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Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor - Politics - Nairaland

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Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by EzeUche2(m): 7:34pm On Feb 13, 2011
If we come from a linguistics approach, Yorubas, Igbos, Nupe, Idoma, Edo, Igala and some other groups all share a common ancestors. We just splintered into different groups, with cultures, languages and histories. But no one cannot deny, that there are many similarities amongst our languages.

I would go even far to say that the Fon and Ewe should be included as well, because their language is also similar to our own.

One thing I wonder is why do we focus on the differences even though we share a common ancestor. Do we see the Slavic people acting in such a way, even though they are found in different nations. When I say Slavic people, that includes Bulgarians, Russians, Ukranians, Serbs, Croats etc.

Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by EzeUche2(m): 7:46pm On Feb 13, 2011
I know I am not the best person to present this information, since I am Igbocentric, but this has been on my mind for quite a while. And I know many people are probably in denial about this issue as well.

We have a COMMON ANCESTOR. You can trace our languages to one parents language. When did we diverge to form our own distinctive culture and "languages?"
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by namfav(m): 7:49pm On Feb 13, 2011
what is there to be igbocentric about? your 'head hunting' tradition?
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by EzeUche2(m): 7:52pm On Feb 13, 2011
namfav:

what is there to be igbocentric about? your 'head hunting' tradition?

Read any of our famous author's novel, like the rest of the world and understand why our culture is cherished and respected. Do not derail my thread though.

You Hausa do not belong to our language family
. angry

1 Like

Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by namfav(m): 7:54pm On Feb 13, 2011
EzeUche_:

Read any of our famous author's novel, like the rest of the world and understand why our culture is cherished and respected. Do not derail my thread though.

You Hausa do not belong to our language family
angry

no one cherishes or respect your culture
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by aljharem(m): 8:03pm On Feb 13, 2011
^^^^^

namfav you no go kill me oooo grin grin grin grin grin grin grin grin grin grin
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by EzeUche2(m): 8:05pm On Feb 13, 2011
namfav:

no one cherishes or respect your culture

Just like everyone consider your people backwards and do not add any value to Nigeria besides almajiri and terrorist.
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by tyson55(m): 8:06pm On Feb 13, 2011
@namfav- which tribe do you belongs to? Sorry just asking. cos you seems to be jealous of the igbo culture.

1 Like

Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by Ikengawo: 8:07pm On Feb 13, 2011
alright dude, good job. If you really want to compare hausa and igbo culture you'll have to understand that hausa land has the highest rate of infant mortality in the world, and igbo land the lowest in the country



anyways, Ezeuche, the cultures in Nigeria aren't really THAT different from each other. We have hundreds of tribes in the east but in the precolonial era they all had the same customs except small differences here and there, similar languages that often share the same words and structure, same style of dress (wrappas), small family structure, same social rules, and same political structures.

most of the differences between us are inflamed in our heads, yes we are different but it's very obvious that south nigerian tribes have a common ancestor tribe/culture
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by Obiagu1(m): 8:12pm On Feb 13, 2011
I'm tired of this. WE DON'T SHARE ANY COMMON ANCESTOR WITH ANYONE.
There's no proof. I can't understand Yoruba neither can I understand Ibibio or Idoma.
A mere similarity of a few words does not equate common ancestory.
We should stop this.

1 Like

Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by tyson55(m): 8:14pm On Feb 13, 2011
@alj harem - what is the laugh about? Are you an Aboki or kwulikwuli?
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by EzeUche2(m): 8:16pm On Feb 13, 2011
Obiagu1:

I'm tired of this. WE DON'T SHARE ANY COMMON ANCESTOR WITH ANYONE.
There's no proof. I can't understand Yoruba neither could I understand Ibibio or Idoma.
A mere similarity of a few words does not equate common ancestory.
We should stop this.

Oh but we do my brother. We have to come to that realization. Instead of focusing on the differences, we need to focus on what unites us.

One of my favorite authors is Cheikh Anta Diop who believed in the cultural unity of Africa.

The Ibibio language is not related to the Igbo language. Ibibio, Ogoni, Efik, Ekoi, Bokyi and the Western Cameroon languages make up the same language family.

We need to do more research in the history like the Europeans and Asians have done.

