Afam4eva: lol See as everybody jusy dey claim.

Though i have a friend whose last name is "Oyibo" and she's from Imo state.

There was this professor from kogi,named professor oyibo. He is not even igbo or yoruba,so you see,the whole thing is complex.

odumchi:

We say Bekee and not Oyibo, in my part of Abia.

Eze,you mean you guys say 'akubekee' for coconut,instead of 'akuoyibo' in arochukwu?

pazienza:

Eze,you mean you guys say 'akubekee' for coconut,instead of 'akuoyibo' in arochukwu?

Yes. We say akibekee for coconut, ali Bekee when referring to the white man's land, and ubobekee for avocado. We don't say oyibo at all.

In owerri its called aki

odumchi:

Yes. We say akibekee for coconut, ali Bekee when referring to the white man's land, and ubobekee for avocado. We don't say oyibo at all.

Hope you are aware that Bekee is a corruption of Dr. William Balfour Baikie who visited Aboh in the 19th century.

Abagworo:

Hope you are aware that Bekee is a corruption of Dr. William Balfour Baikie who visited Aboh in the 19th century.

I've heard about this claim but I haven't read too much about it. To be frank, I don't have any idea where the use of bekee originated, but what I can say for sure is that in the Bende/Cross River zone of Abia, we have always used bekee and never oyibo; Oyibo seems more like an Anambra/Enugu thing. If bekee truly did originate in Aboh, then it would be very surprising how its use became so prevalent in Abia.

odumchi:

I've heard about this claim but I haven't read too much about it. To be frank, I don't have any idea where the use of bekee originated, but what I can say for sure is that in the Bende/Cross River zone of Abia, we have always used bekee and never oyibo; Oyibo seems more like an Anambra/Enugu thing. If bekee truly did originate in Aboh, then it would be very surprising how its use became so prevalent in Abia.

You can't be sure as you didn't exist in the 18th century but that is the history of "bekee". The more Igbotic word for "Whiteman" is "Onyeocha" or ocha/ucha/ncha for white while black is Oji/nji/uji. Okocha and Okonji means whiteman and blackman just like Nwocha and Nwoji or Nwokocha and Nwokoji.

Some Igbos call Europeans Nwadisi as in the icheoku drama of old.

lol at this thread..see as everyy tribe is trying to claim..is it really that serious?

As I got my nickname from my Yoruba pals I have always spelled it OYINBO. But then as I am Kolo (but not mu mu) my spelling of it may not signify much! lol

You all stop confusing yourselves.
First of all. Oyinbo is a Yoruba word for white man.

Oyin = Honey from a Bee = Brownish color of honey (African skin)

Bo = Peeled = bleached Skin.

Just like when Yorubas say that girl (Bo Ara = Bo-Ra = bleached her skin )

If Oyin = Brownish color of honey
If Bo = bleached skin.

Therefore;
Oyin-Bo = Oyinbo means a Brown Man/Woman who's skin was bleached.

Oyinbo a White Man.

None is correct. Oyibo is the Igbo form and pronunciation and Oyinbo is the Yoruba form of it.

I think i've found the answer to these question.
Check out the screenshots from google tranlator.

more

the word oyibo is possibly not of nigerian origin imo.

it was adapted into the nigerian lexicon, although i stand to be corrected.

This Igbo people will not stop being offensive; ur problem is inferiority complex towards Yoruba n you'll never admit it. Hence all this make up theories. There's nothing like oyibo in Igbo language, u just open this thread to test d acceptance of ur weird ideology as a similar one was open sometimes ago about the origin of oyibo. The most annoying thing is that some gullible Yoruba also believe this yeye story. We all know that Igbo word for white man is onye ocha so u all should stop this madness of trying to steal others language because of it's popularity. U came to lagos just like many other tribes n became familiar with many yoruba words that u no longer can speak without those words even when acting a movie in some of ur village bush. Words like: Abi, se, joo, oga, sha, asewo which u now pronounce as ashawo, n many more. I'm sure or future generation would also claim that those words are igbo words. There's nothing wrong for u to use those words wherever u like but claiming that they are ur language is a big blow to Yoruba's face.

