I've seen so many people here in the culture section write that anambra igbo dialect is onitsha mainly. This assertion is very wrong. Anambra have 177 communities and 177 slightly different dialects. Anambra dialects are so close that whenever different anambra people speak,it sound alike. We have our native dialects-yes, but even when we use them, it will only differ slightly from the so called onitsha dialect.words like ife,ihe,ive are all present in anambraa dialects. Nde,nda,kedu(how or where ) are seen across anambra. So i want to make it clear that anambra does not speak onitsha dialect but fussion of different anambra dialects(if the speaker does not go home).let no one make that mistake again!

Ikenga nri: I've seen so many people here in the culture section write that anambra igbo dialect is onitsha mainly. This assertion is very wrong. Anambra have 177 communities and 177 slightly different dialects. Anambra dialects are so close that whenever different anambra people speak,it sound alike. We have our native dialects-yes, but even when we use them, it will only differ slightly from the so called onitsha dialect.words like ife,ihe,ive are all present in anambraa dialects. Nde,nda,kedu(how or where ) are seen across anambra. So i want to make it clear that anambra does not speak onitsha dialect but fussion of different anambra dialects(if the speaker does not go home).let no one make that mistake again!

Thank you very much for writing about what even older Anambra men in their 30s have little knowledge about. I once argued with an Anambrian on this forum that Awka, Nnewi, Ihiala and Oraukwu spoke different dialects but he started abusing me. I even went on to tell him that some dialects were interwoven between Imo and Anambra like Akokwa/Uga, Orsumoghu/Awo, mgbidi/Ihe mbosi/Uli and several others.

its no news
who dosent know?

I still prefer the onitsha dialect over my native Enugwu-ukwu dialect anyway, though the difference is little for eg the ife/ive for onitsha/EU respectively . The way it flows swiftly when being spoken and the way it soothes the ear like the gentle sound of a waterfall makes me fall in love with it the more!
Many people have confessed that the Anambra dialect (Onitsha) is very pleasant to the ear. I'm so proud of the dialect and speak it always, and whenever I do I get admiration stares from people around me.

Yes,oraukwu,nnewi,awka and others do speak slightly different dialects but the matter is that we in anambra unlike other people from other states do know the little differences. We are not interested in exaggerating those little dialetic differences like others will do. That is why an anambra man will argue with u that we don't have different dialets. To we anambra people,we speak the same thing even though we know that there are slight differences.

Ikenga nri: Yes,oraukwu,nnewi,awka and others do speak slightly different dialects but the matter is that we in anambra unlike other people from other states do know the little differences. We are not interested in exaggerating those little dialetic differences like others will do. That is why an anambra man will argue with u that we don't have different dialets. To we anambra people,we speak the same thing even though we know that there are slight differences.

I disagree with you. Anambra is but an artificial creation,not long ago,izzi and ezza people were anambrarians too.

The difference between idemili dialect and ekwulobia dialect is as big as that between idemili and other igbo tribes.

When most people say anambra language,they mean those dialects spoken in idenmili, njikoka,anaocha,dunukofia plus onitsha, and not those dialects spoken in anambra south that sounds quite harsh,nasal and closer to what is obtainable in imo and abia.

pazienza:

I disagree with you. Anambra is but an artificial creation,not long ago,izzi and ezza people were anambrarians too.

The difference between idemili dialect and ekwulobia dialect is as big as that between idemili and other igbo tribes.

When most people say anambra language,they mean those dialects spoken in idenmili, njikoka,anaocha,dunukofia plus onitsha, and not those dialects spoken in anambra south that sounds quite harsh,nasal and closer to what is obtainable in imo and abia.

eziokwu ka ikwuru.anaram agunye asusu ndi south afu

pazienza:

I disagree with you. Anambra is but an artificial creation,not long ago,izzi and ezza people were anambrarians too.

The difference between idemili dialect and ekwulobia dialect is as big as that between idemili and other igbo tribes.

