Radoillo:
Well, it's a better option than what we currently have.
However, just how prevalent is the use of Onicha Igbo in the southern Igbo area? I don't get the impression that many southern-raised Igbos can speak it even if their lives depended on it.

agadez007:
yah,true that
the Onitsha/anambra dilect is more popular than Izugbe as evident in Nollywood films and In Lagos here

Some Imo people i know say ''kita'' rather than ''ugbua/ugbulaka''
even in names we give,its not uncommon to see an Imolite or abian bearing ''ifeanyi,ifeoma'' etc

but i dont think it will be easy changing igbo izugbe,let it remain that way,biko

tenks

ezeagu:




Yes I've noticed that people even 'southern Igbo' generally find Anambra dialects more sexy and worldly. Like the examples of the names and nollywood. There are people who have never been to Anambra who would speak that dialect with a different Igbo maybe because that's what they expect them to understand, which is why I wonder if the whole exercise of Igbo Izugbe is pointless and whether Onitsha Igbo for example should be the official dialect.

Chiwude:
On what basis and who conducted the research. The prominence of Onitsha Igbo ends in the confines of Anambra, Enugu, Anioma and northern Ebonyi. But in territories such as Imo, Abia, Rivers and southern Ebonyi, the Owerri Igbo of which forms over 80% of Igbo Izugbe reigns supreme. Its a fact that a child who grew up in Onitsha and environs will cleave towards Onitsha Igbo. However, a child raised in Aba will definitely speak Owerri Igbo. This is the truth. While a child who grew up outside the South East will surely speak the dialect of his immediate family.
The Owerri Igbo which comprises over 80% of Igbo-Izugbe has come to stay as our native means of communication, and many of you guys should swallow your anguish and live with it.
The Igbo language taught in schools and tertiary instituitions is Igbo Izugbe(75% Owerri Igbo)
The Igbo used in both the Orthodox and Pentecostal churches in Igbo land is Igbo Izugbe.
The Igbo used in Igbo christian music is Owerri Igbo.
The Igbo used in all South East Radio and TV stations is Igbo

agadez007:
why do people lie to themslves a lot,which igbo izugbe is 80% Owerri dialect,abeg
i used to believe that myself but having spent 3-4 years in Owerri and interacted with owerri,i can confidently say Owerri is not even 40% of izugbe,asaba or igbuzor is more central and standard than Owerri

e.g
english-how are you
owerri-i ri kpa ole / imela kpole
onitsha-kedu ka ime
izugbe-kedu ka ime

english-he passed feaces
owerri- o baga nshi
onitsha-onyulu Nsi
izugbe-onyuru Nsi

English-what is your name
owerri-aha gi owu ni?
Onitsha-kedu afa gi/yi
izugbe-kedu aha gi
e.t.c
and other heavy words in owerri just as pig-Ezhi while izugbe and onitsha is Ezi
Ishi-head while izugbe and onitsha is Isi

if owerri is 80% izugbe than onitsha is 100% izugbe

ezeagu:


It's true, actually Izugbe is more of Umuahia dialects mixed with others. You're right, Onitsha is actually closer to Igbo Izugbo only that they change l to n and so on.

ezeagu:
I noticed whenever an Igbo/outsider person wants to address a wider Igbo audience of different dialects they almost always use Onicha Igbo or some other Igbo from around that region despite the fact that there is already an Igbo Izugbe standard Igbo. Look at some Igbo memes for example. Since this is the Igbo most people learn, should it be made the standard?

agadez007:
why do people lie to themslves a lot,which igbo izugbe is 80% Owerri dialect,abeg
i used to believe that myself but having spent 3-4 years in Owerri and interacted with owerri,i can confidently say Owerri is not even 40% of izugbe,asaba or igbuzor is more central and standard than Owerri

e.g
english-how are you
owerri-i ri kpa ole / imela kpole
onitsha-kedu ka ime
izugbe-kedu ka ime

english-he passed feaces
owerri- o baga nshi
onitsha-onyulu Nsi
izugbe-onyuru Nsi