3 Likes

Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by EzeUche2(m): 8:20pm On Feb 13, 2011
Obiagu, I see that you have been against this for quite a while. grin

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-574377.0.html
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by ShangoThor(m): 8:21pm On Feb 13, 2011
Obiagu1:

I'm tired of this. WE DON'T SHARE ANY COMMON ANCESTOR WITH ANYONE.
There's no proof. I can't understand Yoruba neither can I understand Ibibio or Idoma.
A mere similarity of a few words does not equate common ancestory.
We should stop this.

There is proof, scientific proof, DNA. Our differences are cultural, not biological!

1 Like

Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by EzeUche2(m): 8:22pm On Feb 13, 2011
How Yoruba and Igbo became different languages

Updated: Tuesday 14-07-2009

A review of Bolaji Aremo’s book, How Yoruba and Igbo Became Different Languages, by Adewale Oshodi.

No one who has read Bolaji Aremo’s new book, How Yoruba and Igbo Became Different Languages, would be left in any doubt that Igbo and Yoruba were at some time in the past the same language and that the Yoruba and the Igbo were members of one and the same ethnic group.

The revelations are simply staggering!

The main text of the book, some 200 pages, and published by SCRIBO Publications Ltd, Ibadan, is divided into six chapters. As would be expected, Chapter One is a general introduction that provides brief notes on Yoruba and Igbo and their native speakers. The chapter also discusses the main objective of the book: to report the findings from a study aimed at searching (through books and among fluent speakers) for examples of words that are similar in sound and meaning in both Yoruba and Igbo and could, therefore, give further support for the claim by linguists that the two languages descended from the same ancestral language.

The next three chapters list, often with very interesting and informative “clarificatory” notes, the hundreds of examples the author has found of Igbo/Yoruba cognates, i.e Igbo and Yoruba words that are similar in sound and meaning by reason of having been inherited by the two languages from a common Igbo/Yoruba parent language.

The list is divided into rough and ready subsections: Body Parts, etc; Common Medical Conditions, Medications, etc; Relations and Usual Members of the Community; and so on.

It is intended that by considering the examples, the reader will be able to form a good impression of how the languages have diverged over time. And the items listed include: agba (or akpÍ, akpå)/agbÍn (= ‘chin’), awÍ /ewu (= ‘grey hair’), aga (or Ëga)/agan (= ‘barrenness, infertility, a barren woman’), Ígwå/oogun (= ‘medicine, poison, charm’), dimkpa/ igiripa (or giripa) (= person in prime of manhood, strong man, man of strength and courage’), Ëra (or Íra, Íha, Ísa)/ara (or ira (CY)) (= ‘the citizenry, the people, the masses, the public’), onye/ eniyan (or Íniyan(CY)(= ‘person, anyone, someone’), agå/ ¹kun (= ‘tiger, leopard’), enyin/ erin (= ‘elephant’), anwå /oorun (= ‘sun, sunlight’), ifufe (or ifufu)/af¹f¹ (or efuufu) (= ‘wind, breeze, air’), ogbodo/ogberi (or ogbere (CY)) (= ‘person not yet initiated into a masquerade or similar secret cult , a novice’), and akårËkÍ /iharihÍ (or ihaahÍ) (= ‘charred part of food which adheres to the pot or sauce pan’).

Very many examples, and not a few from even the deeper recesses of traditional life!

Chapter Five discusses some observations that are more or less of general interest concerning the examples. Perhaps the most important of the observations (at least from the historical point of view) is the one relating to the finding that the Central Yoruba (CY) variants of the cognates (used in such Yoruba towns as Ile-Ife, Ilesa, Ado-Ekiti and Akure) are generally much closer in form (and sometimes in meaning as well) to the Igbo cognates than their standard Yoruba counterparts are. Could it then have been the case, the author wonders, that the aboriginal population of the Central Yoruba area had in prehistoric times migrated from Igboland? Or could it have been the case that it was the first settlers in Igboland (in the Northern Igbo area) that had migrated from the Central Yoruba area? The questions are left, and rightly too, to historians to try and ponder.

At the end of Chaper Five, attention is drawn to the similarities between the age-old cultures of the Yoruba and the Igbo that may be inferred from many of the examples.

