₦airaland Forum

IYANGBALI:
who is this were?na where you come from?if my comment pain you come sok my asss

justirich:
you are just a big fool. learn some sense idiot

philips70:
Why didn't you say Urhobo is lingustically tied to Isoko? The Uvwies migrated from Erowha. You do not know this history, so don't distort it. Isoko migrated from Benin just like the Urhobos, they even arrived first.

prisiluv:
I Love Dis Thread...nice one..Proudly; Aragba-Orogun,ughelli north...

applebee:
I'm a native of Emede, I live in oleh, isoko south. the truth is the owner of this thread did not do his homework well. Isokos migrated from Benin city. it is believed that opute, the founder of Ozoro migrated from benin when there was trouble in d Oba palace cos his mother fought with Aaruan or Ogwara(that giant with big hands that uses a full palm tree to sweep) he was a benin prince. for the fear that Aaruan will kill her mother, they fled to Ozoro. the cutlass he used is still in Eri-okpe shirine in Ozoro. this was what Mr Oforofo my history teach taught me in Notre Dame College Ozoro. Eweri Founded Emede, Emore Founded Oleh, Omo-ode founded Irri, they are all relatives of Opute(founder of Ozoro). Long ago, we were grouped together as Urhobo(western Urhobo) there was controversies cos of National Cake Sharing. our political leader then, Chief James Otobo(died a few years ago) and others made sure we had our own local government. we did not migrate from Urhobo, we are not Urhobos. but we live as one like brothers. we share culture and tradition. our language is quite similar. its just like the Aniomas, people call them Delta ibos. but in the real sense they are not Ibos. They are independent, a nation called Aniomas. that's where Governor. okowa, Okonjo Iweala, Jim ovia etc comes from i guess (may be wrong). We have no affiliation to Urhobo. we were grouped under Urhobo west but we separated (not got independence) we choosed to because we wanted to for peace to rain. u guys were kind of dominating us.
I remain my humble self JJ Eruns
Hayo sai isoko
sai Emede
sai Ellu
sai Uzere
sai Ozoro
Isoko Wha Dhe?
Wha Dhe ijo
Isiegware hoiiiii
iiiii iye!

applebee:
Sorry for the typographical error. I used my phone to type. I stand to be corrected. you as an Urhobo man, you tried to Glorify Your tribe. Don't do this again, I know u know d true history but you choose to alter it a bit. #JustSaying

profojah:
Jollyjoy oya come and see

fratermathy:
Why do I sense hostility among the Ikwerres here in this thread? I have agreed to your "claim" that you are not Igbo with a simple clause that your language is Igboid. Do you still want to deny that your linguistic root is Igboid? Every Language has roots. English is Germanic, Itsekiri is Yoruboid, Urhobo is Edoid, Ikwerre is Igboid . This doesn't make the "oid" groups the same with their superior appellate. It is only a linguistic marker. Dont tell me you dont know that.


Please reduce the hostility, I am not an Igbo person nor an Ikwerre person. I am but a simple, calm and docile Urhobo who is stating the truth.

Goodboiyy:
Truth is that no ND minorities want to associate with those majority Tribe, Men you need to see what they did to Us during 1960-1980.. Them 1 oppress us die.. OP all the people of ND want is There own Unique Identity,

I know how Hopeathand feels, calling Ikwerre Igbo is like calling Itsekiri Yoruba, We Are different...

CC: omonnakoda , Hapeathand ... What's your view

fratermathy:
Lol. Seriously?

I even shortened alot of things. Thanks anyway!

fratermathy:
Why do I sense hostility among the Ikwerres here in this thread? I have agreed to your "claim" that you are not Igbo with a simple clause that your language is Igboid. Do you still want to deny that your linguistic root is Igboid? Every Language has roots. English is Germanic, Itsekiri is Yoruboid, Urhobo is Edoid, Ikwerre is Igboid. This doesn't make the "oid" groups the same with their superior appellate. It is only a linguistic marker. Dont tell me you dont know that.


Please reduce the hostility, I am not an Igbo person nor an Ikwerre person. I am but a simple, calm and docile Urhobo who is stating the truth.

rukeh:
Full Deltagirl#Urhobo#Uvwie#Effurun

fratermathy:
Why do I sense hostility among the Ikwerres here in this thread? I have agreed to your "claim" that you are not Igbo with a simple clause that your language is Igboid. Do you still want to deny that your linguistic root is Igboid? Every Language has roots. English is Germanic, Itsekiri is Yoruboid, Urhobo is Edoid, Ikwerre is Igboid. This doesn't make the "oid" groups the same with their superior appellate. It is only a linguistic marker. Dont tell me you dont know that.


Please reduce the hostility, I am not an Igbo person nor an Ikwerre person. I am but a simple, calm and docile Urhobo who is stating the truth.

fratermathy:
Never said they broke out.

