Day), and the practice of unique cultural practices (Ngwa people continue to celebrate Mgbede even in the diaspora, Aro people celebrate Ikeji, and Abiriba people still celebrate Igwa Mang).

I really don't care much for dialects and not even my own. I'm more Igbocentric than anything. That's not to say i don't hope that these dialects are preserved.

ifyalways: I don't bother and that's because I personally cannot even lay claim to any dialect. A nam ede/asu udi Igbo obula dabara m n'onu.

Ashawo dialect!

As i dey,i try to speak my dialect,central igbo and my Hubby's dialect. Its shameful for me to go to the village and not understand or flow with them folks. I speak Anambra and Enugu too cos i love their igbo! I actually wished to marry an Anambraian or an Enuguan. But this man just came and whisked me away just like that!

No wahala sha.

Your observations are accurate, Odumchi. In fact, it reminds me of something I've actually always wondered about. That is, what the deal was with most other Igbo that they seemingly do not care about [at least, from where I'm standing] their people's cultural identity.

It never made much sense to me, but I guess they feel perfectly comfortable just calling themselves "Igbo" and simply speaking Izugbe. I've always wanted to know why they could so easily do that. I couldn't do it, even if I tried.

kreami diva:


Ashawo dialect!

As i dey,i try to speak my dialect,central igbo and my Hubby's dialect. Its shameful for me to go to the village and not understand or flow with them folks. I speak Anambra and Enugu too cos i love their igbo! I actually wished to marry an Anambraian or an Enuguan. But this man just came and whisked me away just like that!

No wahala sha.

Where are you from and where's your husband from?

Standard Igbo (in my opinion) lacks a certain musicality, a certain poetic quality that I find in the dialects of the backwoods. We'll be losing something rich if the dialects diappeared. Watching an Igbo newcaster deliver the news in the stiff Igbo Izugbe is certainly far less enjoyable than listening to my grandma hold a conversation with her peers in her native Awka tongue.

Radoillo: Standard Igbo (in my opinion) lacks a certain musicality, a certain poetic quality that I find in the dialects of the backwoods. We'll be losing something rich if the dialects diappeared. Watching an Igbo newcaster deliver the news in the stiff Igbo Izugbe is certainly far less enjoyable than listening to my grandma hold a conversation with her peers in her native Awka tongue.

I share your opinion. It's in fact one of the reasons I actually never took to actively learning/speaking Izugbe.

Afam4eva:
Where are you from and where's your husband from?

I'm from Ututu in Arochukwu L.G.A while Mr Kreami is from Isu in Nwangele L.G.A in Imo State.

Why

kreami diva:

I'm from Ututu in Arochukwu L.G.A while Mr Kreami is from Isu in Nwangele L.G.A in Imo State.

Why

Nothing #JustAsking

Afam4eva:
Nothing #JustAsking

Ok. Ka chi boo!

Odumchi,odi laa? M jekwahu jee hie ura. Umurima abia jee school r'ututu.

Does anyone know of any free websites/web applications that can be used to generate an online database or dictionary? For some years now, I've been compiling a list of words/phrases that I'd like to have written down.

kreami diva: Odumchi,odi laa? M jekwahu jee hie ura. Umurima abia jee school r'ututu.

Bia tee ri, o di ngen ka nwonyinye di ele gi ka na-eme na odumodu a? I vuu ihe na-aku? Gaa kwa nhu gaa ranhu ura ka I gbeni iwa uwaasi lol. Ka chi voo.

Otu-ocha....thats ma anthem...pia "like" ma oburu na i maara ebe m si.....

ChinenyeN: Your observations are accurate, Odumchi. In fact, it reminds me of something I've actually always wondered about. That is, what the deal was with most other Igbo that they seemingly do not care about [at least, from where I'm standing] their people's cultural identity.

It never made much sense to me, but I guess they feel perfectly comfortable just calling themselves "Igbo" and simply speaking Izugbe. I've always wanted to know why they could so easily do that. I couldn't do it, even if I tried.

As for your question, I think it boils down to the fact that the peoples in those areas lacked the "ethnic consciousness" which peoples in Abia, Ebonyi, Rivers, and to some extent, Delta, had. Apart from lineage and other natural bonds formed through contact and interaction, they didn't see themselves as much different from their neighbors.

kreami diva:


Ashawo dialect!

As i dey,i try to speak my dialect,central igbo and my Hubby's dialect. Its shameful for me to[b] go to the village and not understand or flow with them folks[/b]. I speak Anambra and Enugu too cos i love their igbo! I actually wished to marry an Anambraian or an Enuguan. But this man just came and whisked me away just like that!

