₦airaland Forum

donshaddow:
No. We use the same vowels and consonant in writing.

Just a bit different in pronunciation and spell.

Some igbos spell imili (water) we say imiri.

They say olisa (God) we say Orise or Olise.

But we are 95% related in writing but a few difference in culture.

We share a niger-delta food and dressing, which is way far different from the main igbos.

Oyi m onwe ife di iche ni echichi n'omenani. My friend there is no difference in dressing and culture. Let us get educated. Do you suppose that all other igbo groups from Opobo to Afikpo dress or speak same way Do you know that in Ukwuani there are communities that say mmili and others that say mmiri? Now when you hear that there are Igbo dialects that even say mini, you will now say you are a different language. Biko, Let us stop all these intellectual dishonesty and igba n'aki.

Phut:
Now I can't wait to hear an Ukwuani or Ndoni person speak. Biko they should give us Urashi State. *sticks tongue out*

Thanks for the info, Radiollo. Much respect.

Radiollo, you are very correct Ukwuani, Aboh, Ndoni and Oguta are same dialect(Ukwuani). Before the war, in 1954 proper Ndoni in present Rivers state was politically organised with Ukwuani in present Delta state. The name you here today as Ndokwa was fusion of the three native authorities in the area: N(Ndoni), DO(Ndosimili) and KWA(Ukwuani), hence you have Ndokwa. i once met into an Oguta man in Owerri in 2013(actually and and my younger brother were conversing when he over head us). I couldnt hide my excitement that day!

chucky234:
Allow those peeps to keep deceiving themselves, igbo means slave/outcast in Ukwuani.

Chucky234, Thats what Bini people call you. That word is of Bini origin, so get your vocabulary and etymology right. igbon, thats a Bini word for slaves. Because the Bini had access to the Portuguese, who supplied them guns, and whitemen preferred Igbo slaves to any other tribe, Bini people raided us frequently for slaves. Thats what the Bini call you!

this thread ended?
eriri nkene agugoo?

Onyiridike:
Nobody is begging you to be Igbo. Infact, you are Hausas.

The CBN Governor is from Ika and answers Ifeanyi. Is Ifeanyi which language?

Onitsha kingship is hereditary too.

Because your kingship is hereditary, it means you are not Igbo. Chei! So much ignorance everywhere! We have work to do!

Ishilove:
Yes o, nbu onye Ukwuani Abbi

Yes o, M bu onye Ukwuani. correct spelling
Iwe b'ewe 'i. Literally, dont let anger anger you. Dont get angry. we iwe means to get angry; be ewe iwe or iwe be ewe'i or iwe ewena'i negates the ''iwe''.


Hahahahhahahha dioka asusu ka m bu. I am writing an Igbo dictionary in Ukwuani-Aboh-Ndoni(Ndokwa) and Enuani dialetcs.

noeloge82:
Ndukwa info is not d second largest after urhobo in delta state white lie its d aniocha/oshimili igbo

Ndokwa is larger than Aniocha and Oshimili, both population and landmass from the 1950s, when census figure had a semblance of reality.

martineverest:
Especially those from agbor,i could detect element of edo in it

IshiLove, where are from in Ukwuani that you claim has Yoruba elements? Even the Bini loan words are so few! They borrowed more from us than will did from them! Bini people call kerosine mili ukpa, that is an Ukwuani word for mmili ukpe, literally water + lamp. We did borrow from them too, but fortunately almost all the words we loaned from them has a primary Ukwuani/Igbo substitute, eg 1. Bini,edeki; Ukwuani edeke/obara/obala; meaning blood; 2. Bini, edafe; Ukwuani,ogalaenya; rich man, 3. Bini,ukpokpo; Ukwuani,kpkokpo/sogbu/to trouble or worry. 3. Bini, Utomi; Ukwuani,ishi nka. All these examples i have given are not peculiar to Ukwuani, all Western Igbo, like Enuani has these words too.

