As for Yahaya bello, I am not surprised by the way he behaves. Most Igbiras I lnow are Fulani ass lickers to the core! They share this same ideology as bello, believe it or not.

They can’t differenciate between being muslims and being slaves to the Emirate. They call we Igalas ‘Fake Muslims’ because we maintain our culture (to some extent).

They brought Boko haram and ISIS to Kogi state as well, all those terrorist cells being bursted in northen edo state like Okpella as well as in Okene are all spear headed by fanatic Igbira muslims.

Besides, Igbiras have NOTHING to lose because they don’t have land. They are known to be migrant farmers all over Nigeria especially in south west and north central. So of course their disaster of a governor won’t have any issues inplementing such dangerous draconian laws in Kogi state.

DanEmakoji:
My mum is from odolu & my dad is from ibaji Lga. Am an igala by tribe but we share boundaries with anambra & the two communities shares alot of things in common. There are igalas in anambra & one of Them is in the state house of assembly.

Yes omaye there are Igalas in Anambara, but do we have indiginous Igbos among us though?
What we have are Igalas who have some Igbo influence in their way of life. And because Igbo is regarded as a majority tribe, those of us who share boundary with them will usually try to copy some of the way they do things.

I am not dispiting the possibility sha. People migrate from place to place.

The Igala Egwu and the Igbo Egwu even though are spelt alike do not have the same meaning nor pronunciation.

The pronunciation of the Igala Egwu is the same as Egun in Yoruba and also mean the same thing , i.e Spirit/Ancestors.
They are pronounced in rising tones.

Also in Igala, the “GW” is not as strong as it sounds in igbo and the ‘w’ is subtle. It sounds more like “EGwU or EGU”

The Igbo egwu has a different meaning and a different tone. I think the way Igala words and language are being spelt have been heavily influenced by the former eastern nigeria and igbos via the catholic church being that the earliest Western educators in Igala land came from the eastern axis via the qua iboe church movement, igbo priests and that introduced christianity into igala land and the subsequent use of igbo-like spelling rules in the lettering of the Igala language.

greatjoey:

Anè is evening. Night is called Odu.

Odu is more like Midnight

greatjoey:


I really wish you were and Igala guy too. Adè is a word I Igala which means relationship. Adu means a servant or slave. Adebo is crrectly written in Igala as 'adèbò' Note that the sign on letter e and o are supposed to be atthe bottom. Adebo means an idol worshipper. It is separately called Adu èbó. Ébó in Igala is idol. We call it Achichèbó also.

Achichebo is person who makes offers to gods, same as Adebo same same, just different words describing same thing.
All I am saying is that Adejo can also mean togetherness. Pls make research very well.

greatjoey:

This name you var talking about is my family name.

Many Igalas make mistake concerning the language.

Ele Ojo is a combination of two Igala words as well.

I am telling you now that Aduojo is a name on its own and Adejo is a name on its own.

greatjoey:

I a an Igala guy i am telling you what it means. In Igala language like other languages, two or more words at combined to form a singular word. There is no such word like Ade in Igala language. Adu means slave while Ojo means God. Adu-Ojo is then pronounced as Adejo by way of simplicity. Also, a word like Igala is a compound word derived from Iga Ala. Iga means a barricade and Ala means a sheep. That was how the name 'Igala' came about a it is handed over to us that Abutu Eje who is our ancestor was a shepherd. Thank you.

There is no Ade in Igala. But there is “De” and the A before the De is another word , a pronoun.

So what does Adegbe and Adebo mean?

I know what you are saying about compound words. It is like that in many Aftican languages, but only one vowel ending or begining one of the composite words will take the place of another . I.e

Achebo - Ache and Ebo ( sacrifice maker), one E took the place of both
Ajogwu - Aja and Ogwu (Person wey fight War) the O took the place of the A ending Aja

That is the rule , not a new vowel that wasn’t there before now replacing two vowels that were there

Adejo is not Adu-Ojo. Adu ojo should be Adujo or Adojo following the rule.

Either that, or the pronunciation Aduojo in full just like Eleojo.

Igala Name
Odu Igala

Ajanigo - Market dey look
Ajogwu - Warrior
Ugbane - Deliverer / Savior
Ojonimi - God owns life/breath
Onaji - Road blocked
Onalo - Road clear
Ogwuche - Medicine has done
Ojoma - God know
Ojochenimi - God na my person
Enemali - Person who has seen
Ojali - Gold
Adebo- Chief priest
Achonu - King maker

greatjoey:


Stone I called Okuta in Igala,
Omaobala means that child of a cat.
Ugbede means gratitude
Adejo is a modern pronunciation of Adu-Ojo which means the servant of God.

