notobs:


Nsibidi the sacred language will Outlive you all.

Yeah! thanks to the igbos developing it into a written language that can now be used in school as opposed to the english alphabet. (The Nsibiri Project)

Please help write my full names in Nsibidi

...wait o make I first see whether the alphabets or characters dey here...brb.

Oh never mind...I think I can get it done with a great deal of effort.

That is my assignment for today.

MissMeiya:


Oh, I have no idea. You'd have to ask him.

Pls, is Chinese people's writings nsibidi?

thaoriginator:
Pls, is Chinese people's writings nsibidi?

No. They write Hanzi.

我 在

I agree that the author of this article tried to use nsibidi the forgotten language to correlate it with ibo, but nsibidi originated from the ekoi that's the ejagham tribe in cross river. Pls visit some parts of akamkpa and even the slaves point of no return in calabar and see some earliest nsibidi writings which dates back to the 17th and 18th century. Nsibidi is not Ibo,ibos only gave it a name. The reason why some parts of ibo can lay claim to it as native speakers is because of intertribal marriages that happened amongst them then.

remsonik:
I agree that the author of this article tried to use nsibidi the forgotten language to correlate it with ibo

Can you highlight where the author tried to 'correlate' nsibidi 'with ibo'? Because what I see there, the non-Igbo groups that used nsibidi were duly mentioned.

The modern movement to revive nsibidi and perhaps use it as a viable writing system in the 21st century has been a largely Igbo affair. Perhaps that is what you are interpreting as correlating nsibidi with 'ibo'.

remsonik:
I agree that the author of this article tried to use nsibidi the forgotten language to correlate it with ibo, but nsibidi originated from the ekoi that's the ejagham tribe in cross river. Pls visit some parts of akamkpa and even the slaves point of no return in calabar and see some earliest nsibidi writings which dates back to the 17th and 18th century. Nsibidi is not Ibo,ibos only gave it a name. The reason why some parts of ibo can lay claim to it as native speakers is because of intertribal marriages that happened amongst them then.

Dont mind the fraudsters that are trying to hijack the cultural practice of the Efik/ Ibibio people. Nsibidi has nothing to do with igbo's, The only reason they are attaching to it is because the ancestral calabar people that were taken away as slaves in the diaspora in Cuba and the Caribbeans are reviving the written form of Nsibidi at least from the visit of Abakua in Cuba are doing a lot of resarch on that regards and using the language as an art form and its beginning to make waves and money globally. That's why the greedy igbo people have suddenly developed interest in Nsibidi and are even trying to claim it and wallowing in revisionist history.

Radoillo:


Can you highlight where the author tried to 'correlate' nsibidi 'with ibo'? Because what I see there, the non-Igbo groups that used nsibidi were duly mentioned.

The modern movement to revive nsibidi and perhaps use it as a viable writing system in the 21st century has been a largely Igbo affair. Perhaps that is what you are interpreting as correlating nsibidi with 'ibo'.

well i think the author should have made reference to the fact that the language originates from cross river. Its a good thing to revive it but you need to let your readers know the origin of the work

remsonik:

well i think the author should have made reference to the fact that the language originates from cross river. Its a good thing to revive it but you need to let your readers know the origin of the work

The writer did but some people and that word igbo is a problem but they want to remain in the same country and marry igbo, black race is bleeped up.

Early forms appeared on excavated pottery as well as what are most likely ceramic stools and headrests from the Calabar region, with a range of dates from 400 to 1400 CE.

remsonik:

well i think the author should have made reference to the fact that the language originates from cross river. Its a good thing to revive it but you need to let your readers know the origin of the work

Calculia has already highlighted the relevant part of the original post I was going to point out.

aroleodua2:
Roflmao

Wrote nsigidi but couldn't build a kingdom. Abegi nsigidi was village drawing by primitive men not written script.

Village drawings like this?


Or their descendant "drawing" here. Tell me if you can read this. It's written in English.


That's what the Latin script that you use today used to look like.The fact that you are using it today is the result of efforts to expand the Roman Catholic church throughout European history and eventual colonization of Africa and the Americas by the same region of Europe. Had events transpired differently, you might be using a different script entirely. Cyrillic, Sanskrit, Ge'ez, or, yes, the descendant script of ancient Nsibidi.

Every written language has a beginning. This is one of them.

Calculia:


The writer did but some people and that word igbo is a problem but they want to remain in the same country and marry igbo, black race is bleeped up.

