This is a special thread where you can ask any question about Igbo culture,language,Tradition or her people and thier way of life.
there's a question somebody asked me which almost cracked my brain which i later got the answer,he asked me to translate trouser and short in Igbo.if you know the answer tell me and ask yours

I think trouser in Igbo is bongo

This is a good initiative. We could use this thread to ask questions related to Igbo culture. However if it becomes a translation thread, it won't be of any use again because we already have a thread to translate.

Anyways nice one. I am watching.

What does Igbo mean?

Haha! That is the million dollar question, Ezeagu. I've always wondered what it meant, myself.

ChinenyeN:

Haha! That is the million dollar question, Ezeagu. I've always wondered what it meant, myself. 

The OP said this was the Official Igbo Q&A Thread, so they must answer it, haha.

michelin89:

This is a good initiative. We could use this thread to ask questions related to Igbo culture. However if it becomes a translation thread, it won't be of any use again because we already have a thread to translate.

Anyways nice one. I am watching.

this our moderator is very active o

$osisi:

this our moderator is very active  o

I am everywhere you mean?? 

Gbam

I dey watch una ooo!

ezeagu:

The OP said this was the Official Igbo Q&A Thread, so they must answer it, haha.

hehh. In that case then, here is what I would have answered. There are many thoughts about what "Igbo" may means, but no one really seems to know for sure. Some say it could be the overtime corruption of "Hebrew". Some say that it means "bush". Some say that it means "slave". Some say that it means "community".

igbo means igbo. it is a language. it is a people. it is a culture. it is an identity.

unless you are asking where the name originated from. that one go hard to asnwer b/c, uptill now, no one has been able to give a convincing history of ndiigbo. all that talk about igbos being jews does not convince me at all. i've seen those people, we do not resemble at all our mannerisms are different. we dont blend. if really we were from the jews, it will be easy to tango. but those guys are not like us at all.

I think people need to ask Ndi Oru what "Igbo" means. They may have an answer.
Also, what do these last names mean?
"Onuigbo", "Ebigbo", "Igboko", "Igboji", "Igbokwe", "Igbojekwe", "Igboaka", as well as these place names "Oyigbo", and "Amigbo".
I'm having a very difficult time believing that they actually refer to "Igbo" people?

ChinenyeN:

I think people need to ask Ndi Oru what "Igbo" means. They may have an answer.
Also, what do these last names mean?
"Onuigbo", "Ebigbo", "Igboko", "Igboji", "Igbokwe", "Igbojekwe", "Igboaka", as well as these place names "Oyigbo", and "Amigbo".
I'm having a very difficult time believing that they actually refer to "Igbo" people?

Onuigbo= igbos's mouth
igboko= igbo is scarce
igboji= igbo people has
igbokwe=igbo people agrees
igbojekwe= igbo people will agree
igboaka= igbo people are more
oyigbo=igbo people's friend
Amigbo= igbo people's land
these explanation is the best of my ability sha

@michelin89: u be igbo chick?

slimfine:

Onuigbo= igbos's mouth
igboko= igbo is scarce
igboji= igbo people has
igbokwe=igbo people agrees
igbojekwe= igbo people will agree
igboaka= igbo people are more
oyigbo=igbo people's friend
Amigbo= igbo people's land
these explanation is the best of my ability sha

That's just the thing. . I'm having a hard time believing that the "Igbo" in those names is supposed to refer to Igbo people, especially considering that these names, and the word "Igbo", seem to have been around since before all the different groups came to be known as "Igbo". So, I think that "Igbo" may [have] refer[red] to something else (except for maybe, the case of Amigbo, but only Amigbo people can actually answer that question).

ChinenyeN:

That's just the thing. . I'm having a hard time believing that the "Igbo" in those names is supposed to refer to Igbo people, especially considering that these names, and the word "Igbo", seem to have been around since before all the different groups came to be known as "Igbo". So, I think that "Igbo" may [have] refer[red] to something else (except for maybe, the case of Amigbo, but only Amigbo people can actually answer that question).