Bros but I honestly think the name Adu -Ojo is different from Adejo o.

iamNICE:
Thank you so much for this laudable initiative. Proudly oma Igala

From which local government?

sexymonkey:
school>> shekpulu
book>> otakida
student>> oma shekpulu

Hahaha Shekpulu is not proper Igala it is from English “School”

Iboni1:


Agba kocho

Abu uwe che le? I che enyo ke Gb’ichi wa.

klebson:
Proudly Igala

#OmaIgalaJali

Nago Omayemi.

MrBigiman:
What will I benefit from learning Igala?, pls I need a thread for Yoruba, Hausa or IBO.

Good for you. But even though those languages are classified as so called majority languagez, you still NEED Igala language in Igala land.

OtemSapien:
Good language. Me likey.

Thank you

Konquest:

^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^
Now to my 2nd post, but 1st question
to you @IgalaSchool:

1. What is COCK called in Igala language?
Cock is called Akuko in Yoruba.
Cock is called Okuko in Ibo.

So I believe it is through the Igala land bridge that the near-similarities in spelling
among the Yoruba and Ibo.

There is Igala ancestry/bloodline in 13 of the 21 LGAs in Anambra state alone!


2. What do you call STONE in Igala.
Yorubas call it Okuta.
Ibos call it Okwute.


3. The name Anambra is a British
corruption of the Igala word/phrase:
Omaobala. What does Omaobala
mean in Igala? OMA is child in Igala
so what is the full meaning of Omaobala?


4. I have seen Omambala being used
as the name of the River that Anambra
was named after. I have also seen
another spelling of Omaobala.

Which of the 2 spellings is correct?


5. Praise Ugbede Adejo(Praiz is Igala)
What is the full meaning of Ugbede?
and What does the name Adejo mean?

Ade simply means crown in Yoruba,
so does the "Ade" in Adejo also refer
to a crown?

I'll stop right here and it is my wish that
this thread will serve as a source of
enlightenment for the benefit of all
knowledge seekers.


#Loving Igala Nation

All the best!


PS: It is very clear that Igalas are direct ancestral cousins
to the Yorubas, Jukuns, Binis, and Ibos
from HRM Attah Michael Ameh Oboni's
2-page interview in Saturday Punch of August 26,
2017.

It is the Attah that is mostly from Kororofa (Jukun) , not the general people, everyone makes that mistake including Igala people.
Many Igalas say we came from Jukun land, personally i don’t believ that.

I believe you have been given the meaning to the other words you asked.

Adejo can mean two things:

Servant of God - Adu Ojo
We are all together - A de Jo

Otapipia:

Sorry Bro where in igala land are you from. I can. See you don't speak central igala.

Ejule why?
What is different about it

Igala are the 9th largest ethnic group in Nigeria and cut accross 6 states of Nigeria..

But politics of Nigeria has reduced us to just 1 state.

More Igala common Words

We will be using them nore in sentences as the lesson progresses

Land - Ane
Igbi - Snail
Igbili - Forest/Bush
Oko - Farm
Odu - Name
Onobule - Female
Onekele - Male
J’uja - Fight
Ubailo - Danger
Owu - Cotton / Thread
Onukwu - Friend
Ogede - Banana
Ekpo - Oil
Ate- Bed
Una - Fire
Ugba - Bowl
Adagba - Elephant
Ikpa - Bag/Sack
Ochikapa - Rice
Wife - Oya
Oko- Husband
Okö - Vehicle
Okej’omi - Canoe/Boat
Ojale - Sky
Ujenwu - Food
Enyo - Good, Nice, Cool E.tc
Ochu - Month / Moon
Ilawo - Star
Flower - Ododo
Olu - Sun
Egbe - Gun
Ona - Door

Colors in Igala

Black - Dudu
White - Fufu
Red - Kpikpa
Blue - Odufa
Green - Edufa
Pink - Odo

RedboneSmith:
Will it be possible for us to correspond by mail? I have a few questions to ask about Igala words, but I do not want to do it here.

Yes
AchileAdejo@gmail

step1:
Tell me this is not yorubiod

Yes it is Yoruboid, similarity is about let me say 65%
I once helped a Naija woman at Heathrow airport in the UK who spoke no English.