One thing we Urhobo/Isoko dont understand is this: URHOBO itself is not a language per se but a cultural marker for a group of related tribes such as Okpe, Uvwie, Isoko, Udu, Agbon, etc. These people all trace their roots back to Benin and somehow, the term URHOBO has been accepted by all of them except ISOKO! Urhobo is NOT a LANGUAGE in the true sense but a CULTURAL INDICATOR. It is only being proposed as a language in contemporary times because of the upspring of schools, colleges of education and universities that study it and even the adopted general Urhobo is easily understood by Isokos. Isoko, like Okpe, is one of the ORIGINAL groups that make up URHOBO CULTURE. However, they have asserted themselves as being different. Not dwelling on that, we both cannot deny that the cultural tie between all URHOBOID groups has made our language similar. Hence when I say Urhobo language, I mean the collaboration of all URHOBOID linguistic entities of which ISOKO is a strong member of whether we agree to it or not! I also indicated the clause to Isoko's inclusion in my article. I believe all is within place. We are ONE! My "Oghene" or "Ekpo" or "Emu" or "Otor" is no less or no more than yours.

fratermathy:
Never said they broke out.

One thing we Urhobo/Isoko dont understand is this: URHOBO itself is not a language per se but a cultural marker for a group of related tribes such as Okpe, Uvwie, Isoko, Udu, Agbon, etc. These people all trace their roots back to Benin and somehow, the term URHOBO has been accepted by all of them except ISOKO! Urhobo is NOT a LANGUAGE in the true sense but a CULTURAL INDICATOR. It is only being proposed as a language in contemporary times because of the upspring of schools, colleges of education and universities that study it and even the adopted general Urhobo is easily understood by Isokos. Isoko, like Okpe, is one of the ORIGINAL groups that make up URHOBO CULTURE. However, they have asserted themselves as being different. Not dwelling on that, we both cannot deny that the cultural tie between all URHOBOID groups has made our language similar. Hence when I say Urhobo language, I mean the collaboration of all URHOBOID linguistic entities of which ISOKO is a strong member of whether we agree to it or not! I also indicated the clause to Isoko's inclusion in my article. I believe all is within place. We are ONE! My "Oghene" or "Ekpo" or "Emu" or "Otor" is no less or no more than yours.

fratermathy:
Hello Nairalanders ,
I remembered at a point in time, there were lots of threads that hit the front-page about Nigeria's major ethnic groups and their dialects! I remember that of Edo, Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. However, it ended there. Other ethnic groups were not listed and that trend died. However, it is important to know things like this. For one, speakers and learners of the language can known and learn these things. Other Nigerians and the world at large can understand the internal intricacies of these languages and how they work. Hence, I have decided to revamp this tradition with Nigeria's minority and less known ethnic groups. I am going to be covering most groups and will appreciate speakers of the language to help make the work easier by opening threads and adding facts, correcting errors and what have we in already opened threads.
The Urhobo People as a cultural unit has already been treated by me sometime ago in this thread:https://www.nairaland.com/2133542/interesting-facts-urhobo-people-delta/
However, to recap important points about the Urhobo people as whole, let me start by saying the Urhobo people are a group of people that effectively constitute Nigeria's 5th Largest Ethnic Nationality (Countered by the Ibibios though). They inhabit Delta South(Parts) and Delta Central(Totally). They speak an Edoid language that shares similarities with Afemai and Esan. The Urhobo people are similar and largely deemed as same by some people with the neighbouring Isoko people of Delta South. Urhobo people share common boundaries with the Itsekiris, Ijaws, Isokos, Edos and Ndokwa (Igboid) Ethnic Nationalities. They effectively dominate current Delta State politics due to their large numbers (estimated at 3million). Urhobo people occupy the following local government areas:
1. Okpe
2. Sapele
3. Uvwie
4. Udu
5. Ughelli North
6. Ughelli South
7. Ethiope East
8. Ethiope West
9. Warri South (Shared with Itsekiri)
10. Patani (Shared with Ijaws)
11. Burutu (Shared with Ijaws)
12. Sagbama (in Bayelsa State and shared with Ijaws and Isokos)

Urhobos also have large settlements in Ore, Owo and Okitipupa in Ondo State, Ajegunle and other places in Lagos State, Oro in Kwara State, as well as other clusters across Nigeria.