No wahala sha.

Not sticking to a specific dialect or not able to speak fluently,a specific dialect does not equal to not understanding.
You talk to me in your dialect,I reply you in whatever dialect that flys out of my mouth,the wahala is yours.
Everybody should speak Igbo izugbe in a general assembly eg Niaraland,keep your dialect for your people or whoever is interested in hearing that. Its rather annoying when someone tries to shove his/her dialect down your throat.

ifyalways: Not sticking to a specific dialect or not able to speak fluently,a specific dialect does not equal to not understanding.
You talk to me in your dialect,I reply you in whatever dialect that flys out of my mouth,the wahala is yours.
Everybody should speak Igbo izugbe in a general assembly eg Niaraland,keep your dialect for your people or whoever is interested in hearing that. Its rather annoying when someone tries to shove his/her dialect down your throat.

Come to think of it, I never met anyone who spoke Igbo Izugbe. I mean, people write in it, people read it... but is it actually 'speakable'? It appears to me that it is the mixed dialects of the major townships that are gaining ground as spoken Standards. Even my Igbo Language teachers back in Enugu wrote and read perfect Izugbe...but couldn't hold conversations in it for long without relapsing into the 'Enugu Township' dialect.

I think the artificiality of Igbo Izugbe is a major limitation sha....

Radoillo: Standard Igbo (in my opinion) lacks a certain musicality, a certain poetic quality that I find in the dialects of the backwoods. We'll be losing something rich if the dialects diappeared. Watching an Igbo newcaster deliver the news in the stiff Igbo Izugbe is certainly far less enjoyable than listening to my grandma hold a conversation with her peers in her native Awka tongue.

@Bold...exactly! Central Igbo lacks the flavour, life and freshness of many dialects like Anambra, Owerri, Nkanu, etc. Igbo Izugbe is just there. Its status is mostly as a written language, and not spoken. Little wonder, Anambra/Enugu township Igbo is still preferred and used by movie actors and producers in Igbo language movies because everybody just loves it. The way it sounds, the rhythm, the flow etc. I get a thousand comments everyday each time I speak it here in Owerri. Some people walk up to me saying they want to learn Anambra or that I tell them a story in Anambra let them hear that its very pleasing to their ears. And I oblige them.

Radoillo:


Come to think of it, I never met anyone who spoke Igbo Izugbe. I mean, people write in it, people read it... but is it actually 'speakable'? It appears to me that it is the mixed dialects of the major townships that are gaining ground as spoken Standards. Even my Igbo Language teachers back in Enugu wrote and read perfect Izugbe...but couldn't hold conversations in it for long without relapsing into the 'Enugu Township' dialect.

I think the artificiality of Igbo Izugbe is a major limitation sha....

Actually, I would have preferred if one Igbo dialect out of the many diverse Igbo dialects was picked and adopted as central Igbo. Just as in the case of Yoruba. The Oyo dialect of Yoruba was picked during the time of Ajayi Crowther(partially because he was from there I think and given that the Oyo dialect is the most prestigious, 'sweetest', of all dialects) and adopted as central yoruba language.

Given its lightness, rhythm and easiness to speak, and its general love and acceptance by many Igbo people, the Anambra dialect(Onitsha precisely) should have been adopted as Central Igbo. It is very easy for any other Igbo person from other states to speak. Back in the 80s and 90s, Anambra Igbo seemed to be the spoken central Igbo then, and everybody from different clans flowed easily in it.

Its my opinion though.

kreami diva:


Ashawo dialect!

As i dey,i try to speak my dialect,central igbo and my Hubby's dialect. Its shameful for me to go to the village and not understand or flow with them folks. I speak Anambra and Enugu too cos i love their igbo! I actually wished to marry an Anambraian or an Enuguan. But this man just came and whisked me away just like that!

No wahala sha.

@Bold...yea. You can say that again. Enugu township Igbo is Anambra-like because Enugu was the former capital of Anambra. And it is the 'central Igbo' of Enugu town.

Another thing I've also noticed when I was in Abuja and Lagos is, among the elite and rich Igbo people, each time they meet everyone will switch to Anambra dialect. Anambra and non-Anambra people alike. Even the ones from Imo and Abia. Probably because its widely loved or regarded as posh or something.

bigfrancis21:

Actually, I would have preferred if one Igbo dialect out of the many diverse Igbo dialects was picked and adopted as central Igbo. Just as in the case of Yoruba. The Oyo dialect of Yoruba was picked during the time of Ajayi Crowther(partially because he was from there I think and given that the Oyo dialect is the most prestigious, 'sweetest', of all dialects) and adopted as central yoruba language.

