₦airaland Forum

Grandmeister:
Apart from nairaland. Tell me ANY Igbo politician from APC or pdp that has openly attacked tinubu, I will wait. Tell me any Igbo king that has attacked any yoruba politician, I will wait. Tell me any Igbo religious leader that has attacked a yoruba politician openly, again I’ll wait. You call others names and accuse them for something you are a master at. I hate you guys hypocrisy.

Shatap.. Pete edoche has openly attacked tinubu..calling him a too old man. So wat u saying.
Dont expect any sane Yoruba to be with u on d same page concerning Peter Obi..just as most of you are not supporters of tinubu. So its 50 50

OriOko88:
Shatap.. Pete edoche has openly attacked tinubu..calling him a too old man. So wat u saying.
Dont expect any sane Yoruba to be with u on d same page concerning Peter Obi..just as most of you are not supporters of tinubu. So its 50 50

Otile come and shut it up. I am perfectly fine with yoruba not supporting Peter obi, I have come to accept Nigerian politics as a ‘me first’ kind of politics. But don’t go about pretending to be a detribalised people. You lots are far from it.

Tolu actually nailed it.

Just like their kind here in NL including the clueless and delusional ipobs, they are always out of touch with reality. They always substitute strategy and strategic thinking with insults, abuse, needless arrogance, emotions, sentiments and delusions.

The man stated the truth and the fact that you don't like his truth is your problem and downfall.

Just imagine in this day and age you are still threatening other people with silly and flawed entitlement demands or else

Threats and ultimatums don't win elections, it only highlights and architects your downfall.

HRHQueenPhil:
They are not responsible for their so called Fans... At the end of the day, Someone will hold the presidential ticket at the dislike of a lot of people
The important thing now is surviving and excelling in a nation of issues...so what's the secret to using those issues and turning them to opportunities, solutions and profiting? Jesus Christ...come and learn of HIM from the school of the Spirit so u can be d head and Not the tail..I recommend the Living Faith church winners chapel

God bless ur hussle o!

Assetinvestor:
It seems like only brain dead and primitive dingbats are employed to campaign for tinubu. What do you mean by can't stop trooping to SW? If Nigerians including yorubas can be trooping to Ghana, a foreign country, so why can't other Nigerians troop to other parts of Nigeria? You want one nation yet you're so bitter that same compatriots are around you, what are you again? A wizard?

Meanwhile, the number of yoruba women and girls trooping to other parts of Nigeria to sell agbo now outnumbers others, yet your ethnocentrism wouldn't allow you to reason like a normal human being.

Yorubas are not voting Peter obi, you can hang yourself

anonimi:
So that he can drag us into more poverty and debts as he has done in Lagos for over two decades

So, with the so called debt, how come lagos is still the best state in Nigeria, how come they don't succeed in your family until they go to Lagos?

You all will have sense in 2023.

Tinubuadvocate:
They also cursing people that against Peter obi. No ipob terrorist will ever get to Aso rock. Obi is very tribalistic in nature. Every Nigerians must shunned him.

Just as you curse people that are against Tinubu's aspiration.
An Amaechi candidatu is the choice of all detribalised Nigerians

sogodihno:
So, with the so called debt, how come lagos is still the best state in Nigeria, how come they don't succeed in your family until they go to Lagos?

You all will have sense in 2023.

Nigeria is what in the world, for us to place Lagos best status in the shithole

Grandmeister:
Ok I just googled the name and yes he did say such and apologised for his crass unprofessional writing. Atleast we can agree that there are bigots on both sides of the divide? So can we drop the holier than thou toga? I relish the tribal mudslinging on nairaland (yes I said it). But what I find baffling is when yorubas act like they are the saints in it all.

Na man you be

Pointless

GloriousGbola:
He is right. We saw the same arrogance and noise when Peter obi was announced as atikus running mate

Igbos understand how to make money by trading but completely fail to understand national politics.

The Peter obi they are celebrating does not have a clearly defined voting bloc. And he failed to make APGA the party of the east.

I am not happy about a Tinubu presidency, but the man strategically, methodically and painstakingly built a party from Lagos across the SW. he has proven political clout.

All Peter obi has is I was once governor of Anambra.
So what? Fashola was once governor of Lagos.

Bunch of bigoted and senseless set of people.

Arysexy:
It's only a free minded ppl that travel out and mingle with other tribes.

Tribalists stay put in their enclaves envying others

yet welcome you with open arms, i think the yorubas should start becoming tribalistic too so this hatred can balance

anonimi:
Nigeria is what in the world, for us to place Lagos best status in the shithole

was Nigeria the best country in the world before you started insulting lagos... i thought they said your tribe were smart

seunmsg:
Tolu is right though.