Now to our main discourse:
Urhobo has never been an homogenous linguistic entity. Since time immemorial, Urhobo has been colored by variation that occur on various levels. These variations manifest in the various Urhobo clans and kingdoms. A specific dialect of Urhobo has even broken off and become an individual ethnic nationality (Isoko). Another dialect is prospecting at this option (Okpe). The main reason for this break-off is that these dialects see themselves as individual groups as much as Ikwerre see themselves as being different from Igbo. Some of the "major dialects" of Urhobo are:
1. Isoko(Also has sub-dialects such as Erhowa, Enwhe and Iyede)
2. Central Urhobo (Agbarho-Ughelli Dialect)
3. Okpe
4. Ughievwien
5. Uvwie
6. Agbon
7. Avwraka (Abraka)
8. Udu
9. Ofoni
10. Orogun
11. Agbarha

These Dialects accounts for the main branches of Urhobo(Clans). Although there are other Urhobo clans such as Ogor, Olomu, Agbarha-Ame, etc but the linguistic features of these clans are either similar to one of the those mentioned above or not too obvious to become a dialect of its own. Most of these clans use central urhobo. The dialects listed are sometimes not mutually intelligible except for Central Urhobo which is the lingua franca of Urhobo People. These various dialectal groups also have peculiar cultural traits. We will not briefly examine these groups one by one.

1. Isoko
The Isoko Dialect of Urhobo is so broad and large that it is effectively a language of its own. Isoko is a proto-Edoid language and hence it is closer to how Urhobo once was when the people said goodbye to their Benin progenitors. Isoko has its own sub-dialects such as Iyede, Erhowa, Enwhe, Olomoro, Oleh, etc. The main dialectal difference between Urhobo and Isoko include; Use of Degwo instead of Migwo for greeting, repetition of utterances and words.i.e. "Yanzobone Yanzobone (Come here, Come here)", different names for various objects, etc. My Isoko people here can help out with more.

2. Central Urhobo (Agbarho-Dialect)
The Agbarho/Ughelli dialect of Urhobo is deemed to be the purest, fluent and undiluted form of Urhobo language. It is understandable by all Urhobo people and has widespread acceptance. It is spoken mainly in Ughelli and Agbarho, a suburb of Warri and Ughelli, both in Ughelli North LGA. This is the version of Urhobo taught at Secondary Schools, College of Education and Delta State University.

3. Okpe
The Okpe Dialect has the largest number of speakers in Urhobo land. They stay in Okpe and Sapele Local Government Areas. They are all ruled over by the Orodje of Okpe, a historical and semi-hereditary traditional kingship and a first class King in Nigeria. The Okpe dialect is considered deep and hard by other Urhobo speakers. In fact, the Okpe dialect is believed by many to be closer to Edo than it is to Urhobo. The average Urhobo man will have a field day understanding Okpe. The differences between Okpe and Central Urhobo is so large that one wonders why it is classed together as Urhobo when it obviously has more connection to Isoko than Urhobo. However, they are culturally the same with Urhobo. Dialectal differences cut across greeting.i.e. Deewho instead of Megwo, names of objects and animals, meaning of common words, etc. My Okpe people, please help me out here with some differences.

4. Ughievwien
When I was growing up, we had two neighbours that were Ughievwien (Ujevwen) people. I remember that my mother always had a field day analysing how funny they spoke. The Ughievwien people occupy Ughelli South LGA. Their major town is Otu-Jeremi with other towns and villages such as Egbo, Effurun-otor, Olomu, etc. These people are simple minded and live in mainly riverine areas. Their language is seen as "impure" and unintelligible by most Urhobo speakers. Their version of Urhobo involves a lot of tongue twisting and tongue rolling. They speak as if they sing. Their words are pronounced differently most times and the stress/tonation is slightly different from Central Urhobo. Ujevwen People, please help me out here with more examples.

5. Uvwie
Uvwie Dialect is spoken by the people that occupy Uvwie LGA in such towns as Effurun, Enerhen, Ugbomro, etc. Their Urhobo is mildly understandable by the average Urhobo speaker. Theirs is an amalgam of Okpe, Agbon and Udu. In their cultural system, the Otota (Spokesman and Prime Minister) found in other Urhobo clans, is replaced with the Unuevworho with similar but slightly different functions. Uvwie people greet differently, some words and their stress placement are also different from central Urhobo. Uvwie people, you know the drill. Its your turn.