Favor99:
Lol. And what does oyoyo mean?

oyoyo means fresh, just out of the press, brand new. it also suggests well tended thing or person

So a brand new car is an oyoyo, like the pidgin ''tear-rubber'' . You can hear somebody say that we goni moto ofu, oyoyo motor. This motor is not Okirika or used car.

You can use it describe a fresh palmwine. Freshly tapped and not an mbora or overnight stuff

You can also use to describe a young fresh wife, not an agadi or inherited wife. There is a song we sing when accompanying a new wife to her new home in the husband's compound.
Oyoyo a na ibe di eee(iya),
Oyo a na ibe di eee
nwata Miss a na ibe di ee
o me te(sia) i lohe m oooo
eeeeeh

bigfrancis21:
Someone posted this on a different thread and i'm reposting it here because I thought he raised a salient question, in bold.

the Ika dialect is too similar to Owerri dialect that its obvious thy are both of same origin. i am particualry amazed at their use of ''ri'' in place of ''di'' for the ''be'' verb. And to negate the ''ri'' you introduce ''a'', hence you have such names as Arimotu, Arinze, etc.

ChinenyeN:
The Ngwa/Asa/Ndoki/Echie axis uses "okwu" for "language".

@Cheruv, in Ukwuani asusu is language, onu will approximate to dialect.

bigfrancis21:
Ebo seems to be an archaic Igbo name for 'tribe'. A modern word now in usage is 'mba'.

I've noticed that Ika retained many ancient Igbo words which are not popularly used in mainstream Igbo language today. For example is 'mgba' which is an ancient Igbo word for 'female' or 'woman'. In the past, names like Mgba afo, Mgba eke, Mgba oye etc. (referring to women born on either afo, eke, or oye day etc.) were common but today are no longer common. Whereas, Mgbaeke has stuck for some reason but is used negatively nowadays to refer to an ugly girl or a girl from the village. Okeke, Okoafo, Okoye/Okorie and Okonkwo would be the male equivalents.

@bifrancis21, the word "ebo" means family. It is the primary word for family in the whole of west Igbo, Onitsha inclusive. The central ohuhu word for that is umunna but as an Ukwuani person the first word that comes to mind when describing the extended family is ebo. That is where you get the name, Eboka, from; which means family is supreme. Other synonyms are Umuiku(kins), umuisu( offspring with same face(isu/iru/ihu)) becuase people of same descendants are expected to possess similar facial attributes!

As for wife, Ika dialect primarily uses mgba. But your analogy that its from the root word for female does not look correct in my dialect. I think the word you wanted to refer to is "mgbo". Mgbo is feminine just as okolo is masculine, hence you get names as Mgboeke=Mgbeke, Mgboafor=Mgbafor, etc. Mgborie would refer to a female born on an Orie day just as Okolonkwo(Okonkwo) would be for male born on an Nkwo day.

One of the meanings of the word "gba" is " to breed", this meaning infers some element of force, like a forceful insertion. These meanings are in order when remember we can use the word "gba" with run as in" i gba oso"; and to wrestle as in" i gba mgba", or "i gba ose"( to forcefully rub or introduce pepper on somebody's skin as a form of punishment). These three actions require considerable action and application of force. So those days in the village at the market square when you see two dogs copulating, we would say , nkita na a gba. The two dogs will get stuck and even when you throw stones at them they will not easily dis-entangle.

In Ukwuani, we do laugh and say,"nde(ndi) Agbor na gba nwuye we" Translation: Agbor people "gba" their wives. The "we" is the Ukwuani alternate form of wa/fa/ha, depending on your dialect. It is the English possessive form of "they" (their). If it were English "gba" would be a verb, and the noun would be mgba. Have you ever wondered what the word "dimgba" means? Hahahaha, never thought of what that word meant in this context until i started keyboarding this! i bet it should properly refer to a man who has many children! Of course the other probable meaning of an expert wrestler cannot be ruled out, and by extension a great a thoroughly accomplished man.