English-what is your name
owerri-aha gi owu ni?
Onitsha-kedu afa gi/yi
izugbe-kedu aha gi
e.t.c
and other heavy words in owerri just as pig-Ezhi while izugbe and onitsha is Ezi
Ishi-head while izugbe and onitsha is Isi

if owerri is 80% izugbe than onitsha is 100% izugbe

agadez007:
why do people lie to themslves a lot,which igbo izugbe is 80% Owerri dialect,abeg
i used to believe that myself but having spent 3-4 years in Owerri and interacted with owerri,i can confidently say Owerri is not even 40% of izugbe,asaba or igbuzor is more central and standard than Owerri

e.g
english-how are you
owerri-i ri kpa ole / imela kpole
onitsha-kedu ka ime
izugbe-kedu ka ime

english-he passed feaces
owerri- o baga nshi
onitsha-onyulu Nsi
izugbe-onyuru Nsi

English-what is your name
owerri-aha gi owu ni?
Onitsha-kedu afa gi/yi
izugbe-kedu aha gi
e.t.c
and other heavy words in owerri just as pig-Ezhi while izugbe and onitsha is Ezi
Ishi-head while izugbe and onitsha is Isi

if owerri is 80% izugbe than onitsha is 100% izugbe

ezeagu:
I noticed whenever an Igbo/outsider person wants to address a wider Igbo audience of different dialects they almost always use Onicha Igbo or some other Igbo from around that region despite the fact that there is already an Igbo Izugbe standard Igbo. Look at some Igbo memes for example. Since this is the Igbo most people learn, should it be made the standard?

Donarozzi:


On the question of which Igbo dialect should be standardized, I must say that we should not force a particular dialect to become the written form. To me, the current "Igbo Izugbe" does not have enough vibrant liquidity, and as such, it tends not to excite the entire Igbo people and beyond. Standard Igbo will evolve naturally on its own, as Igbo writers and Igbo communities in general help to upgrade the language to the next level.

Ezeagu, you raised a very important question. We should seriously tackle the problems facing the evolution of Igbo language. The best solution is to use bureaucracies, policies, and awards to motivate Igbo people to continuously publish in Igbo language. The more Igbo people write in Igbo language, the more the acceptable standard Igbo evolves out on its own. We need newspapers entirely published in Igbo. We need websites entirely published in Igbo and regularly updated. We need articles written in Igbo language. We need to make it compulsory that, for anybody to gain employment in any company in Igboland, he or she needs to have done at least two publications in Igbo language, and such Igbo publications must pass certain criteria before the person gains employment. Igbo leaders should give high monetary awards to scholars who publish in Igbo language. For instance, if Chioma writes an Igbo novel and wins N20,000,000 (twenty million naira), it will motivate her to continue writing in Igbo, and more especially, it will make you beat your chest and say, "After all, I can write a better Igbo novel than Chioma."

bigfrancis21:


Despite the presence of Igbo Izugbe, Onicha Igbo still takes a certain level of placement in Igboland. People readily admit to the sweet-sounding nature of the dialect when spoken. An example in this regard would be British English vs. American English or Nigerian English. Till today, Americans still trip when they hear the British accent spoken. I speak the accent fluently and sometimes in my office I switch to this accent and everybody in my office loves it. The assistant director, a lady in her late 40s, of my unit is British and each time she comes around I tease her in the accent and she loves it.

For the sound of it, Onicha Igbo still takes precedence in Nollywood Igbo music and also Igbo rap music. Too many times, I have seen Igbo musicians or rap artists from the south prefer to sing/rap in Onitsha Igbo or a mix of it with Igbo Izugbe. Truth be told, Onitsha Igbo does have this flavour to it totally lacking in Igbo Izugbe. Funny enough, Owerri Igbo carries more swag to it than Igbo Izugbe.

In Igbo meetings or gatherings, some people may choose to switch to Onitsha Igbo maybe because it is easy for everyone else to understand or for the 'flavour' that it carries. On the other hand, Igbo Izugbe seems to be restricted to mostly literary usage and in Christian musics.