6. Agbon
Agbon is spoken by the people of Ethiope East LGA. It is the second largest Urhobo kingdom. The main Agbon divisions include; Okpara, Kokori, Eku, Igun and Ovu-Oviorie. Of these divisions, Okpara is the largest while Kokori speaks a more proto-Agbon, or harder, version. Agbon Urhobo is extremely close to Central Urhobo. Differences are barely noticed. The main differences constitute the physical nuances of Agbon speakers. Other differences include pronunciation of certain words and their usage. Agbon speakers are understood across board. Their main difference is that the dialect is deep. It is the main dialect used in Urhobo proverbs, idioms and metaphysical expositions. If you want to learn Urhobo, dont start with Agbon. Agbon speakers can say more on this

7. Avwraka (Abraka)
The Avwraka dialect of Urhobo is spoken by people who occupy the northern parts of Ethiope East LGA. Their main divisions are; Oruarivie-Abraka and Umiagwa-Abraka, each with its own king. Divisions include; Ekrejeta, Ojeta, Oria, Erho, Ajanomi, Urhuagbesa, Otorho, Urhuoka, Umeghe, etc. Avwraka Dialect is seen as slightly "impure" by most speakers. Their dialect is a simplified version of Urhobo, perhaps too simplistic. The dialect lacks depth and its not as linguistically rich as most dialects. There are also cases of borrowings and adaptations in Avwraka dialect. Maybe the people from Abraka can do more justice to this

8. Udu
This dialect is largely elusive. It is mostly similar to that spoken in Ughievwien and also resembles Uvwie. I'd call it a secondary/mixed dialect of both Ujevwen and Uvwie. However, it is different in its own rights. I haven't met most of its native speakers so my personal knowledge of this dialect is somewhat limited to what others have said. However, it is also "impure" and has a lot of phonological differences with central Urhobo. Udu people occupy Udu LGA, a suburb of Warri. Major towns are Otor-Udu, Aladja, etc. Udu people please help me out.

9. Ofoni
The Ofoni dialect of Urhobo is an offshoot of the Ughelli dialect and it is spoken by Ijoid Tarakiri people in Odurubu and Oduophiri in Patani LGA of Delta State and Ofoni in Sagbama LGA of Bayelsa State. These people have lived alongside the Ijaws for so long that it leaves much to marvel that they have not been acculturated by now. They live far off land and one must fly a speed boat to reach these places on time. As expected, their version of Urhobo has been colorated by Ijaw with so much borrowings, transliterations, adaptations, jugglery, etc etc. I call on the Ofoni people to bail me out here.

10. Orogun
The Orogun Dialect of Urhobo is one of the most unique ones. It is spoken by the Orogun people who occupy Ughelli North LGA. They are close neighbours to the Ndokwa People of Abbi and Amai as well as the Isoko people of Iyede and Owhelogbo. They are mainly bilinguals. Most of the Orogun people can speak/understand Ndokwa(Igboid) and Urhobo. Most also add Isoko to their arsenal. Orogun itself is a kingdom with a King and it has several quarters. Orogun-Urhobo sounds like Ughelli/Agbarho Urhobo, just like the close Agbarha neighbours, but the influence of Ndokwa has penetrated the language. Words are different, syntax becomes juggled, pronunciations take a funny turn, most speakers code-mix and code-switch between Urhobo and Ndokwa and some cant even separate which from which. Only Orogun people can fully explain how unique their dialect is.

11. Agbarha
The Agbarha dialect of Urhobo is spoken, in its various forms, by people in Agbarha and Okere in Warri South LGA, Idjerhe, Mosogar and Oghara in Ethiope West LGA and the aboriginal and eponymous people of Agbarha in Ughelli North LGA. The earlier mentioned groups (Agbarha/Okere Warri, Idjerhe, Mosogar, Oghara) were all migrants from Agbarha-Otor. The Agbarha dialect is similar to central Urhobo spoken in Ughelli/Agbarho. It is not impure per se but it is slightly different and not perceivably shallow. Only experienced speakers of Urhobo can pick out its dialectal differences. Agbarha People, you know the drill



Whew! It's time for me to rest now. Like I said earlier, this dialectal list is not prescriptive but descriptive. IT mainly shows the various forms that the Urhobo language has taken in its development. Aboriginal speakers of the various dialects should contribute meaningfully to this thread by showing us some of the unique features of their dialects. I am not an expert nor do I claim to be but I love language documentation and plan to do what I have done here with other groups such as Ijaw, Itsekiri, Ibibio, Ogoni, Ebira, Igala, Nupe, etc. Let us harmonise ourselves here and eschew tribalism! We are one! Urhobo Ovuo'vo!

omonnakoda:
Your problem is this you use a word without understanding it and fall into a simple trap.
Now answer this question without any preconceived notions
"What does the word IGBOID" mean when used by linguistic scholars?

Most people assume (Wrongly) that is means Igbo like or deried from Igbo . Nothing could be further from the truth as any person who has ever studied or read the works of linguistic scholars

What it simply means is this
Igboid is a group of Languages (not dialects) of which Igbo is the firsst that came t the attention of scholars and is the biggest in terms of spread
The underlying assumption is that they have BRANCHED out from the SAME PLACE and not as many assume that Ikwerre branched out from Igbo

It is wort emphasizing

the Igbo in Igboid has a completely different meaning from what most assume it means

kkon:
seriously dat means u are my sis then.. my grandfather is high chief in aragba...