As an aside, the "di" introduces the attribute of skill, or expertise in the particular act. Hence, you have di ike=dike(a man of great strenght, diji(an expert in cultivating yam), diochi(an expert (wine) tapper), dinka, dimkpa, dinta, diokpa, nnadi, etc.

Honestly, i think most of us are Igbo illiterates. We only speak our dialects and get clannish thinking its a separate language. For us that were not in the former East Central state, we didnt even get a chance to study the central ohuhu dialect Igbo in schools at all. But i had always known that there is no way under the sun, when somebody will claim to migrate from Bini and end up in Ukwuani, Enuani or Ika and forget his Bini language!

Probz:
Yup, that’s what I’m saying. I might be coming off as overly objective at the moment but I’m definitely not claiming to have a definite answer. I stated from the off that it’s my understanding that […] and wanted to know if the Ika-Igbo and Ndokwa-Igbo situation is akin to the Itsekiri-Yoruba, Isoko-Edo relation, etc. It was actually a question but it’s obviously been misinterpreted on here.

I know there’s a lot of grey area in between. I can see a lot of Ikas gradually assimilating into Igbo culture and now bearing Ifeanyi and Nkechi as names but that’s a very recent thing. Deculturalization/acculturation does happen and is happening and current Ika territory might be 100% Igbonized in 100 years but it’s gradual and until we’re at that stage I don’t see why certain Igbos have such an issue with individual Ikas regarding themselves as either Igbo or maintaining their distinct identity (Ika). It goes both ways at the current stage we’re at and that’s the point I’ve been trying to make.

@Probz, Ika people bearing Ifeanyi is a recent trend! na wa ooooo!!! Because in proper Ika dialect, it would have been Ihe(n)anyi! i speak Ika very well and there no Ika community i have not visited, from Ute-Ogbeje to Ute-Okpu; from Akumazi and Igbodo to all the Owa towns. i saw a post somewhere where the first four/five obis in Agbor were Igbo names including Obi Ebonka, Obi Adigwe, before the Bini names cropped up.
i had researched on how these names came up in Ika land. Names like Idubor, Osamor, Irabor,etc. Names that the present bearers dont know the meaning! i used to think there was a Bini conquest, but there was none.

Probz:
I’ve researched this topic for time and my understanding is that there's three distinct groups in Anioma (Delta Ibo) - two Edoid-Igboid (Ika, Ukwuani/Ndokwa) and one Igbo proper (Enuani), that the latter (the only genuine, authentic Igbos who inhabit Delta Igboland) can be found around Asaba/Oshimili/Aniocha area, that "Bendel Igbos," as my mum calls them, (Ika and Ukwuani people) are culturally Edoid groups who happen to speak Igboid languages and that close proximity and the vague similarity in language is why a people who are essentially Bini are lumped in with the real Delta Igbos (Enuani). In exactly the same sense as that if true Yorubas occupied an area in (let's just say) Delta State with Igalas and Itsekiris, all three groups would all be known as "Delta Yoruba" since they're all linguistically Yoruboid and because they'd share neighbouring proximity with each other, forgetting that there's only one true group of Yorubas who inhabit that area - i.e., the Yorubas, not the other two non-culturally Yoruba groups who happen to speak Yoruboid languages (and not even Yoruba proper).

I tend to agree with the assertion that one and only true Igbos of Anioma are Enuani since I've encountered Enuani Igbos who hail from Asaba who are in literally every respect just as Igbo as a typical south easterner from Enugu or Anambra and the Ika-Ukwuani (Bendel) stock people who speak languages that share similarities with Igbo but who you couldn't in a million years imagine sipping palmy and chopping nkwobi in Ishiagu and red cap.