BTW, the word is oyinbo n not oyibo.

as a matter of fact, the meaning of oyinbo is probably more of an honorary one.

it most likely means honor or chieftancy title when translated like this: oye-ibo, could mean chieftancy title that covers, ie is widespread.

just theorizing here.

oye means title and bo means cover

it could also be honey covers

I'm about to release a piece of intellectual work publicly. I seem confused on which to use.. Oyibo OR Oyinbo??
Help needed here..

jacksonlows:
I'm about to release a piece of intellectual work publicly. I seem confused on which to use.. Oyibo OR Oyinbo??
Help needed here..

Oyibo. That is the proper spelling that follows its pronunciation.

jacksonlows:
I'm about to release a piece of intellectual work publicly. I seem confused on which to use.. Oyibo OR Oyinbo??
Help needed here..

It's oyinbo...whoever pronounce it as oyibo only corrupts it from the original Yoruba form
Only as Oyinbo does it make sense and have a meaning

odumchi:


I've heard about this claim but I haven't read too much about it. To be frank, I don't have any idea where the use of bekee originated, but what I can say for sure is that in the Bende/Cross River zone of Abia, we have always used bekee and never oyibo; Oyibo seems more like an Anambra/Enugu thing. If bekee truly did originate in Aboh, then it would be very surprising how its use became so prevalent in Abia.

Exactly what I have always said! Baikie travelled along the Niger. One would expect the riverain Igbo of Anambra, Delta and Imo to be the ones who use 'Bekee' more frequently if indeed it derives from his name. Instead the Igbo along the Niger (or at least the ones I know) use oyibo. And Bekee is more or less limited to hinterland Igbos who were out of Baikie's way. It really doesn't add up.

Radoillo:

Exactly what I have always said! Baikie travelled along the Niger. One would expect the riverain Igbo of Anambra, Delta and Imo to be the ones who use 'Bekee' more frequently if indeed it derives from his name. Instead the Igbo along the Niger (or at least the ones I know) use oyibo. And Bekee is more or less limited to hinterland Igbos who were out of Baikie's way. It really doesn't add up.

Bekee was adopted as central Igbo and spread deeper into Igboland. Arochukwu people could have carried it into hinterland in those days but Onyeocha is the most precise Igbo word.or phrase. Bekee was used more in Rivers State than in Igbo hinterland in earlier times.

macof:


It's oyinbo...whoever pronounce it as oyibo only corrupts it from the original Yoruba form
Only as Oyinbo does it make sense and have a meaning

It is an Igbo word originating prior to the slave trade period of Igboland (1600 - 1800). The earliest record of 'oyibo' being of Igbo origin, not 'oyinbo' can be found in the biography of Olaudah Equiano's of blessed memory (an ex-Igbo slave) written in the 1700s, during which as early as the 17th century, the Igbo were already using it to refer to 'light-skinned' people found amongst themselves long before the white men came.

Excerpts from Olaudah Equiano's book:

As we live in a country where nature is prodigal of her favours, our
wants are few and easily supplied; of course we have few manufactures.
They consist for the most part of calicoes, earthern ware, ornaments,
and instruments of war and husbandry. But these make no part of our
commerce, the principal articles of which, as I have observed, are
provisions. In such a state money is of little use; however we have
some small pieces of coin, if I may call them such. They are made
something like an anchor; but I do not remember either their value or
denomination. We have also markets, at which I have been frequently
with my mother. These are sometimes visited by stout mahogany-coloured
men from the south west of us: we call them Oyeeboe, which term
signifies red men living at a distance. They generally bring us
fire-arms, gunpowder, hats, beads, and dried fish. The last we
esteemed a great rarity, as our waters were only brooks and springs.
These articles they barter with us for odoriferous woods and earth,
and our salt of wood ashes. They always carry slaves through our land;
but the strictest account is exacted of their manner of procuring them
before they are suffered to pass.

https://archive.org/stream/theinterestingna15399gut/15399.txt

If you're still in doubt, read more closely the context of usage in which he used to refer to the men as 'Oyeeboe' because they had 'mahogany-coloured skin colour' (we all know that the colour of mahogany is reddish brown) and his rendering of the meaning of the word as 'red men'. Interesting, light-skinned Igbo were referred to as 'red eboe' in America and the Caribbean, a term which has still stuck till today.