Thus, for instance: “In their homes (ulÍ/ile (or ule (CY)), the back-garden or yard (mgbala/agbala), the mud bed or mud seat (ÍkpåkpÍ/ pepele ( or upepe (CY)) and the drainage hole (Ínå ntu/ojuto (CY)) are among the regular features. The common tools and implements include: agbada/agbada (= ‘flat frying pot’), agbe/agbe (= ‘gourd’), akpara/ap¹r¹ (= ‘basket’), anyËke/aake (= ‘axe’), mkpÍ/ipÍn (or åpÍn (CY)) (= ‘calabash or wooden ladle’), mpata/Ítita (CY) (= ‘stool’), ågba/igba (or ågba CY)) (= ‘calabash’), udu mmiri/odu omi (= ‘large water pot’). (p 196)

The final chapter, a very short one, summarises the work, and states the quite obvious conclusion that there is overwhelming evidence from the examples supporting the linguists’ claim that Igbo and Yoruba are sister languages, i.e languages that have descended from the same common ancestor.

The chapter is rounded off with a suggestion that similar studies be carried out on the various other Nigerian languages which, according to the linguists, are members of the same family. And why that suggestion at this point in the history of Nigeria as a nation? In the author’s view: “…it should be good – reassuring – to be reminded in quite concrete terms that in spite of what many would regard as “the mistake of 1914”, speakers of our different, mutually unintelligible languages today were originally speaking one and the same language, and that for us, there has always been a sure basis for national unity which could be nurtured by justice and fairness everywhere in the land”. (p 203)

In short, Bolaji Aremo has written an important book, in his usually simple, readable style. Already an author of considerable repute, he has once again produced a work of outstanding scholarship, one that should prove of abiding interest to linguists, historians and, indeed, the general public.

1 Like

Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by Obiagu1(m): 8:23pm On Feb 13, 2011
EzeUche_:

Oh but we do my brother. We have to come to that realization. Instead of focusing on the differences, we need to focus on what unites us.

One of my favorite authors is Cheikh Anta Diop who believed in the cultural unity of Africa.

The Ibibio language is not related to the Igbo language. Ibibio, Ogoni, Efik, Ekoi, Bokyi and the Western Cameroon languages make up the same language family.

We need to do more research in the history like the Europeans and Asians have done.


African unity, yes we are Africans.
Nigerian unity, yes we are Nigerians.

This is where it ends.

We are not related to anyone, that does not mean we cannot associate with others.
From every piece of article I've read, our line of migration does not escape Israel, Egypt, and Sudan. If those were not true, then we were present in our current location since time immemorial.

We are not in any way  or form related to the Yoruba or the Edo. I don't know about Idoma, we may probably be related but may be restricted to migration to and from each other.
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by Obiagu1(m): 8:26pm On Feb 13, 2011
ShangoThor:

There is proof, scientific proof, DNA. Our differences are cultural, not biological!

Where are the proofs?
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by Obiagu1(m): 8:32pm On Feb 13, 2011
Word similarity can be found also with the Japanese.

One funny thing is that some of the words used in your illustration are strikingly dissimilar.
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by ShangoThor(m): 8:34pm On Feb 13, 2011
Obiagu1:

Where are the proofs?

Seriously, research it, DNA wise there is no difference. Human evolution developed in Africa, it is ridiculous to think that humans spread out from Africa to other continents but believe in the impossibility of ethnic polities branching from each other in Africa.

In other words these communities in Africa were isolated from one another completely, and there were no migrations, or people were not absorbed into other communities.
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by EzeUche2(m): 8:38pm On Feb 13, 2011
Obiagu, my brother, when did you become a linguist? grin
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by MaiSuya(m): 8:41pm On Feb 13, 2011
Ikengawo:

alright dude, good job. If you really want to compare hausa and igbo culture you'll have to understand that hausa land has the highest rate of infant mortality in the world, and igbo land the lowest in the country

The above lacks, most achingly, any graspable meaning.

@ toopic,

ultimately we all share a common ancestor. it depends on how far back you are willing to go.
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by Obiagu1(m): 8:42pm On Feb 13, 2011
ShangoThor:

Seriously, research it, DNA wise there is no difference. Human evolution developed in Africa, it is ridiculous to think that humans spread out from Africa to other continents but believe in the impossibility of ethnic polities branching from each other in Africa.