Ditto for Rivers folk. I know authentic Igbos can be found in the Bonny-Opobo axis (said to be, at least in part, descendants of settlers from the Awka-Orlu axis) but as for Ikwerres, does the fact that they happen to speak an Igboid language mean that they're also culturally Igbo (or at least before the civil war) and could someone fill me in on the other Igboid/Igbo groups of Rivers (Etche, Ndoni, etc.). I've looked for info. online and there's next to nothing on Wikipedia at least for Etches.

My question is, could someone fill me in on the Ikas and Ukwuanis of Delta and the Ikwerre, etc., of Rivers? Ika and Ukwuani definitely don't fall under the banner of Igbo proper but Igboid in a linguistic sense (even if you might well argue that their dialect is more intelligible than Nsukka/Ebonyi dialects) but are these people culturally Igbo or Edoid, etc.? I've only researched this for some time so my understanding's limited but that's the conclusion through reading and my own experiences with some of these folk.

@Probz, how do you mean that Ukwuani are culturally edoid? Which Ukwuani clan or community have you visited? Name one edoid characteristics in language, culture,government, etc. The most distinguishing feature of the Edos is their monarchical system of government. However, 95% of Ukwuani clans are republican and without kings till date. ,maybe you are among those who read some dishonest posts that the Ukwuani came from Benin. But who comes from Benin and uses Igbo to name himself or his location!

cheruv:
Favor99=cire80

@Favor99, how can you call Ukwuani Edo? Thank God you said you are from Esan so i expect you dont know what the word ''Ukwuani" means. "Ukwu" means leg, foot; "ani" means earth, soil,ground. It is more of a geographic term describing a people who dwell in the area that is lowland, like a delta, ebe miri be mmadu ukwu n'ani. The term differentiates us from our Igbo brothers who stay north of us in Enuani. Dont rewrite my history. i dont speak your Esan neither do i understand Bini so stick to what you know! Ukwuani is an Igbo dialect. Enough of politics and intellectual dishonesty in matters of linguistics! Ukwuani as dialect is not only spoken in Delta state, you find something similar spoken in Ndoni areas in Rivers and even in Oguta communities in Imo state!

Radoillo:
What exactly does 'the words are Igbo because they are first Ukwuani' mean?

Ukwuani words are basically Igbo words. Ukwuani is an Igbo dialect. kpomkwem.Period!

emmysoftyou:
pls re u from ukwuani or frm the east of the niger?
Cos we need ukwuani pple to attempt to those questions'?

Cos i still wonder how those words turned to benin languages?
Maybe ishilove will help us out...

Tanx for the igbo meaning of those words.
One love...

Yea. I am from Ukwuani LGA. West of the Niger. The words are Igbo because they are first Ukwuani!

christopher123:
Ukwuani is not Igbo but please you have made yourself defender of the identity crises now help us cos we are confused here

What is the meaning of ukwuani
What do you call God
What do you call come go then what do you calk land ..what do you call king ..what do you call woman ..what do you call plate ..what do you call food ..what do you call goat fowl etc ...what do you call plate yam cassava corn

I will be interested to know the word for masqurade etc

I will be interested to learn the language

They are not igbos I agree but can you tell me the ukwuani language of these things..then we can proceed accordingly

Ukwuani 101

Ukwuani means lowland,delta; literally "foot land" as contrasted with enu ani(upland)
God is Chukwu, from Chi ukwu
come is bia
go is je
king is eze
woman is onyenye
plate is afele
food is nli
masquerade is mmanwu
fowl is okuku
goat is ewu
yam is iji
cassava is akpu, manaika(obviuosly of portuguese origin)
corn is oka

People need education

it is obvious plenty of us are illiterate in Igbo language. if we can channel our energies on this blog to even compile a volume on igbo synonyms, it will do a lot of good. Everyday i realize the language is so deep and diverse,yet with a thread underpinning it. But our people are so mis-educated and the dialects spoken in western igbo had so much deletions. Which really is a mark that it is indigenous and not borrowed!

@Ishilove, pls which clan are you from, that translates "apeere" as basket! i grew up in the Delta and had lived in Enuani, Ukwuani and Ika areas.