'Oyinbo' is a corruption of the original word, 'oyibo'. How could the Yoruba have developed a word for 'Oyibo' when, till today, there are very few naturally light-skinned individuals amongst themselves yet at least 40% of the Igbo people are light-skinned, a phenomenon even well-documented in far-away America during the slave trade?

The same way 'akamu', 'ogbono', 'okro' (Okwuru in Igbo), 'Agidi', 'Nwantinti' (Yorubanized as wantintin) etc. which are Igbo words adopted in Yoruba language today will be claimed by the next generation because they grew up hearing the words used in daily Yoruba speech. Some Yorubas have started claiming those words to be Yoruba already.

Don't lay claims you can't prove. It is very easy to say, 'oyinbo is from yoruba' but to prove it is entirely another thing. Furnish proof that shows the word is authentically Yoruba. Other than that, your claim is baseless.

Radoillo:


Exactly what I have always said! Baikie travelled along the Niger. One would expect the riverain Igbo of Anambra, Delta and Imo to be the ones who use 'Bekee' more frequently if indeed it derives from his name. Instead the Igbo along the Niger (or at least the ones I know) use oyibo. And Bekee is more or less limited to hinterland Igbos who were out of Baikie's way. It really doesn't add up.

Oyibo is more of an Anambra/Enugu/Anioma/Ebonyi thing. Within my Anambra family, I grew up hearing 'Oyibo' to refer to a light-skinned person, or the English language itself. I only heard 'bekee' more frequently in the environs of Owerri as I went to school.

Abagworo:


Bekee was adopted as central Igbo and spread deeper into Igboland. Arochukwu people could have carried it into hinterland in those days but Onyeocha is the most precise Igbo word.or phrase. Bekee was used more in Rivers State than in Igbo hinterland in earlier times.

Onye ocha is only a recent Igbo word for 'white person' specifically. The fact that 'Oyibo' is rarely used in southern Igboland doesn't render the word any less Igbo. Among the Igbos of Northern Igboland, they had always used 'Oyibo' to refer to a light-skinned person. You can find several Igbo people of Northern Igboland who bear 'Oyibo' as first name or middle name. Even my grandmother's middle name, same age as Queen Eliza of England, is Oyibo. Earliest evidence of this usage can be found in Olaudah Equiano's (being from that area) work. It is very much relieving that he wrote that book before he died which bears evidence to an Igbo usage of the word as at early as the 1700s, else its origin would have been disclaimed today as non-Igbo.

jacksonlows:
I'm about to release a piece of intellectual work publicly. I seem confused on which to use.. Oyibo OR Oyinbo??
Help needed here..

As I said earlier, 'Oyibo' is the proper and original form of the word, as you can see from evidence below:

As we live in a country where nature is prodigal of her favours, our
wants are few and easily supplied; of course we have few manufactures.
They consist for the most part of calicoes, earthern ware, ornaments,
and instruments of war and husbandry. But these make no part of our
commerce, the principal articles of which, as I have observed, are
provisions. In such a state money is of little use; however we have
some small pieces of coin, if I may call them such. They are made
something like an anchor; but I do not remember either their value or
denomination. We have also markets, at which I have been frequently
with my mother. These are sometimes visited by stout mahogany-coloured
men from the south west of us: we call them Oyeeboe, which term
signifies red men living at a distance. They generally bring us
fire-arms, gunpowder, hats, beads, and dried fish. The last we
esteemed a great rarity, as our waters were only brooks and springs.
These articles they barter with us for odoriferous woods and earth,
and our salt of wood ashes. They always carry slaves through our land;
but the strictest account is exacted of their manner of procuring them
before they are suffered to pass.