Thank you. I would have edited the OP to highlight that part, but once it hit the front page, it got locked.

Indeed, the word Igbo gets some people very worked up.

remsonik:
I agree that the author of this article tried to use nsibidi the forgotten language to correlate it with ibo, but nsibidi originated from the ekoi that's the ejagham tribe in cross river. Pls visit some parts of akamkpa and even the slaves point of no return in calabar and see some earliest nsibidi writings which dates back to the 17th and 18th century. Nsibidi is not Ibo,ibos only gave it a name. The reason why some parts of ibo can lay claim to it as native speakers is because of intertribal marriages that happened amongst them then.

You should probably learn to read.

Nsibidi is an old system of writing, which has its heritage from the Ibibio tribe and her neighbors Arochukwu in South East Nigeria. The nsibidi writing is a system of writing preserved by the ekpe cult group . Every Aro or Ibibio man reading this would be very proud.

MissMeiya:


You should probably learn to read.

I will just pretend as if I didnt see this!! I thought you didnt author the post, so why are you getting worked up??

remsonik:

I will just pretend as if I didnt see this!! I thought you didnt author the post, so why are you getting worked up??

Did you see a byline or a link? If not, then assume I wrote it.

remsonik:

I will just pretend as if I didnt see this!! I thought you didnt author the post, so why are you getting worked up??

Go on and pretend to ibadan and let us carry on with this educative thread on Nigeria original writing script that u could one day be using in Ibadan.

notobs:


Nsibidi has no Igbo roots, nsibidi is the language of Ekpe. Its origin and roots are in Efik/Ibibio people.

Yeah, true. I remember the first time I ever heard of this ancient form of writing was in Calabar yrs ago.
Btw, am neither Efik/Ibibio nor Igbo.

dontjealousme1:


Go on and pretend to ibadan and let us carry on with this educative thread on Nigeria original writing script that u could one day be using in Ibadan.

wow would be so happy to see it spread round the country. It will be nice to see every Nigerian write nsibidi

remsonik:

wow would be so happy to see it spread round the country. It will be nice to see every Nigerian write nsibidi

That is the whole idea of the revival movement to replace the colonial ones. A step at a time Africans will free themselves but make una stop this fear fear of ndiigbo, they given more for Nigeria than others who just take, take and take.

The oil is from their region even Asari Dokubo will tell u that. Nnamdi Azikiwe is the reason u still have a Nigeria wen the North wanted nothing of it. They more than any tribe give their daughters out to u guys and even come to leave amongst u, with some inter-marry locally, dont tink they have bad intention, don't drive them mad.

dont ge me started, who are you and who is attaching himself to minority like you, take your damn fuckingg time...look at small you , what do you know about ekpo, is it only in calabar that they have ekpo, dude, behave yourself, as if ekpo is the science wonder of the universe, a bunch of old men in a fetish thing saying shiitsss


how dare you say the word, i am attaching my self to you, what a travesty, do you forget that we have igbos in cross river, or have you forgotten so soon that the governore imoke of your so called state is an igbo from agbo clan of izzi with his wife, or do you want to doubt or sweep that under carpet...


look at dog nose, now go and eat dog and never qoute me, again, you should even be happy that i am responding an efik goon like you ....i ask you a simple question that you couldnt answer


what the hell is the meaning of NSIBIDI, your there talking trash, its because of this stupidity of yours that they sold bakassi

now bounce and dont quote me again

notobs:


The origin of nsibidi is unkonwn to you because you are igbo and a non initiate of the Ekpe cultural group whose language is nsibidi, If you were an initiated member of Ekpe then you would know its origin and it root, it will keep eluding you as long as you do not initiate in the cultural society and keep lying about it.