In other words these communities in Africa were isolated from one another completely, and there were no migrations, or people were not absorbed into other communities.


That is not my point. All humans may have a common ancestor.

My point is that, as we found ourselves in Nigeria, we all came from different areas at different times. Those areas we migrated from have diverged remarkedly that they are already dissimilar to the common ancestor of every human.

If, for instance, the Yoruba migrated from point A in Africa and the Igbo and the Edo migrated from the same point A, then we may be similar but in reality we all migrated from point A, B, C that are already dissimilar.

I was reading one article and the author, not Nigerian, was pointing to other peoples that migrated alongside the Igbos from the same location but they ended up in different parts of Africa in Keyna and Uganda and probably in other African countries as well.
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by ShangoThor(m): 8:50pm On Feb 13, 2011
Obiagu1:

That is not my point. All humans may have a common ancestor.

My point is that, as we found ourselves in Nigeria, we all came from different areas at different times. Those areas we migrated from have diverged remarkedly that they are already dissimilar to the common ancestor of every human.

If, for instance, the Yoruba migrated from point A in Africa and the Igbo and the Edo migrated from the same point A, then we may be similar but in reality we all migrated from point A, B, C that are already dissimilar.

I was reading one article and the author, not Nigerian, was pointing to other peoples that migrated alongside the Igbos from the same location but they ended up in different parts of Africa in Keyna and Uganda and probably in other African countries as well.

Very interesting food for thought, I'm absolutely fascinated with this subject and as you know there are competing theories. If I find any info to shed further light on this I will share it  wink

1 Like 1 Share

Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by aljharem(m): 8:54pm On Feb 13, 2011
ShangoThor:

Very interesting food for thought, I'm absolutely fascinated with this subject and as you know there are competing theories. If I find any info to shed further light on this I will share it  wink
if you are yoruba, you really do not know the people you are dealing with

SMH
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by Obiagu1(m): 8:57pm On Feb 13, 2011
ShangoThor:

Very interesting food for thought, I'm absolutely fascinated with this subject and as you know there are competing theories. If I find any info to shed further light on this I will share it wink

I look forward to it. It's part of knowledge that may help the already complicated issue of migration and relationship.
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by ShangoThor(m): 8:57pm On Feb 13, 2011
alj harem:

if you are yoruba, you really do not know the people you are dealing with

SMH

OK here we go, another swipe attempt to disunite or cause friction, what do you mean?

1 Like

Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by Obiagu1(m): 9:00pm On Feb 13, 2011
ShangoThor:

OK here we go, another swipe attempt to disunite or cause friction, what do you mean?

Just ignore him, he's very inconsequential and makes no single contribution to any discussion rather he agrees to, disagrees to, insults and incites.
Why should I bother myself with someone that does not challenge me with reason, facts and ideas?
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by seanet02: 10:53pm On Feb 13, 2011
Never, we YORUBAS dont have any form of history with kidnappers and human eaters
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by ekubear1: 11:03pm On Feb 13, 2011
seanet02:

Never, we YORUBAS dont have any form of history with kidnappers and human eaters

Realistically, we do. Doesn't mean we must be holding hands together today just because there is some common ancestor from 200AD or something
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by namfav(m): 7:37am On Feb 14, 2011
tyson55:

@namfav- which tribe do you belongs to? Sorry just asking. cos you seems to be jealous of the igbo culture.

im fulani and im not jealous of igbos because there is nothing to be jealous about
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by fstranger3(m): 8:08am On Feb 14, 2011
seanet02:

Never, we YORUBAS dont have any form of history with kidnappers and human eaters


eku_bear:

Realistically, we do. Doesn't mean we must be holding hands together today just because there is some common ancestor from 200AD or something

This exchange is effing hilarious.
Re: Igbos, Yorubas, Nupe, Edo, Idoma All Share A Common Ancestor by fstranger3(m): 8:08am On Feb 14, 2011
namfav:

im fulani and im not jealous of igbos because there is nothing to be jealous about

Be honest, arent you jealous of us Yorubas?

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