Not again.



Obsession na bastard!

blue01:
The day you stop seeing the Ibo man as your problem that's the day you will start reasoning like a human . For now enjoy your stupidity while it lasts, son of the waste

Peter obi wey no go win primary election

Segun2222:
Peter obi wey no go win primary election

Neither does tinubu own Aso rock my brother, it's all politics

Segun2222:
was Nigeria the best country in the world before you started insulting lagos... i thought they said your tribe were smart

So how do you know my tribe? Are you a witch or a wizard ni
Why is it that in your small, myopic worldview, anyone who points out the looting and reckless stealing of Lagosian's commonwealth by ThiefNuibu, Fash-Ole, Amb-Ole, Sanwo-Ole is not Yoruba? Why I pity your narrowmindedness. May God heal you of it quickly before it infects other people.

Next time, simply show that ThiefNuibu is not a thief. That should be simple enough abi.

blue01:
The day you stop seeing the Ibo man as your problem that's the day you will start reasoning like a human . For now enjoy your stupidity while it lasts, son of the waste

The irony of it all is that Igbos and Yorubas are linguistically related, suggesting that we were one group very long ago until one moved away from the other.
It is not unlikely that Yorubas migration story from the East, refers to Igbo land specifically and eastern Africa generally where human beings first evolved, as agreed by most scientists.

How Yoruba and Igbo became different languages

Updated: Tuesday 14-07-2009

A review of Bolaji Aremo’s book, How Yoruba and Igbo Became Different Languages, by Adewale Oshodi.

No one who has read Bolaji Aremo’s new book, How Yoruba and Igbo Became Different Languages, would be left in any doubt that Igbo and Yoruba were at some time in the past the same language and that the Yoruba and the Igbo were members of one and the same ethnic group.

The revelations are simply staggering!

The main text of the book, some 200 pages, and published by SCRIBO Publications Ltd, Ibadan, is divided into six chapters. As would be expected, Chapter One is a general introduction that provides brief notes on Yoruba and Igbo and their native speakers. The chapter also discusses the main objective of the book: to report the findings from a study aimed at searching (through books and among fluent speakers) for examples of words that are similar in sound and meaning in both Yoruba and Igbo and could, therefore, give further support for the claim by linguists that the two languages descended from the same ancestral language.

The next three chapters list, often with very interesting and informative “clarificatory” notes, the hundreds of examples the author has found of Igbo/Yoruba cognates, i.e Igbo and Yoruba words that are similar in sound and meaning by reason of having been inherited by the two languages from a common Igbo/Yoruba parent language.

The list is divided into rough and ready subsections: Body Parts, etc; Common Medical Conditions, Medications, etc; Relations and Usual Members of the Community; and so on.

It is intended that by considering the examples, the reader will be able to form a good impression of how the languages have diverged over time. And the items listed include: agba (or akpÍ, akpå)/agbÍn (= ‘chin’), awÍ /ewu (= ‘grey hair’), aga (or Ëga)/agan (= ‘barrenness, infertility, a barren woman’), Ígwå/oogun (= ‘medicine, poison, charm’), dimkpa/ igiripa (or giripa) (= person in prime of manhood, strong man, man of strength and courage’), Ëra (or Íra, Íha, Ísa)/ara (or ira (CY)) (= ‘the citizenry, the people, the masses, the public’), onye/ eniyan (or Íniyan(CY)(= ‘person, anyone, someone’), agå/ ¹kun (= ‘tiger, leopard’), enyin/ erin (= ‘elephant’), anwå /oorun (= ‘sun, sunlight’), ifufe (or ifufu)/af¹f¹ (or efuufu) (= ‘wind, breeze, air’), ogbodo/ogberi (or ogbere (CY)) (= ‘person not yet initiated into a masquerade or similar secret cult , a novice’), and akårËkÍ /iharihÍ (or ihaahÍ) (= ‘charred part of food which adheres to the pot or sauce pan’).

Very many examples, and not a few from even the deeper recesses of traditional life!

Chapter Five discusses some observations that are more or less of general interest concerning the examples. Perhaps the most important of the observations (at least from the historical point of view) is the one relating to the finding that the Central Yoruba (CY) variants of the cognates (used in such Yoruba towns as Ile-Ife, Ilesa, Ado-Ekiti and Akure) are generally much closer in form (and sometimes in meaning as well) to the Igbo cognates than their standard Yoruba counterparts are. Could it then have been the case, the author wonders, that the aboriginal population of the Central Yoruba area had in prehistoric times migrated from Igboland? Or could it have been the case that it was the first settlers in Igboland (in the Northern Igbo area) that had migrated from the Central Yoruba area? The questions are left, and rightly too, to historians to try and ponder.