And please stop attaching your self to us we are different ethnic stock there is igbo, Efik/Ibibio, there is no one in Nigeria that do not know that Ekpe is synonymous to "Calabar people" just like igbos have their egedege dance and other cultural practices.
You will never see a calabar man wake up one day and clain Egedege or you numerous age groups are ours or originated with us, talkless of claiming that the origin is unknown,
Its only an Igbo man like you that can come up with such atrocities.The highest form of fraud against any people group is stealing or taking their culture and identity from them, what you Igbo's are trying to do now is unforgivable.

goldfish80:
Nsibidi is an old system of writing, which has its heritage from the Ibibio tribe and her neighbors Arochukwu in South East Nigeria. This system of writing is a system of writing preserved by the ekpe cult group . Every Aro or Ibibio man reading this would be very proud.

that was what i was trying to let one urchin called notobs he wont understand


or are aros no more igbos again


look at efik man trying to claim funny things

Nsibidi is an ancient system of graphic communication indigenous to the Ejagham peoples of southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon in the Cross River region. It is also used by neighboring Ibibio, Efik and Igbo peoples. Aesthetically compelling and encoded, nsibidi does not correspond to any one spoken language. It is an ideographic script whose symbols refer to abstract concepts, actions or things and whose use facilitates communication among peoples speaking different languages.

Nsibidi comprises nearly a thousand symbols that can be drawn in the air (as gestures), on the ground, on skin (as tattoos), on houses and on art forms, such as masks and textiles. Though it is enjoyed as an artistic practice by the general public, deeper knowledge of the nsibidi symbols is restricted to members of men's associations, which once controlled trade and maintained social and political order.

http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/inscribing/nsibidi.html



Nsibidi or Nsibiri is an ancient writing script used by the Igbos of Nigeria, and their neighbours the Ibibios and the Akangs. Remnants of the written scripts survive today. It’s use is mostly found among the secret cultic schools which still survive in Eastern Nigeria. It is also used in the Caribbeans where it was taken by the Africans who were enslaved and used by western imperialism to build the Americas. It can be found still in Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti, Venezuela and as far as Brazil.

The results of a comparative between Iberian and Nsibiri is singularly striking. It raises an irresistible inference of solid and sustain contacts between the two culture.


http://www.africaresource.com/rasta/sesostris-the-great-the-egyptian-hercules/cultural-and-literary-evidence-for-an-early-igbo-impact-on-western-civilization-in-europe/

The Igbo borrowed it from the Ibibio, Efik, and Ekoi who are related ethnic minorities of Nigeria’s Niger Delta. The Ibibio word “Nyibi” which means turn in English, is the root of Nyibidi. Nyibidi means turning. The play was usually accompanied with drummings. The drum is called Ibit. The drum for the ruling Crown is called Ibit Itam. Itam means crown, hat, or headgear. Ekpe was indeed the governing deity and Ibit Itam was one of their major plays. Ukara means governance or government in Ibibio. Ukara cloth is worn by those in the government of Ekpe. The Ekpe and even Ekpo masquerade of old used to dance in a circular motion in order to induce a trance-like effect or feeling. Hence Nyibidi. Ibibio is the largest language of the Cross River and Akwa Ibom territories. Efik, Ekoi, Annang, Oron, Eket, Qua, Ibeno, Okobo,etc. are all variations of Ibibio. The Ibibio owned and controlled Arochukwu until they lost it in 1634 to the allied forces of the migrating Igbo and the Akpa. The Igbo slaves of the Ibibio rebelled and joined forces with the Akpa who were themselves of Ibibio origin. The Ibibios left both Arochukwu and their ancient Long Juju, but those who remained continued to run the oracles and influence the Igbo converts/practitioners of Ekpe. The Ibibios and Efiks taught Nsibidi to the Igbos through the Ekpe society. The chief language used in Ekpe is Ibibio. The Ibibios and Efiks knew Arochukwu as Ibom and Mbot Abasi. Mbot means creation. Abasi means God. Therefore, Mbot Abasi means the creation of God or, simply, the people of God. While in Arochukwu, the Ibibio leaders had a secret society called Ekpe. Ekpe means leopard or lion. The leadership operated (and still does)in an esoteric manner. Only members are privy to the innerworkings of the group. They developed an elaborate system of logograms through which their ideas, knowledge, and activities were recorded. Nyibidi which means turning (going in circles), evolved into Nsibidi. Nsibidi is Ibibio for what is at play or, what’s playing? Nso = what. I(as in letter “e” = is. Bidi = play or playing. NSO-I-BIDI (NSIBIDI) or NSO-I-BIRI(NSIBIRI) means what’s playing? What’s at play? Therefore, Nsibidi means what is playing or, what’s at play? Nsibidi was later adopted as the name for the writings associated with Ekpe society. It is true that the Europeans found most of the Nsibidi script among the Ekoi, but it is really of Ibibio origin. When Aro and their allies conquered the Ibibio in 1634, they took over the oracle but retained its priests, with Loesin as the chief priest. It was he who later initiated Aro indigenes into the cult as priests. IBINI UKPABI is the IGBO corruption of IBIT UKPABI. Some say the Igbos used the word IBINI as homage to the slave-raiding Oba of Benin who caused their migration to Arochukwu. After the IBIBIO lost AROCHUKWU, the Igbos renamed the Ibibio deity IBI ITAM (Drum of the Crown). They called it IBIT UKPABI. IBIT is IBIBIO for DRUM. UKPABI is an IGBO name. The corrupted version, IBINI UKPABI, is what they use these days. Since Arochukwu(Mbot Abasi in Ibibio or God’s creation/people in English) is the spititual center of the Igbo race, you can say that their ‘holyland’ is actually of Ibibio origin. I’ll call it the IBIBIO CIVILIZATION OF AROCHUKWU. The Ibibio created it and that explains why the Aro deities have mostly Ibibio names.

