Igbo Vocabulary: An Igbo Language Guide 1619494639, 9781619494633

Citation preview

IGBO LANGUAGE 101

Igbo Vocabulary: An Igbo Language Guide

Igbo Vocabulary: An Igbo Language Guide Abazu Obia

Contents

PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

1

1) Measurement Time Months of the Year Days of the Week Seasons Numbers Ordinal numbers Geometric shapes Color Related verbs

5 9 14 15 16 16 18 20 23 25

2) Weather Related verb

27 41

3) People Characteristics Stages of life Religion Work Related verb

43 48 S3 SS S6 61

4) Parts of the body Related verb

63 69

S) Animals Birds Water /Ocean/Beach Insects Related verb

71

6) Plant and Trees Related verbs

87 9S

79 81 83 84

7) Meeting each other Greetings/Introductions Greeting answers Saying goodbye Courtesy Special greetings Related verbs

97 97 99 100 101 102 103

8) House Related verb

105 120

9) Arts and Entertainment Related verbs

123 134

10) Games and sports Related verbs

137 150

11) Food Restaurants and Cafes Related verbs

153 160 167

12) Shopping Related verbs

171 177

13) At the Bank Related verbs

179 184

14) Holidays American Holidays Related verbs

187 189 192

15) Travelling Modes of Transportation Hotels Related verbs

195 201 203 211

16) School Related Verbs

215 225

17) Hospital Related verbs

229 238

18) Emergency Related verbs

241 247

IGBO VOCABULARY: AN IGBO LANGUAGE GUIDE

PRONUNCIATION GUIDE There are thirty-six (36) alphabets in Igbo language: In capital letters: A

GH KW

Q

v

B GW

CH H

D I

L p

M

N

R

w

y

s z

E

F

G

GB

! N

J NW

K

KP

NY

SH

T

u

0

f

g k ny

gb

u

\I

lJ

In small letters:

B gw

ch h

d

e

i

i

v

w

m r y

n s z

ii

Q

L p

a gh kw

sh

nw t

kp 0

These alphabets form the sound system of the lgbo language and, they are pronounced as they appear. For instance; /kw/ as in Queen. The sound system is divided into two: Vowels (l)daume) and Consonants (Mgbochiume). The vowels give sounds to the consonants hence, they bear the tone marks.

Vowels (l}daume) The vowels are pronounced without holding a breath. The sounds are produced without "clapping" any of the organs of speech together. This means that the vowel sounds are made with ease. Marking the vowels help in differentiating the tones. There are three (3) major tone markers; • • •

High tone (akara enu) represented by (') Low tone (akara ala) represented by ( ' ) Flat tone (akara nsuda) represented by c-) 1

IGBO VOCABULARY: AN IGBO LANGUAGE GUIDE

There are eight (8) vowels in lgbo language: Vowels

Transliteration as in "ark" as in "e " as in "seat" as in "inn" as in "old" as in "urn" as in" ood" as in "owl"

Consonants (Mgbochiume) The consonants are pronounced with emphasis on the nasal and oral cavity. They are not easily pronounced as the vowels. These consonants do not have a sound of their own so they rely on the tones made from the vowels. Therefore, they do not have tone marks. There are twenty-eight (28) consonants in lgbo language: Consonants

Transliterations as in "ba " as in "church"

/gb/

gb is an explosive sound made with the upper and lower lip that is not found in english. pronounce it by making the 'b' sound while shaping the mouth for' ' 2

IGBO VOCABULARY: AN IGBO LANGUAGE GUIDE

Consonants

Transliterations

/gh/

as in "yearn"

as in "kennel" kp is not an english sound, but here 'p' sound is made while shaping the mouth for a 'k' akwl,lkw9 book as in "mean" as in "needle"

/w/

as in "seal" as in "shabb " as in "tea" as in "vulture" as in "whim"

/y/

as in "yarn"

/z/

as in "zit"

in ya (him/her indicates the other erson zapu (to decant/to swee of

In lgbo language, some words have the same spelling but different meaning. The tone marks are used often to differentiate the meaning of these words. Examples are: 3

lGBO VOCABULARY: AN lGBO LANGUAGE GUIDE

Words

Pronunciations

Meanings

a kwa

akwa akwa

Cloth Cry Bed Egg Chain "to go" Eagle Gun Friend Elephant

akwa jga egbe enyi

Also,

fga fga egbe egbe enyi enyf different words

can

be

used

item/idea/event. For instance,

Good Morning is expressed as: l)tl;ltt,1 Oma Jb99la Chi !saala Chi !teela l)ra

4

to

illustrate

one

IGBO VOCABULARY: AN IGBO LANGUAGE GUIDE

I) Measurement 1) Mmesh9

acre

acre area

area case

casii centimeter

centimfta cup

ik6 dash

njiko degree

digrii depth

deptu

5

IGBO VOCABULARY: AN IGBO LANGUAGE GUIDE

digit

dfgiti dozen

irf na abU.6 foot

f66tu gallon

galonu gram

gramu height

haiti huge

nm.J.kweu inch

inchi kilometer

kil6mfta length

Ienti 6

lGBO VOCABULARY: AN lGBO LANGUAGE GUIDE

liter

lita little

6bere measure

mmesho meter

mita mile

ma iii minute

nkeji miniature

ntakiri ounce

6ns perimeter

Perimfta pint

pin ti 7

IGBO VOCABULARY: AN IGBO LANGUAGE GUIDE

pound

pawimdu quart

a

kw ti ruler

rula scale

skelu small

6bere tablespoon

ngazi-nrf teaspoon

obere ngazi ton

ton unit

yuniti volume

vol it mu 8

IGBO VOCABULARY: AN IGBO LANGUAGE GUIDE

weigh

nha weight

nha ibu width

witi yard

ycidi Time

Oge What time is it?

kedlJ. ihe na-aklJ.? It's 1:00 AM/PM