Chineye it foes far beyond the literal translation.we might need some real elders to help us decipher the real meanings.wud ask sha
see: Onuigbo=Igbos mouthpiece,Onu na ekwuchitere anyi na nzuko.
Amaigbo=our home. . .Historically,after the war,ndi igbo mbu gbatara ebe ahu gave it the name. so i heard ,a garam akwukwo ebe ahu.
Oyigbo=Our friends.they helped us during the war and were friendly to our soilders.
ka anyi juo ndi toro anyi.lol

ifyalways:

Chineye it foes far beyond the literal translation.we might need some real elders to help us decipher the real meanings.wud ask sha 
see: Onuigbo=Igbos mouthpiece,Onu na ekwuchitere anyi na nzuko.
         Amaigbo=our home. . .Historically,after the war,ndi igbo mbu gbatara ebe ahu gave it the name. so i heard  ,a garam akwukwo ebe ahu.
        Oyigbo=Our friends.they helped us during the war and were friendly to our soilders. 
ka anyi juo ndi toro anyi.lol

Do you mean the Biafran war? and Yes, we will have to ask real elders if we're going to really understand this.

Igbo means Igbo. It's the name of the people. I have never understood why Igbo people have such a hard time accepting that Igbo is simply the name of the people and the language that we speak.

That's like asking an English person what does English mean? English has no meaning other than that it is the name of the people and their language.

Yes, it was derived from Anglo (as in Anglo-saxon) but Anglo was STILL the name of the people. So it's still the same bloody thing.

Or asking an Arab what does Arabic mean? or a French person what does French mean? French has no meaning. It's simply the NAME of the language and the people.

Haba!

OgidiBoy:

I think trouser in Igbo is bongo

To wear (as in to wear trousers) is Ibo (infinitive form and o with the dot) so I'm guessing ngo might be trousers.

sugabelly:

Igbo means Igbo. It's the name of the people. I have never understood why Igbo people have such a hard time accepting that Igbo is simply the name of the people and the language that we speak.

This is what Igbo has come to represent now (the people, their lands, and their ways of speaking), but I'm more concerned with what it actually represented before colonization.

sugabelly:

That's like asking an English person what does English mean? English has no meaning other than that it is the name of the people and their language.

I can't agree with this for the sole reason that it just does not make sense for "Igbo" to have no meaning, considering that ALL Igbo groups (if I'm not mistaking) have names that mean something. So, "Igbo" came from somewhere, and it had some kind of reference other than what we know of today.

Where is Abagworo? Maybe he can help us out in this situation. He's Oru Igbo and I hear that Oru Igbo say something like "Oru na Igbo bu nwanne", and they're also credited for the saying "Igbo enwegh eze". I wonder what more Abagworo may have to add to this.

ChinenyeN:

This is what Igbo has come to represent now (the people, their lands, and their ways of speaking), but I'm more concerned with what it actually represented before colonization.
I can't agree with this for the sole reason that it just does not make sense for "Igbo" to have no meaning, considering that ALL Igbo groups (if I'm not mistaking) have names that mean something. So, "Igbo" came from somewhere, and it had some kind of reference other than what we know of today.

Where is Abagworo? Maybe he can help us out in this situation. He's Oru Igbo and I hear that Oru Igbo say something like "Oru na Igbo bu nwanne", and they're also credited for the saying "Igbo enwegh eze". I wonder what more Abagworo may have to add to this.

Don't you UNDERSTAND?? In EVERY language there MUST be a word that is used to described THAT LANGUAGE and THOSE PEOPLE. In Igbo the word is IGBO just like in French the word is FRENCH. The word Igbo has NO OTHER MEANING than the language that we speak and the people that we are.

The only exceptions are when you tone the word differently and that doesn't even count because different tone = different word.

Kai, stop looking for abracadabra where there is obviously none.


EVERY language has a word to name itself. EVERY FREAKING LANGUAGE!

sugabelly:

Don't you UNDERSTAND?? In EVERY language there MUST be a word that is used to described THAT LANGUAGE and THOSE PEOPLE. In Igbo the word is IGBO just like in French the word is FRENCH. The word Igbo has NO OTHER MEANING than the language that we speak and the people that we are.