The Igbos could not fully adapt Nsibidi because translation from Ibibio into Igbo had too many constraints. Original meanings of Ekpe society’s Nsibidi often got lost in translation.

“There was no war between Aros and Ibibio -what happened was what one would accurately describe as a coup. The Aros who were assistants (slave by Europeans) at the Ibritam Shrine organized a coup with the help of Ekoi, Akunakuna, and Igbos and seized the shrine from their Ibibio masters. Talbot** put the date at 1300 -1400 based on the geneaology and calculation of the ages of relatives of informant who claims their forebears were in charge of this shrine -we dispute this because the informant forebears couldn’t have been incharge since religious affairs in Ibibio land was entrusted to the group known as Annang today ,and this informant came from a different group. However, Talbot also based his date from Aro informant. We still think that the date was much earlier. However the consensus is that the Aros were in possession of the shrine before trade with the Portuguese and later Slave trade with Efik and later the Ijaws-Bonny and kalabari when Ibibios prohibited transportation of people across their territory.”
“Obot Okon Ita or Obinkita(an Igbo corruption of the name) was the capital of the Ibibio kingdom of Obong Okon Ita and Ibom(nation in Ibibio) before its conquest by Igbo and Akpa invaders in 1690–1720. This town is significant in Aro History because Obinkita became the center where defeated Ibibio warriors were judged.ion in Ibibio. This is why all Aro villages assemble at Obinkita during the Ikeji festival. Obinkita is now one of the 19 villages of Arochukwu.”
“Agwu Inobia or Eze Agwu the man that was the founding father of igbo Arochukwu

Agwu Inobia or Eze Agwu was one of the founding fathers of the city of Arochukwu, the third largest city in Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. He was the descendant of Nna Uru (a immigrant from the Igbo heartland to the Obong Okon Ita area) and king of the Eze Agwu clan centered in their capital the Amanagwu city-state. As new settlers, the Eze Agwu clan was resisted by the regional power Obong Okon Ita which led to the start of the Aro-Ibibio Wars. The war initially became a stalemate. Both sides arranged a marriage between the king of Obong Okon Ita and a women from the Eze Agwu clan in an attempt for a peaceful coexistence. The marriage eventually failed to bring peace but eventually played a decisive role in the war.

King Agwu Inobia invited Priest Nnachi from the Edda group near Afikpo to help him break the stalemate and win the war. When he arrived, Nnachi and Eze Agwu allied with prince Kakpokpo Okon of the Ibibio kingdom of Obong Okon Ita. Kakpokpo Okon was the son of the marriage between the Igbo women of the King of Obong Okon Ita. The Eze Agwu/Nnachi faction decided to help Kakpokpo attempt to overthrow his brother king Akpan Okon and the coup was heavily resisted. Nnachi called on an Eastern Cross river group known as the Akpa for help. The Akpa are said to have possessed guns and are credited for introducing the weapon to the region. Princes Osim and Akuma Nnubi led Akpa soldiers to help fight against the Ibibios. The alliance between Eze Agwu, Nnachi, Kakpokpo Okon, and the Akpa eventually defeated the Obong Okon Ita forces (1690–1720) under the leadership of Osim Nnubi. As a result of the Aro-Ibibio Wars, the alliance formed the Arochukwu kingdom. Akuma Nnubi was appointed king of Arochukwu in the place of his brother Osim Nnubi who died during the end of the war. Prince Kakpokpo Okon died and the Ulu Okon dynasty was assimilated into the Eze Agwu lineage. The Amanagwu was incorporated as the first of the 19 city-states of Arochukwu and Eze Agwu became one of the three lineages of Arochukwu.”