She spoke only Yoruba, but I helped her get a few things done based on the conversation I had with her.
It was hard, but conversation was achievable.

It was mostly one way though. I could understand her spoken Yoruba, but Yorubas can’t realy understand Igala beyond having a fair Idea of what is being said.

Also, Yorubas who understand their second Yoruba dialects well, understand Igala more than Yorubas who speak just plain general Yoruba

Just my opinion.

Negation in Igala

The highly Nasal negate consonant (Ñ) used in Igala as demonstrated above also has an oral voiced Equivalent (”No”).
Both connote a negative reply or statement.

I.e

Ocholi, Oma mi kwu no.
Ocholi, My child is dead Not.
= Ocholi, my child is Not dead.

Another Example:

Ene dabu Ojo, enwu ki eju one ma li no.
Who is like God, entity which the eyes of a person can see Not.
= Who is like God, being which the eyes of man can Not see.

Honestly that thing doesn’t look like a real agbada.

It looks like something that will trend for 6 months then everyone will go back to normal Agbada wear.

To know if I am right, ask yourself if you can imagine your dad or even people wearing that to a real, flexing Owambe

Ccc.
Ojochonu

Igala is a tonal language and tones generally come in three forms:

High
Mid
Low

In addition, there are contour tones that typically combines two of the above tones like the nasal Negate (Ñ) which is used to connote a negative statement ... combining two highs

I.e

A ɲa᷄ lò
We are going

A ɲa᷄ lò ñ
We are going Not
= We are NOT going.

ipobarecriminals:
oya

Oya na come see lesson don full ground

Some common verbs in Igala

Je - Eat
Ta - Sell
Lolu- Sleep
Kwu - Die
M’omi - Drink water
W’ane - Fall to the ground
N’eti - Listen
Chi - Open
Ido - Dance
Jo - Burn
Uko- Cough
Gwu - Pound
Kpa - Kill
K’eli - Sing
Ko - Write
Ja - Fight
Umi - Rest
Uche - Work
Gb’ane - Sweep
Lo - Go
Akwu - Cry
Feh - Blow
Y’uyo - Rejoice

More to come

Pronouns - Using a verb as example

Che - To do, Do something

Naa che - I will do
Uwe che - You will do (Singular)
Me che - You will do (Plural / Respect / Honorary)
A che / Ya che - He/She will do
Awa che - We will do
Ma che - They will do

I.e
Ma/me mo ote ekpe - They drank palm wine
A mo ote ekpe - We drank palmwine

Personal pronouns

A / Awa - We/Our (2nd person pl)
Omi - Me (1st person sg)
Uwe - You (2nd person sg)
Onwu - Him (3rd person sg)

I.e

Obe mi - My knife
Obe we - Your knife
Obe nwu - His knife

Counting in Igala (Numbers)

0 - Ofo
1 - Oka / Enye
2 - Eji
3 - Eta
4 - Ele
5 - Alu
6 - Efa
7 - Ebie
8 - Ejo
9 - Ela
10 - Egwa
11 - Egwa Oka
12 - Egwa Eji
13 - Egwa Eta
........
20 - Ogwu
30 - Ogwu Egwa
40 - Ogwu meji (Ogweji)
50 - Ooje
100 - Ogwu melu (20 x 5)
200 - Ideli meji

Telling Time

Egba yii or Iko yii - This time
Egba le or Iko le - That time
Ojo - Day
Ane - Night
Ona - Tomorrow
Eñini - Today
Otona - Next tomorrow
Iko duu - Every time
Aladi - Week
Aladi ki a wa - the week that is coming
Ochu - Month
Odo - Year
Ochu ekeji - Second month
Aladi yii - This Week
Onale - Yesterday

Terms Associated with Teaching

Teaching - Ukọ
Student - Ọma Ukọ / Oma Ukochẹ
Book - Otakada
Teacher - Ako Ọnẹ or Akukọ
Pen - Ukọ ẹnwu
School - Unyi Ukọchẹ (Learning house)

Hi. This is a thread for those interested in learning Igala Language.
Igala is a language spoken in central Nigeria by about 2 million people, mostly in Kogi East Zone.

Igalas are anong the largest minority ethnic groups in Nigeria, and once had a great and extensive kingdom which exerted considerable influence over all its immediate neighbors in all directions.

Join me, as I introduce you to the Igala language for those interested in learning , and fellow Igalas too.