It is apparent that most Igbos have no idea what the word Igbo means. They need to look West in the Yoruba country for the meaning since it is academic knowledge that the Igbo and Yoruba language are related. Yorubas too can look East to know the indepth meaning of some of their words.

Ndi Owerri for instance means People of Owerri.

Ndi Onitsha means people of Onitsha. And etc.


Come to the West in Yoruba land.

If I say Idi kanna ni wa. It means we are from thesame family.

Idile Ajayi means family of Ajayi

Idile Adewale means family of Adewale

Idi generally means base. It also means arse which the Urhobo call ikebe. It can also mean reason. For instance, I can say 'Kini idi ti o fi ribe?' Why is it so? Or what reason is it like that?. For the use to mean base, take for instance Idi Araba which means 'The base of the Araba tree'. Idi Agbon means the base of the Agbon tree and that is the name of General Tunde Idiagbon's father who was known for sitting at the base of the coconut tree in Ilorin. Baba Idiagbon. So idi means 'point of coalescion' which can be of people or even of an idea or ideas or simply of mass.

So those are the uses in Yoruba land which is not at all different from its use as Ndi amongst Igbos. Ndi and Idi mean thesame thing.

So what does NdiGbo mean?
Come West for the meaning again.

Gbo is thesame as Gbogbo which means ALL in Yoruba language. Akarigbo of Remo for instance means paramount ruler of ALL or Gbogbo Remo. I believe Odenigbo, an Igbo name might have a similar meaning just like Onuigbo, another Igbo name means 'Mouthpiece of all'. It is sad that some Igbos say the word means Heebo or Hebrew.


So, when you say Ndigbo, it means Everybody as against Ndi Onitsha which means people of Onitsha. Ndigbo means 'Everybody' and Gbo kwenu means Everybody shout! The Yoruba will say Gbo yin e ke! Which is more or less thesame thing. The difference is more or less dialectical.


So in the past when Ndi Onitsha meet Ndi Owerri, Ndi, Enugu and etc. The congregation is addressed as NdiGbo by speakers which means Everybody. Break it down into Ndi- Family of and Gbo- All.

Na when Yoruba and Uganda jews begin share language?

interesting

This is probably the first time you're saying something about Igbo culture/history that I agree is probably very close to the truth. I independently arrived at a similar conclusion about the etymology of 'Igbo' years ago. My theory is somewhat more complicated than yours, however.

Concerning Ndi (Igbo) and Idi (Yoruba) however...I do not find your hypothesis convincing.

AjaanaOka:
This is probably the first time you're saying something about Igbo culture/history that I agree is probably very close to the truth. I independently arrived at a similar conclusion about the etymology of 'Igbo' years ago. My theory is somewhat more complicated than yours, however.

Concerning Ndi (Igbo) and Idi (Yoruba) however...I do not find your hypothesis convincing.

What about Ikwerre and Nkwerre?

lawani:


What about Ikwerre and Nkwerre?

Er...the words are actually accented differently.

Nkwerre (High-Low-Low)
Ikwerre (Low-High-High)

And the 'e' sound is heavier in Ikwerre than in Nkwerre.

There are people who claim there is a relationship, but the claims are unsubstantiated.

AjaanaOka:


Er...the words are actually accented differently.

Nkwerre (High-Low-Low)
Ikwerre (Low-High-High)

And the 'e' sound is heavier in Ikwerre than in Nkwerre.

There are people who claim there is a relationship, but the claims are unsubstantiated.

If they are accented differently in a tonal language, then they are not thesame by any means.

Aja (re mi) is dog

Aja (do do) is tower or storey building

Aja (do mi) town in Lagos state

Aja (re do) means we fought

Aja (re re) We offloaded it or we tore it.

Aja (mi re) He will offload it or tear it

Depending on context A JA (re mi) also means we have fallen off.


So in a tonal language, it may not mean thesame thing if tonation is different but in the case of Ndi and Idi used in thesame way amongst two different groups sharing no borders, it is evident that it is from thesame root. Agbala in Yoruba is Mgbala in Igbo, both means courtyard. So in thesame way Ndi is Idi. In Bantu groups far removed froM Nigeria Iku or Ku means die just like in Yoruba. This occurs even towards South Africa but does not occur in Igbo. It can not be disputed that the iku in Yoruba and Ku in Bantu languages have same origin, though Yoruba share no border with any Bantu language.