To correct the impression, Igbo Izugbe is NOT 80% Owerri Igbo. The general impression is that Igbo Izugbe was taken from Owerri Igbo which is totally false. The syntax or skeleton upon which Igbo Izugbe is built on comes from Onitsha Igbo. Igbo Izugbe is Onitsha Igbo in terms of structure and southern Igbo in vocabulary. Core Owerri Igbo is hardly understood by a first-time Igbo visitor to Owerri while Onitsha Igbo/Igbo Izugbe is easily understood by any Igbo speaker. Onitshans say, 'A na m eje afia ka m gote ife', Igbo Izugbe says, 'A na m eje ahia ka m gote ihe', Owerri Igbo says, 'E jega m ahia ma zuta he'. Anoter example, Onitshans would say, 'Ife I na-acho a diro', Igbo Izugbe would say, 'Ihe I na-acho a dighi', Owerri Igbo would say, 'he I choga a rihu'. Owerri Igbo is in no way similar to Igbo Izugbe in sentence formation or structure. In other words, Onitsha Igbo was taken and its skeletal structure retained but stripped off majority of its vocabulary and replaced with vocabulary from Southern Igbo. Igbo Izugbe is spoken in the same way Onitshans speak Igbo and not the same manner Owerri people speak Igbo. People should learn to recognize these subtle differences.

Personally, I think Onitsha Igbo would have been left as the official Igbo dialect.

ezeagu:


Onitsha Igbo is like a shiny marketable champagne while Owerri Igbo is an earthy brandy. Igbo Izugbe is like a generalised version of the dialects spoken around the areas where northern Abia and Imo meet.

nwanlecha:
@ihuomadinihu nwannem nwanyi, biko were ya nwanyo inugo. You seem a little irked about this whole issue and it's really not that serious.
In my humble opinion, the Onitsha dialect is quite intelligible to most Igbo speakers and I think it should be adopted as Igbo Izugbe. On the other hand, I think our different Igbo dialects should be promoted 'cause they all have their unique flavors. I personally LOOOVE the owerri dialect and all the other dialects spoken in the Imo and Abia areas. I will give anything to learn how to speak Igbo ndi Owerri, eziokwu.

ezeagu:

Igbo Izugbe says, ' A na m aga ahia ka m gote ihe ',
Ohuhu says A na m aga ahia ka m zute ihe.
Orlu says A na m aga ahia ka m zute ihe.

ezeagu:

Second sample.
Igbo-Izugbe says Ihe I na-acho a dighi.
Ohuhu says Ihe I na-acho a dighi.
Orlu says Ihe I na-acho a didhi.

ezeagu:

Third sample.
Igbo-Izugbe says[b]Ole ebe e no ubochi aghu.
Ohuhu says[b]Ole ebe e no ubochi ahu.[/b]
Orlu says Ele ebe e no ahu[/]

oboy3:
Yes ofcourse,the Onitsha dialect is very sweet to speak and sweet to listen to,i enjoy when umu-otu use their slangs,its out of this world
Kam mu na awa
nwanne pasa godi

I remember the day i went over to my Inlaw's in Imo,everybody were all twisting their tongues to speak igbo which i would understand eventhough i understand their dialects

Onicha dialect is Bam
No wonder its used 90% in Nollywood

Ihuomadinihu:

Nne, i'm only stating a fact. Igbo Izugbe is not Igbo ndi owerri,it is the general igbo spoken in different parts of Imo and Abia.
Why wouldn't i be irked? I thought at this point we will all be comfortable with what is spoken in our regions,so why are people pushing Onitsha dialect on others? There are two central igbo dialects: the one spoken in Enugu and Anambra towns and the one spoken in Aba,Owerri and Umuahia down to Ebonyi to some extent and both have served their purposes till date. The rest of us that don't know anything about Onitsha dialect are very happy and comfortable with our Southern Igbo izugbe. You have to be from the Onitsha axis area to be advocating for promotion of Onitsha dialect as igbo izugbe....sorry, those of us from other places in the South with a different Igbo izugbe are not comfortable with that.