₦airaland Forum

A carry on from the last thread maybe, is there even a need for a Standard Igbo? Do people really use it for communicating to other dialect speakers in non-formal situations. People have fund ways to communicate without having to learn Igbo Izugbe, or Standard Igbo, but there's a suggestion that one form of Igbo needs to be the main Igbo, why is this?

I think what Igbo language needs is a uniform pattern and syntax. Every Igbo community should be encouraged to sustain their dialect. Various dialects can stand in as synonyms in the language.
Eg jee and gaa for go
Gote and zuta for buy

Imagine a situation where the words are learnt as synonyms, then most dialects would become intelligible.

Who speaks "Standardized Igbo"?

adeitoro:
I think what Igbo language needs is a uniform pattern and syntax. Every Igbo community should be encouraged to sustain their dialect. Various dialects can stand in as synonyms in the language.
Eg jee and gaa for go
Gote and zuta for buy

Do you think neo-nsibidi can help?

Just my honest opinion here, from observation and experience..

I believe a standard should exist [Huh? So that Ngwa boy ChinenyeN is pro-standard? -- Yes]. The catch for me is that I believe said standard should exist insofar as language maintenance and literacy are concerned. Beyond that (and speaking strictly in the case of Igbo), I see a standard as unnecessary. The 100+ years of strong interaction along with early 20th century missionary efforts have helped established a speech baseline, largely influenced by the syntax of the Onitsha/Idemili axis (thanks to the spread of Catholicism).

From my observation, this speech baseline is both convenient and effective. To make use of the speech baseline, all one has to do is mostly mirror the syntax. In some instances, a change in lexicon may not even be requried. In that same manner, Standard Igbo provides support by laying down the general rules and guidelines for transcribing speech. We could call it a literary baseline.

The only major deficiency is that standards are prone to the unintended side effect of causing linguistic discrimination. We don't have to look far too find rampant cases of this among the Igbo. Aside from that, a standard has its uses.

However, I believe in and highly encourage focused development of the various lects. In my opinion, the lects stand a better chance of lexical growth than Standard Igbo. That's why I don't speak Standard Igbo, but still write it.

Johnydon22 you might like these folks.

imhotep:
Do you think neo-nsibidi can help?

I think nsibidi if standardized can be used along side with Latin alphabet.
Teaching nsibidi in schools will go a long way in spreading its usage.

adeitoro:
I think nsibidi if standardized can be used along side with Latin alphabet.
Teaching nsibidi in schools will go a long way in spreading its usage.

i agree with you.

johnydon22:


Thank you bro. . . so happy to this ...

ezeagu
adeitoro
chinenyeN
imhotep

This is wonderful guys, lets keep this thread alive for eternity.... Registering my presence here...

@ezeagu are you from ezeagu in enugu state?

Supported.
This blogger is doing interesting things with nsibidi --> http://blog.nsibiri.org/