“The other major slave-exporting state was a loose confederation under the leadership of the Aro, an Igbo clan of mixed Igbo and Ibibio origins, whose home was on the escarpment between the central Igbo districts and the Cross River. Beginning in the late seventeenth century, the Aro built a complex network of alliances and treaties with many of the Igbo clans. They served as arbiters in villages throughout Igboland, and their famous oracle at Arochukwu, located in a thickly wooded gorge, was widely regarded as a court of appeal for many kinds of disputes. By custom the Aro were sacrosanct, allowing them to travel anywhere with their goods without fear of attack. Alliances with certain Igbo clans who acted as mercenaries for the Aro guaranteed their safety. As oracle priests, they also received slaves in payment of fines or dedicated to the gods by their masters as scapegoats for their own transgressions. These slaves thereby became the property of the Aro priests, who were at liberty to sell them.”

dontjealousme1:


That is the whole idea of the revival movement to replace the colonial ones. A step at a time Africans will free themselves but make una stop this fear fear of ndiigbo, they give their daughters out to u guys and even come to leave amongst u and inter-marry locally, dont tink they have bad intention, don't drive them mad.

oh so I get the reason for the backlash. I don't have a problem with Igbos. The igbos I know in real life arent as aggressive as the ones on this forum. I live with igbos and I have family members who are married to igbos,They are cool

oh so I get the reason for the backlash. I don't have a problem with Igbos. The igbos I know in real life arent as aggressive as the ones on this forum. I live with igbos and I have family members who are married to igbos,They are cool

phew! dat is nice to hear...

Brilliant stuff similar to the ndebe ptoject.

MissMeiya:


You know, the brain is a marvelously genius organ. The way you store things in your mind is not confined by notions like "letter" and "word" unless you force it to. Nsibidi has a vocabulary that can indeed be learned. Just as you learned the Latin alphabet, and then simple words, and use those words to form larger words using compounds and prefixes... Logographic scripts have their own building blocks.

There are written languages in existence that do not have an alphabet. Writing can be formed by characters that represent spoken syllables, individual sounds (what you know as letters), entire words, or a combination of these. Then there are systems in which symbols actually represent entire concepts. Modern versions of these systems (called ideograms), now include characters that represent spoken units--these languages are called logograms. The theory is that no developed written language can be truly ideographic--it would be limited in its ability to fully express what we as human are capable of saying.

But! Elements of ideograms still remain in such logographic writing systems as Chinese. They are called radicals. These are the building blocks I referred to. Take this example:

This is the Chinese radical for woman: 女
Here are the characters that come from it:
女 means "female", 姐 means "sister", 好 means good (well, obviously ), etc.
Radical for mouth, 口 --> 名 (name), 吃 (eat), 味 (taste)

And so on. Even if you haven't seen a character before, you can make an educated guess as to its meaning, based on the radicals it's made up of--just the way you do with unfamiliar English words by breaking it apart into its simpler components. Multiple characters can similarly be compounded to form new words.

Now let's look at Nsibidi. (About time, right? )

Here's one Nsibidi radical: meaning "leaf"
Derived characters:
(life), (tree), which in turn has its own derivatives: (forest, bush), (root, origin, source)

To answer your question, it didn't take me long. But then, I wasn't focused on trying to compose using it. My efforts were mainly in organizing the characters to make them easier for other people to use and learn. And that was awhile ago sef. I'd direct you to the guy behind the project for questions about memorization and usage.

It seems complex for two reasons: One, it's a "foreign" way of thinking about writing. And two, it's still in a very early stage. Almost prenatal. If you see the original forms of the written languages that exist, you'll know that they tend to simplify and merge over time, as people use them. The difference between Traditional (中國) and Simplified Chinese (中国) is a great logographic example.

Thanks for your explanation. How many standardized radicals are there at this time?

@christopher123

You are awesome! Thanks for adding new content to the thread! Now I've learned something too!

And that's what we're here for, right, guys? Group hug!

phreakabit:
Brilliant stuff similar to the ndebe ptoject.

What is ndebe?

LordReed:


Thanks for your explanation. How many standardized radicals are there at this time?

In Chinese? 214.

In this neo-Nsibidi? 106, from what I see in Gin's most recent publication.

Edit: there's no "standardization" yet.