When most people say anambra language,they mean those dialects spoken in idenmili, njikoka,anaocha,dunukofia plus onitsha, and not those dialects spoken in anambra south that sounds quite harsh,nasal and closer to what is obtainable in imo and abia.

By anambra south, what areas and LGAs exactly? I do know that the border towns of Anambra with Imo, such as Uga and Ihiala (the Ihiala name alone doesn't sound anambra-like but Imo-like. The typical anambra version should have been ifiani or ifiana), speak dialects similar to that of Imo but I thought it only ended at the border towns? Or am I wrong? Please educate me.

Firstly, what is the goal of this thread?
To further divide ndigbo in Anambra!
Secondly, those of you who are to eager to spot slight differences and magnify them, I classify as puerile children.
Think well before you post.

Firstly, what is the goal of this thread?
To further divide ndigbo in Anambra!
Secondly, those of you who are to eager to spot slight differences and magnify them, I classify as puerile children.
Think well before you po7t.

Ikenga nri: eziokwu ka ikwuru.anaram agunye asusu ndi south afu

Nwatakiri, gupu ndi south afu(Aguata, Orumba south na north nakwa Ihiala) I neghari anya na mapu Anambara. I nwekwara ike i gupu Ogbaru na ndi Anambara East.
Umuaka na-amaro ife n'eme!

N'ime obodo m na Anambra south, enwere ife o gabu i sua, amatam mpaghari i si. Otua ka asusu Igbo di. Onwero oke mba n'enwero onv di otutu. Igbo nine bu ofu.

N'ime obodo m na Anambra south, enwere ife o gabu i sua, amatam mpaghari i si. Otua ka asusu Igbo di. Onwero oke mba n'enwero onu di otutu. Igbo nine bu ofu.

There are parts of Abia whose native language sounds similar to Onitsha, Igbo language is that diverse.

ezeagu: There are parts of Abia whose native language sounds similar to Onitsha, Igbo language is that diverse.

I was shocked some weeks ago when I encountered two Ohafia people speaking their dialect and they were using 'ife'. . I was like OMG! These people also speak 'ife'. Before then I thought only Anambra, Delta Igbo, Enugu and some select areas of Ebonyi used 'ife'/'ive'.
I've been to Aba twice and I noticed the variations in the dialects I heard there - ranging from anambra-like to abia-like dialects. But then I remembered that Afikpo (the last A in Abia - Aba, Bende, Isiukwuato and Afikpo) was originally part of Anambra first, then Enugu before Abia now.

bigfrancis21:
I was shocked some weeks ago when I encountered two Ohafia people speaking their dialect and they were using 'ife'. . I was like OMG! These people also speak 'ife'. Before then I thought only Anambra, Delta Igbo, Enugu and some select areas of Ebonyi used 'ife'/'ive'.
I've been to Aba twice and I noticed the variations in the dialects I heard there - ranging from anambra-like to abia-like dialects. But then I remembered that Afikpo (the last A in Abia - Aba, Bende, Isiukwuato and Afikpo) was originally part of Anambra first, then Enugu before Abia now.

Ohafia might be using 'f' in place of 'h' in lots of their words. But that's the only place the similarity between ohafia and anambra central groups began and ended. Even when ohafia say 'ife', you can't help noticing the nasal tinge they add to it,unlike the idemili version which is nasal free and very light. Ohafia dialect is very nasal.

Yujin:
Nwatakiri, gupu ndi south afu(Aguata, Orumba south na north nakwa Ihiala) I neghari anya na mapu Anambara. I nwekwara ike i gupu Ogbaru na ndi Anambara East.
Umuaka na-amaro ife n'eme!

You are getting it all wrong. What we are trying to do,is to remove the importance most igbos have come to attach to states of origin. We are exposing how stupid and naive it is,when people try to hold unto artificial creations like states of origin

I have met most igbos that when you ask where they are from,they would simply tell you their state of origin,and would feel more related to you,if you are from this new artificial identity of theirs.

States in igboland are as heterogenous as hell,with many different igbo tribes,placed on the same state.