At the end of Chaper Five, attention is drawn to the similarities between the age-old cultures of the Yoruba and the Igbo that may be inferred from many of the examples.

Thus, for instance: “In their homes (ulÍ/ile (or ule (CY)), the back-garden or yard (mgbala/agbala), the mud bed or mud seat (ÍkpåkpÍ/ pepele ( or upepe (CY)) and the drainage hole (Ínå ntu/ojuto (CY)) are among the regular features. The common tools and implements include: agbada/agbada (= ‘flat frying pot’), agbe/agbe (= ‘gourd’), akpara/ap¹r¹ (= ‘basket’), anyËke/aake (= ‘axe’), mkpÍ/ipÍn (or åpÍn (CY)) (= ‘calabash or wooden ladle’), mpata/Ítita (CY) (= ‘stool’), ågba/igba (or ågba CY)) (= ‘calabash’), udu mmiri/odu omi (= ‘large water pot’). (p 196)

The final chapter, a very short one, summarises the work, and states the quite obvious conclusion that there is overwhelming evidence from the examples supporting the linguists’ claim that Igbo and Yoruba are sister languages, i.e languages that have descended from the same common ancestor.

The chapter is rounded off with a suggestion that similar studies be carried out on the various other Nigerian languages which, according to the linguists, are members of the same family. And why that suggestion at this point in the history of Nigeria as a nation? In the author’s view: “…it should be good – reassuring – to be reminded in quite concrete terms that in spite of what many would regard as “the mistake of 1914”, speakers of our different, mutually unintelligible languages today were originally speaking one and the same language, and that for us, there has always been a sure basis for national unity which could be nurtured by justice and fairness everywhere in the land”. (p 203)

In short, Bolaji Aremo has written an important book, in his usually simple, readable style. Already an author of considerable repute, he has once again produced a work of outstanding scholarship, one that should prove of abiding interest to linguists, historians and, indeed, the general public.

https://www.nairaland.com/574377/how-yoruba-igbo-became-different

Grandmeister:
Apart from nairaland. Tell me ANY Igbo politician from APC or pdp that has openly attacked tinubu, I will wait. Tell me any Igbo king that has attacked any yoruba politician, I will wait. Tell me any Igbo religious leader that has attacked a yoruba politician openly, again I’ll wait. You call others names and accuse them for something you are a master at. I hate you guys hypocrisy.

Maybe Yorubas and Igbos who are educated enough understand better than to antagonise themselves needlessly

How Yoruba and Igbo Became Different Languages

Author:

Bolaji Aremo


Publications: 2009

Reviewer:

Edozie Udeze

Over the years there have been various permutations by some Igbo and Yoruba leaders that there are likely to be some cultural, linguistic, and sociological link between the two ethnic groups. Historians, sociologists, archeologists, anthropologists, linguists and some other scholars in the humanities have presented one reason or the other to show that the Igbos and the Yorubas have a common linguistic and historical ancestry.

This claim is no longer controvertible given the abundance of proofs and evidences available today to show that, in actual fact, these two groups of people are the same, with plenty of cultural and linguistic affiliation and similarities. Today, some of these proofs are no more far to seek.

In his latest book entitled, How Yoruba and Igbo Became Different Languages, Dr. Bolaji Aremo of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Osun State gives thousand and one examples that connect the two ethnic groups linguistically. The beauty of this experiment is that it relies tremendously on modern chronology to prove his claim and truly set the record straight.

Over the years, some critics have found this claim somewhat inconsistent with the . . . differences and gaps between these two set of people. That notwithstanding, historically evidences of affiliation and similarities can not be over emphasised or disputed. This is what motivates the author, himself a linguist to go into research for this work.

In the beginning he says: "I was first given the idea that Yoruba and Igbo must be genetically related when a childhood friend, Ogbonna told me that words for some well known body parts are virtually the same in both languages. For instance, Yoruba Imu/ Igbo, imi which means nose. There is also Yoruba eti/Igbo nti which means ear. Also Yoruba enu/Igbo onu which stands for mouth. Other examples abound like Yoruba orun/Igbo onu meaning neck. And so on and so forth.

Much later in life, at the university, I was to learn in Language class that Igbo and Yoruba and many other African languages are members of the same language family. Those are members of group languages which all developed out of a common ancestor or a parent. And in the very distant past, these languages were no more than mere dialects of the original language", the author states.