https://archive.org/stream/theinterestingna15399gut/15399.txt

Today, you would find several Igbo people bearing 'Oyibo' or any of its variants (such as Oyibolalu, Okwuoyibo) as either first or middle name in Igboland but such is extremely rare in Yoruba land, maybe except those with Igbo mothers. My paternal grandmother born at the same time as queen elizabeth of England (almost 90 years old today) bears 'Oyibo' as her middle name and 'Agnes' as first name.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Obuohas-Heart-Songs-N-S-O-Obi/dp/1860335624

http://www.informationng.com/tag/oyibo-ahaneku-nwaneri

http://ugobueze..com/2010/04/profile-of-oyibo-ekwulo-odinamadu-nee.html

Abagworo:


Bekee was adopted as central Igbo and spread deeper into Igboland. Arochukwu people could have carried it into hinterland in those days but Onyeocha is the most precise Igbo word.or phrase. Bekee was used more in Rivers State than in Igbo hinterland in earlier times.

Okay. Good. But do you have any explanations as to how/why Bekee isn't really the word for white man in the riverain Igbo communities that saw Baikie. He didn't even touch down in any part of present-day Rivers State. Yet they seem to have kept the name, while Ogbaru didn't.

Now here is something else interesting: In the Dominican Republic, Beke is a white man or a mixed-race person. Slavery stopped in that country in the 1820s. Baikie visited the Niger in the 1840s when the export of slaves from that region has practically (if not completely) ceased.

Now if we make the very likely assumption that 'Beke' was introduced into Dominica by African slaves, how do we reconcile the dates if 'Beke' really derives from 'Baikie'?

Another interesting thing: Why hasn't anyone thought that 'bekee' could be linguistically related to Ibibio/Annang 'mbakara' which was also used to describe white people, and which found its way into the Americas as 'Buckra' long before Baikie's time?

.

bigfrancis21:


It is an Igbo word originating prior to the slave trade period of Igboland (1600 - 1800). The earliest record of 'oyibo' being of Igbo origin, not 'oyinbo' can be found in the biography of Olaudah Equiano's of blessed memory (an ex-Igbo slave) written in the 1700s, during which as early as the 17th century, the Igbo were already using it to refer to 'light-skinned' people found amongst themselves long before the white men came.

Excerpts from Olaudah Equiano's book:


https://archive.org/stream/theinterestingna15399gut/15399.txt

If you're still in doubt, read more closely the context of usage in which he used to refer to the men as 'Oyeeboe' because they had 'mahogany-coloured skin colour' (we all know that the colour of mahogany is reddish brown) and his rendering of the meaning of the word as 'red men'. Interesting, light-skinned Igbo were referred to as 'red eboe' in America and the Caribbean, a term which has still stuck till today.

'Oyinbo' is a corruption of the original word, 'oyibo'. How could the Yoruba have developed a word for 'Oyibo' when, till today, there are very few naturally light-skinned individuals amongst themselves yet at least 40% of the Igbo people are light-skinned, a phenomenon even well-documented in far-away America during the slave trade?

The same way 'akamu', 'ogbono', 'okro' (Okwuru in Igbo), 'Agidi', 'Nwantinti' (Yorubanized as wantintin) etc. which are Igbo words adopted in Yoruba language today will be claimed by the next generation because they grew up hearing the words used in daily Yoruba speech. Some Yorubas have started claiming those words to be Yoruba already.

Don't lay claims you can't prove. It is very easy to say, 'oyinbo is from yoruba' but to prove it is entirely another thing. Furnish proof that shows the word is authentically Yoruba. Other than that, your claim is baseless.

this is a joke right? Seriously you give me words from a book written by an ex-slave who lived among other African slaves including Yorubas
If he is the 1st record of the word used by an Igbo then, it confirms the Yoruba influence

Because Yoruba don't have as much light skinned ones as Igbo doesn't mean we should not have a word for them...Yoruba has a word for anything that exists in Yorubaland
So u think light skinned children weren't called anything to portray their different skin tone? That's even more hilarious

either you are a Liar or you really don't know..
Akamu, ogbono, okro, agidi, nwantiti aren't used by anybody speaking Yoruba

