A Beginner’s Guide To Studying The Igbo Language
By Chris Owusu-Barfi
The Igbo ethnic group, also known as the Ibo is an ethnic group found in modern-day Nigeria. They are primarily found in the Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Northern Delta and Rivers States of Nigeria. Some members of the Igbo ethnic group are found outside Nigeria in countries such as Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The Igbo ethnic group is one of the biggest ethnic groups in Africa. Their population is estimated to be between 35-40 million people (about 15-20% of the Nigerian population).
As an ethnic group, the Igbo people have their own unique dialect or language, which is the Igbo Language. A standard literary language termed 'Igbo izugbe' (meaning "general Igbo") was generically developed and later adopted around 1972, with its core foundation based on the Owerri, Anambra and Umuahia dialects. However, nobody speaks ‘general Igbo” natively. The Igbo language is a tonal language. Tone varies by dialect, but in most dialects, there seem to be three register tones and three contour tones. There are 36 alphabets in the Igbo language. The alphabets are locally known as Mkpụrụ Edemede or Abidịị. The pronunciation of each alphabet is the same as when it appears in any word as a letter, although they sound longer or are stretched a bit more as alphabets.
Out of the 36 Abidịị, twenty-eight of them are consonants (mgbochiume) and eight of them vowels (ụdaume). They are shown in the table below.
|
Uppercase |
A |
B |
CH |
D |
E |
F |
G |
GB |
GH |
GW |
H |
I |
Ị |
J |
K |
KP |
KW |
|
Lowercase |
a |
b |
ch |
d |
E |
f |
g |
gb |
gh |
gw |
h |
i |
ị |
j |
k |
kp |
kw |
|
Phonemes |
a |
b |
t͡ʃ |
d |
E |
f |
g |
ɡ͡ɓ~ɓ |
ɣ |
gw |
ɦ |
i |
ɪ̙ |
d͡ʒ |
k |
k͡p~ɓ̥ |
kw |
|
Uppercase |
L |
M |
N |
Ṅ |
NW |
NY |
O |
Ọ |
P |
R |
S |
SH |
T |
U |
Ụ |
V |
W |
Y |
|
Lowercase |
l |
m |
n |
ṅ |
Nw |
ny |
o |
ọ |
p |
r |
s |
sh |
t |
u |
ụ |
v |
w |
y |
|
Phonemes |
l |
m |
n |
ŋ |
ŋʷ |
ɲ |
o |
ɔ̙ |
p |
ɹ~r |
s |
ʃ |
t |
u |
ʊ̙ |
v |
w |
j |
|
Uppercase |
Z |
|
Lowercase |
Z |
|
Phonemes |
z |
Source: https://www.verbling.com/articles/post/igbo-language-alphabet
Some common words a newbie to the Igbo language has to know are;
Ndeewo: Hello
Nnọọ: Welcome
Biko: Please
A hụrụ m gị n’anya: I love you
You can use the Nkenne App to learn more and practice the Igbo language. The app is available both on the App Store and the Google Play Store.
Daalụ! (Thank you!)
HEAD ON TO THE NKENNE APP AND START LEARNING TODAY!
DOWNLOAD THE APP ON THE APP STORE OR GOOGLE PLAY STORE