Given its lightness, rhythm and easiness to speak, and its general love and acceptance by many Igbo people, the Anambra dialect(Onitsha precisely) should have been adopted as Central Igbo. It is very easy for any other Igbo person from other states to speak. Back in the 80s and 90s, Anambra Igbo seemed to be the spoken central Igbo then, and everybody from different clans flowed easily in it.

Its my opinion though.

They tried that before, and it didn't work. Hence the reason for Izugbe.

ChinenyeN:

They tried that before, and it didn't work. Hence the reason for Izugbe.

Exactly! They tried it with the so-called Isuama dialect. And when that failed, they tried Onitsha dialect.

I think the Yoruba situation is very different from the Igbo situation. Oyo had a large empire; owing to this, it's dialect was already in use over a wide territory and was a prestige dialect of sorts before Crowther. There were no Igbo political empires in the past, and every dialect had a very limited teritorial range.

Radoillo:

Exactly! They tried it with the so-called Isuama dialect. And when that failed, they tried Onitsha dialect.

I think the Yoruba situation is very different from the Igbo situation. Oyo had a large empire; owing to this, it's dialect was already in use over a wide territory and was a prestige dialect of sorts before Crowther. There were no Igbo political empires in the past, and every dialect had a very limited teritorial range.

Not really. There was really nothing like the 'Isuama' dialect. There was the Isu dialect but it wasn't the Isuama dialect the missionaries had in mind. Don't forget that the first Igbo bible was done in Bonny Igbo. The early missionaries first discovered Bonny before Onitsha. Missionaries collected some words and sentences from freed Igbo ex-slaves living in Sierra leone during their Igbo language research and called it 'Isuama'. On arrival in Igboland, they began their search for the so-called 'Isuama' dialect and they couldn't find it not knowing that the so-called 'Isuama' dialect they had in mind was a mix of several dialects spoken by the different freed Igbo peoples(Etche, Aro, Omuma, etc) in Sierra leone. Meanwhile in Yoruba, it was easy to adopt Oyo dialect because it was already prestigious and widely used, as you said. The missionaries had in mind to do the same for Igboland using the 'Isuama' dialect but they couldn't find it. They kept searching and searching but to no avail. They came across one or two dialects that were Isuama-like but it wasn't exactly what they were thought was 'Isuama, so they continued searching for the so-called Isuama Igbo'. This factor really delayed the adoption of an Igbo dialect as central Igbo for had it been that they did not have the Isuama dialect in mind, which delayed them so much, I believe they would have readily adopted another dialect much faster.

They tried Onitsha which certain sub clans rejected as saying why should another dialect be imposed on them rather theirs not being used instead. Not that they didn't understand Onitsha, they did, but they felt it was a language imposition on them.

Then they tried Union Igbo(which is known for its usage of 'wo' instead of 'la' for past tense coming the Ebonyi dialect. For eg, o mewo ya..that was Union Igbo). But it was also rejected by many clans as being too Owerri-Igbo.

Read up this article for more into the history and development of Igbo language: http://pcwww​.liv.ac.uk/~dvdb/CH_4.pdf

Yea, that's what I'm saying. Onitsha and Bonny were not enthusiastically accepted outside their respective dialect areas. What makes you think any other dialect they could have picked would have been better received than both of them (Onitsha and Bonny) were?

The link isn't working. But I have a feeling it is from a book written by a Dutch scholar, Dimitri van Beer-something. Brilliant work! I've had it on my laptop for about a year now.

Radoillo: Yea, that's what I'm saying. Onitsha and Bonny were not enthusiastically accepted outside their respective dialect areas. What makes you think any other dialect they could have picked would have been better received than both of them (Onitsha and Bonny) were?

The link isn't working. But I have a feeling it is from a book written by a Dutch scholar, Dimitri van Beer-something. Brilliant work! I've had it on my laptop for about a year now.

It is working. Just copy it as it is and paste on your browser and go: http://pcwww​.liv.ac.uk/~dvdb/CH_4.pdf

Oh, yes. Just like I thought. Its a chapter from Dimitri van Berssalaar.

Thanks for sharing though.

You should download the entire book... if you haven't already. Very informative.

As a matter of fact, i think what's spoken by a lot of Igbos as central Igbo is actually similar to the Onitsha dialect. Igbo Izugbe is mostly used in writing and in the academia than speaking.

odumchi:


Bia tee ri, o di ngen ka nwonyinye di ele gi ka na-eme na odumodu a? I vuu ihe na-aku? Gaa kwa nhu gaa ranhu ura ka I gbeni iwa uwaasi lol. Ka chi voo.

You just spoke like my grand ma...... lol.