₦airaland Forum

I can never find anything on Aba Igbo, all I ever find is that people say that it's the same as Owerri Igbo, which I don't think is true. So can anybody tell me the following phrases in the Aba dialect?

How are you?
What is your name?
Where are you from?
Thank you.

And any other common phrases that you may like to add.

Thank you!

CluelessGuy:
I can never find anything on Aba Igbo, all I ever find is that people say that it's the same as Owerri Igbo, which I don't think is true. So can anybody tell me the following phrases in the Aba dialect?

How are you?
What is your name?
Where are you from?
Thank you.

And any other common phrases that you may like to add.

Thank you!

Yes Aba Igbo is similar to Owerri Igbo in many respects.

How are you? Elee ka I mere?
What is your name? Elee aha gi?
Where are you from? I wu onye ebee?
Thank you. Imeela.

CluelessGuy, I want to presume that by 'Aba dialect' you mean the version of Igbo spoken by the urban citizens and not the dialect of the actual indigenous community, Aba la Ohazu. If that's the case, then trust those of us here when we say that the versions of Igbo spoken in Aba and Owerri urban centers are more or less the same.

bigfrancis21:
Yes Aba Igbo is similar to Owerri Igbo in many respects.

How are you? Elee ka I mere?
What is your name? Elee aha gi?
Where are you from? I wu onye ebee?
Thank you. Imeela.

Thank you!

ChinenyeN:
CluelessGuy, I want to presume that by 'Aba dialect' you mean the version of Igbo spoken by the urban citizens and not the dialect of the actual indigenous community, Aba la Ohazu. If that's the case, then trust those of us here when we say that there versions of Igbo spoken in Aba and Owerri urban centers are more or less the same.

Ahh, okay. What about the dialects spoken in the indigenous areas?

The dialects spoken by the indigenous Owere (Owerri) and Aba la Ohazu (Aba) are markedly different from the respective urban standards. I'll use your list of phrases to illustrate.

How are you? (English)
Elee ka i mere? (Igbo Urban)
I me kpa ole? (Owere)
I nu ññaa? (Aba la Ohazu)

The distinction simply grows from this point on. After which, it becomes easy to spot an indigenous-speaker from a non-indigenous, urban speaker.

ChinenyeN:
The dialects spoken by the indigenous Owere (Owerri) and Aba la Ohazu (Aba) are markedly different from the respective urban standards. I'll use your list of phrases to illustrate.

How are you? (English)
Elee ka i mere? (Igbo Urban)
I me kpa ole? (Owere)
I nu ññaa? (Aba la Ohazu)

The distinction simply grows from this point on. After which, it becomes easy to spot an indigenous-speaker from a non-indigenous, urban speaker.

Thank you! I'm sorry, but how would those be pronounced? Especially the last one. As I said, I'm sorry if I'm asking for too much.

Owerri and Aba dialects may share the same structure but they are not similar.

Ihuomadinihu:
Owerri and Aba dialects may share the same structure but they are not similar.

Can you show me the differences?

Echi gara aga. Tomorrow.
I love all these dialects.
Owerri is sweet, aba is even sweeter.

Oshi owu nini.

Sweet

CluelessGuy:
Thank you! I'm sorry, but how would those be pronounced? Especially the last one. As I said, I'm sorry if I'm asking for too much.

There's nothing wrong in asking questions. Our people like to say that an inquiring individual does not get lost. So far you seem genuinely interested in the knowledge, so I have no problem attempting to provide some answers.

Regarding the pronunciations, are you familiar with tone and diacritics? The language is tonal through and through, and we use diacritics to distinguish those tonal aspects.

ChinenyeN:
There's nothing wrong in asking questions. Our people like to say that an inquiring individual does not get lost. So far you seem genuinely interested in the knowledge, so I have no problem attempting to provide some answers.

Regarding the pronunciations, are you familiar with tone and diacritics? The language is tonal through and through we use diacritics to distinguish those tonal aspects.

No, I'm not familiar whatsoever. But that's good to know.

In that case, I've attached an audio recording of the three sentences in the order of urban, Owere and Aba la Ohazu. I hope it helps.

ChinenyeN:
In that case, I've attached an audio recording of the three sentences in the order of urban, Owere and Aba la Ohazu. I hope it helps.

Thank you so much!

Actually, I want to make one correction. For the Owere, it is actually more conventional to say I ri kpa ole? as opposed to I me kpa ole?. So, in your mind, as you listen to the audio recording, simply interchange the me with ri.