We call them Ogi, Apon, Ila, eko,


Oyin(honey) + bo (peel) hence the word Bora(bleach) like in Patoranking nd Olamide's song

If u like keep peddling ur false conception

macof:


this is a joke right? Seriously you give me words from a book written by an ex-slave who lived among other African slaves including Yorubas
If he is the 1st record of the word used by an Igbo then, it confirms the Yoruba influence

Because Yoruba don't have as much light skinned ones as Igbo doesn't mean we should not have a word for them...Yoruba has a word for anything that exists in Yorubaland
So u think light skinned children weren't called anything to portray their different skin tone? That's even more hilarious

either you are a Liar or you really don't know..
Akamu, ogbono, okro, agidi, nwantiti aren't used by anybody speaking Yoruba

We call them Ogi, Apon, Ila, eko,


Oyin(honey) + bo (peel) hence the word Bora(bleach) like in Patoranking nd Olamide's song

If u like keep peddling ur false conception

How does honey + peel make any useful meaning to you? Just because you're trying to concoct a meaning out of the word that coincidentally means something else in Yoruba doesn't make it originating from south west. Just as, " 'Obasanjo' means 'he spreadeth evil' (O basa njo) in Igbo doesn't mean the name is 'Igbo'. Or just as Oduduwa coincidentally means 'leader of the people of the world' (odu = leader, du/ndu/ndi = people, uwa = world) in Igbo, therefore I should claim the name and the legendary (unverifiable) man as Igbo coming from the South East. Yoruba legend has it that 'he fell from the sky' out of nowhere, which is symbolic to mean that he came from outside ancient Yoruba territory, which may have been Igboland. Since science proves that nobody is able to 'fall from nowhere', definitely not from the sky (), thus Odundiuwa (an Igbo man. Corrupted to 'Oduduwa' as usual) must have migrated from somewhere to Yorubaland, which is from the South East. Afterall, legendary Ife folk lore holds it that an ancient people called 'Igbo' (which modern Yoruba authors render as 'bush' people) inhabited the Yoruba closely during the times of yore and its people raided and constantly terrorized the people of Ife (or whichever people it was) until Moremi exposed their secrets. A surviving Yoruba legend which proves the ancient Igbo-Oduduwa connection.

Records have it that the Igbo have been using the word as at early as 16th century or even beyond, before the slave trade era. Till today, the word is still used in Igboland and all over Nigeria. Asides Yoruba land where it is 'Oyinbo', it is 'Oyibo' elsewhere. I've asked you before to furnish verifiable evidence of 'oyinbo' usage in ancient Yorubaland. You failed to do that. Thus, you have no basis for your wanton claim. Oh, that reminds me, an Igbo man was the first Nigerian to write a book (biography). No Yoruba wrote a book before him. How would you provide evidence anyway.

At the point Olaudah wrote his book, he mentioned the word as what his people (who had barely and outside influence with any non-Igbo speaking element. Mind you, he was from Isseke in modern-day Anambra state) referred to a light-skinned person. No, he didn't learn that word after he was sold into slavery and 'encountered' Yoruba-speaking slaves who 'taught' him the word () which suddenly made him to go back in time to before he was kidnapped to mention that his people, not him, used 'oyibo' to refer to light-skinned.

I'm glad you provided the Yoruba equivalent for Okro, Ogbono, Agidi, etc which are growing less and less in usage and substituted by Okro, Ogbono, Agidi etc. from Igbo language. You've furthermore proven Okro, Ogbono, Agidi etc are Igbo words, often used in Yorubaland today.

Interesting thread. What are the tonal qualities of the Igbo "oyibo"? Unable to find a dictionary with the markings.

StarFlux:
Interesting thread. What are the tonal qualities of the Igbo "oyibo"? Unable to find a dictionary with the markings.

It is pronounced as, 'oh yee boe' in Igbo with rising tonations, without the 'n' nasal sound before the 'boe' as the Yorubas love to pronounce it.