The only exceptions are when you tone the word differently and that doesn't even count because different tone = different word.

Kai, stop looking for abracadabra where there is obviously none.


EVERY language has a word to name itself. EVERY FREAKING LANGUAGE!

Origin of the word French

the name of the language itself, français, comes from the Germanic Frank ('freeman'). The Franks referred to their land as Franko(n) which became Francia in Latin in the 3rd century (then an area in Gallia belgica, somewhere in modern-day Belgium or the Netherlands).

wiki

tpiah:








Origin of the word French

It still proves my point. The FRANKS called their land FRANKON. Fine, maybe the word we use to describe them today (French) is not the original word they used to describe themselves but my point still stands and that is that EVERY group of people calls THEMSELVES something. And they call their language SOMETHING. And now, thanks to you, we know that the French ORIGINALLY CALLED THEMSELVES Franks. And they originally called their land and their language FRANKON or FRANK. Whichever one it is.

Same thing. The Igbos call themselves IGBO and we call our language IGBO.

sugabelly:

Igbo means Igbo. It's the name of the people. I have never understood why Igbo people have such a hard time accepting that Igbo is simply the name of the people and the language that we speak.

That's like asking an English person what does English mean? English has no meaning other than that it is the name of the people and their language.

Yes, it was derived from Anglo (as in Anglo-saxon) but Anglo was STILL the name of the people. So it's still the same bloody thing.

Or asking an Arab what does Arabic mean? or a French person what does French mean? French has no meaning. It's simply the NAME of the language and the people.

Haba!

England come from "Angle" and there are different theories of where it could have come from such as a place in the Baltic. Igbo has to mean something, if thats not what your saying.

sugabelly:

It still proves my point. The FRANKS called their land FRANKON. Fine, maybe the word we use to describe them today (French) is not the original word they used to describe themselves but my point still stands and that is that EVERY group of people calls THEMSELVES something. And they call their language SOMETHING. And now, thanks to you, we know that the French ORIGINALLY CALLED THEMSELVES Franks. And they originally called their land and their language FRANKON or FRANK. Whichever one it is.

Same thing. The Igbos call themselves IGBO and we call our language IGBO.

Wikipedia.org/wiki/Franks :

The ethnonym Frank has sometimes been traced to the Latin francisca (from the Germanic *frankon, akin to the Old English franca), meaning "javelin." While the throwing axe of the Franks is known as the francisca, the weapon conversely may have been named after the tribe. A. C. Murray says, "The etymology of Franci is uncertain ('the fierce ones' is the favourite explanation), but the name is undoubtedly of Germanic origin."

For 'Arab' you can see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_the_word_Arab

Wikipedia can be edited by anyone. It's not a reliable source. ALSO a lot of European and American scholars like to link EVERYTHING to Latin. Lots of stuff develops independently in this world, not everything is linked to something else. It is thinking like this that gives European scholars the audacity to publish papers about African archaeological findings in which they claim that the findings are "too complex for the Africans to have made themselves. It must have come from somewhere else (in other words Europe - because you know Africans are stupid animals that run around with lions how could we have possibly made bronze statues and fine jewelry and furniture and beautiful weapons - only Europeans are capable of such things)

The point is A LOT of things develop independently. Igbo land has NO link whatsoever to the the Jews. People that try to make that link by claiming the word Igbo is not an Igbo word simply have self esteem issues and feel that being Igbo is inferior to being Hebrew. I call bullshit and I don't buy.

I-GB-O Three little letters that are ALL found in the Igbo language.

If it was IBON I would perfectly understand because Igbo words do not end in consonants with the exception of M and R. The word Igbo complies with all the rules of Igbo grammar so I do not see this link that certain people are so desperate to make.

The Igbo developed independently. End of story.

And anyway, if anyone is so desperate to link Igbo to something, how come people don't say the word Igbo is derived from Yoruba? or Hausa? or Efik?