And so in order to make these observations clearer and more believable to the people, the author takes his time to delve into many areas of similarities. He gives examples that do not only stand the test of time but too good to be wished away even by the most die hard citics. His resort to other work of history and linguistic that anchor on this area have helped to give not just credence but to also show that these facts are there for all to see. This is why examples are very many. "And there does not appear to be any other historical reasons why the two languages can contain such an abundance of basic vocabulary items that resemble each other in sound and meaning".

More examples can also subsist here. In Igbo, you have fuo oku which is fe ina in Yoruba. This stands for raise a fire by blowing at the burning wood. Also in Igbo, lua iwu, you have Yoruba lu ofin which means break the law. Still we have tuo ujo in Igbo which in Yoruba symbolizes se ojo that is be timid or be a 'local' person.

In all these, it is noticed that both languages are tone languages where low or high level of tone application matter a lot. Yet in terms of meaning and spelling, very many words appear to have deep similarities either in meaning or in connotation. This indeed is the beauty of this exercise which if followed more comprehensively can equally lead to more discoveries that can help both ethnic groups to truly forge ahead as people of common descent.

Beyond what a linguist can do, historians can also find it imperative to do more to unearth more facts in this regard. It is in line with this presentation that the author equally challenges other academics in the Humanities to dig deeper than he has done in order to get more facts to make this historical and linguistic discovery more elaborate and more celebrated.

In chapter two, he makes references to body parts where further similarities abound. In Yoruba and Igbo, the jaw and the cheek are found in the same category. Igbo has it as agba onu Yoruba egbe enu.

Armpit in Yoruba is abiya, while in Igbo it is abu. Intestines, stomach, stand for ifun in Yoruba while in Igbo it is afo or avo. So also is aka which is hand in Igbo but apa in Yoruba. In some cases in Yoruba dialect however, aka also stands for arm or hand. The Igbo aka as in finger also signifies Yoruba ika which also stands for finger and toe.

Other examples abound in chapter two. They are very instructive examples which open many vistas into many areas of examples. But in chapter three, the book is a bit more profound and comprehensive. This is more in the areas of common actions, processes etc like weeping or tears which means akwa in Igbo and ekun in Yoruba.

Akwa ariri in Igbo while ekun aro in Yoruba means cry of sorrow. Taken further ariri or alili shows extreme grief in Igbo as aro or eriri means the same in Yoruba. There is also aririo which is plea, prayer or request in Igbo but in Yoruba it is arowa and so on and so forth.

In other chapters the author takes proper care of other areas of communality in these two languages. But most interestingly he finds it easier to focus attention on the different areas of similarities. This indeed makes for easy comprehension and assimilation of some of the cognate areas mostly. And so in six chapters, there are enough examples in terms of variations, non basic vocabulary which also includes implements, religion/beliefs, foods/drinks, clothes/ornaments and so on, in which people will certainly see enough proofs to acknowledge the common ancestry of Igbo and Yoruba languages.

Apart from few errors and misrepresentations in the book, in some instances, this is purely an academic book. It is a basic prerequisite to understanding the language classification in kwa language group where both Yoruba and Igbo languages belong. As it is now, this book has succeeded in proving an age long historical fact that both Igbo and Yoruba have the same ancestral linguistic link.

https://www.nairaland.com/574377/how-yoruba-igbo-became-different#7405371

anonimi:
The irony of it all is that Igbos and Yorubas are linguistically related, suggesting that we were one group very long ago until one moved away from the other.
It is not unlikely that Yorubas migration story from the East, refers to Igbo land specifically and eastern Africa generally where human beings first evolved, as agreed by most scientists.



https://www.nairaland.com/574377/how-yoruba-igbo-became-different

Run before our dear Yoruba brothers will have your head hung on a stake.

anonimi:
So how do you know my tribe? Are you a witch or a wizard ni
Why is it that in your small, myopic worldview, anyone who points out the looting and reckless stealing of Lagosian's commonwealth by ThiefNuibu, Fash-Ole, Amb-Ole, Sanwo-Ole is not Yoruba? Why I pity your narrowmindedness. May God heal you of it quickly before it infects other people.

Next time, simply show that ThiefNuibu is not a thief. That should be simple enough abi.

lmao this idiot thinks I'm from lagos state lmao

blue01:
Neither does tinubu own Aso rock my brother, it's all politics

what does tinubu have to do in pdp matters?

EzeJustme:
Peter i chose but the issue is if clinch PDP ticket will other tribalistic tribes give him their support

Absolutely yes sir.

The other tribalistic tribes will give Peter Obi the necessary support

Segun2222:
what does tinubu have to do in pdp matters?

Why are you speaking from both sides of your mouth?, Anyways am 98% sure you are from the west and that's how you people speak from both sides.