It's obvious this nonsense was cooked up by idiots with a huge inferiority complex. Jews by Igbo ass.

sugabelly:

Don't you UNDERSTAND?? In EVERY language there MUST be a word that is used to described THAT LANGUAGE and THOSE PEOPLE. In Igbo the word is IGBO just like in French the word is FRENCH. The word Igbo has NO OTHER MEANING than the language that we speak and the people that we are.

There was no such thing as "Igbo" (the way you refer to it) until colonization. The different Igbo groups did not call themselves "Igbo", until recently. In fact, each group vehemently opposed being referred to as "Igbo", up until as recent as the late 1900s. So, "Igbo" people are a rather new ethnic group. Now, as it stands now though, it has been, and is still, acknowledged that "Igbo" must have referred to something else before colonization. That is what I'm curious about.

But don't get me wrong though. I do agree with you that Igbo has now come to refer to the indigenous territory, the language and the people.

sugabelly:

Wikipedia can be edited by anyone. It's not a reliable source. ALSO a lot of European and American scholars like to link EVERYTHING to Latin. Lots of stuff develops independently in this world, not everything is linked to something else. It is thinking like this that gives European scholars the audacity to publish papers about African archaeological findings in which they claim that the findings are "too complex for the Africans to have made themselves. It must have come from somewhere else (in other words Europe - because you know Africans are stupid animals that run around with lions how could we have possibly made bronze statues and fine jewelry and furniture and beautiful weapons - only Europeans are capable of such things)

The point is A LOT of things develop independently. Igbo land has NO link whatsoever to the the Jews. People that try to make that link by claiming the word Igbo is not an Igbo word simply have self esteem issues and feel that being Igbo is inferior to being Hebrew. I call bullshit and I don't buy.

I-GB-O Three little letters that are ALL found in the Igbo language.

If it was IBON I would perfectly understand because Igbo words do not end in consonants with the exception of M and R. The word Igbo complies with all the rules of Igbo grammar so I do not see this link that certain people are so desperate to make.

The Igbo developed independently. End of story.

Thats your opinion, there are many people who can back up their claims with evidence, whether you think the Eze Nri or his ancestors had an inferiority complex is all up to, but I know Igbo people did not start claiming semitic ancestry after colonization, e.g see Equiano's 1789 narrative.

There are other African ethnicities with Semitic ancestry. Anyway all these claims can only be proven with DNA evidence. It really is frustrating when people talk before researching something.

ChinenyeN:

There was no such thing as "Igbo" (the way you refer to it) until colonization. The different Igbo groups did not call themselves "Igbo", until recently.

True.

ChinenyeN:

In fact, each group vehemently opposed being referred to as "Igbo", up until as recent as the late 1900s.

They didn't know it existed, but they didn't oppose it. Before the time you stated, the only time these people would have heard Igbo is during slavery out of Igboland, but they accepted it.

ChinenyeN:

"Igbo" people are a rather new ethnic group.

Well kind of, don't you think?

The Igbo people are not a new ethnic group. Yes, we never really stood together as one solid block of people before colonization but it doesn't mean that we did not share DNA, speak the same language, eat the same foods, and have the same customs. (yes I know that there are slight differences but in general everything was the same).

ezeagu:

They didn't know it existed, but they didn't oppose it. Before the time you stated, the only time these people would have heard Igbo is during slavery out of Igboland, but they accepted it.

That's true. The ones that accepted it were the Igbo who were taken during slavery, but those in Igboland had yet to hear of, and accept "Igbo". Yet, even after them hearing of "Igbo", and being referred to as "Igbo", they resisted it. It took a long while before the Igbo groups accepted being referred to as "Igbo".

sugabelly:

The Igbo people are not a new ethnic group. Yes, we never really stood together as one solid block of people before colonization but it doesn't mean that we did not share DNA, speak the same language, eat the same foods, and have the same customs. (yes I know that there are slight differences but in general everything was the same).

Maybe I should rephrase what I wrote. . . "Igbo" identity is a rather new thing. Also, we Igbo are a group of related and unrelated people. We share similar customs, but not necessarily the same. The differences in our customs are also not slight at all.