As an idemili man, i am more related to an enuani man from delta state,than to an umunze man in orumba,who himself is more related to okigwe groups and umunneochi groups in imo and abia state.

It would be stupid for me to start wearing anambra at heart,seeing as anambra is but an artificial creation that not long ago,included ezza,izzi and even nkanu tribes.

Not long ago, there was just Anambra and Imo states in south east, myopic people rallied around those two artificial creation to create divisions in igboland, those days,to reduce the friction that was building up, the saying that anambra na imo bu umunne became a mantra, funny that immediately those two states were divided,people rallied around their new found identities of Enugu,abia,and ebonyi,while the remnant of the old imo and anambra,still held unto those two artificial creations.

A better approach for me would be,to give all those identities away, and wear igbo at heart,seeing that one way or the other,all igbo tribes are bound by one destiny.

ezeagu: There are parts of Abia whose native language sounds similar to Onitsha, Igbo language is that diverse.

I am sorry bro, no part of abia speaks anything close to onitsha dialect.

pazienza:

As an idemili man, i am more related to an enuani man from delta state,than to an umunze man in orumba,who himself is more related to okigwe groups and umunneochi groups in imo and abia state.

Even I myself as well. I feel more related to the enuani people of delta state. Historically, we are one people given the similarity of our spoken dialects. Our relations with the delta people never and didn't end at the River Niger. The decision of the FG to divide the deltaIgbo-anambra people using the River Niger as boundary line is one of the worse anti-Igbo blow that was dealt on us and it is the same decision that has led to the identity crisis of our delta Igbo brothers across the Niger. In Kogi state the same River Niger passes through the state with a bridge over it long enough like that of the River Niger bridge yet, the same river wasn't used as a boundary line to divide the Igala people into two. But they came to Igbo land and did a different thing.
In my opinion, Anambra state proper should have comprised of the current core-anambra speaking areas + the enuani-speaking areas of delta state (Asaba, Ogwashi-Ukwu, Oshimili, Aniocha, Ndokwa/Ukwuani). This would have given rise to a more language-homogenous state.

pazienza:

I am sorry bro, no part of abia speaks anything close to onitsha dialect.

I'm writing from first-hand experience of what I've heard. Ife, bu, replacing of h with f, I've heard it among Abia villagers.

ezeagu:

I'm writing from first-hand experience of what I've heard. Ife, bu, replacing of h with f, I've heard it among Abia villagers.

Those people that use "ifon", "ifen" or "iphe" are mostly Crossriver Igbos that live North of Umuahia to Abakaliki and greet with "Ka" or "Jokwa". No Abia dialect uses "wu" instead of "bu". I think "wu" starts around Imo State and ends at the Egbeda axis of Ikwerre via Ohaji. Every other Igbo dialect I've heard uses "bu".

bigfrancis21:
I was shocked some weeks ago when I encountered two Ohafia people speaking their dialect and they were using 'ife'. . I was like OMG! These people also speak 'ife'. Before then I thought only Anambra, Delta Igbo, Enugu and some select areas of Ebonyi used 'ife'/'ive'.
I've been to Aba twice and I noticed the variations in the dialects I heard there - ranging from anambra-like to abia-like dialects. But then I remembered that Afikpo (the last A in Abia - Aba, Bende, Isiukwuato and Afikpo) was originally part of Anambra first, then Enugu before Abia now.

The lingual diversity present in Abia state somewhat mirrors that which is found in the whole of Igboland. Abiriba, which is not even up to thirty kilometers from my hometown, shares a unique dialect with Ohafia. In addition to replacing 'h' with 'f', their dialect is extremely nasal and peculiar in its own way.

Abagworo:

Those people that use "ifon", "ifen" or "iphe" are mostly Crossriver Igbos that live North of Umuahia to Abakaliki and greet with "Ka" or "Jokwa". No Abia dialect uses "wu" instead of "bu". I think "wu" starts around Imo State and ends at the Egbeda axis of Ikwerre via Ohaji. Every other Igbo dialect I've heard uses "bu".

Ask anyone from Umuahia, they definitely use wu. Oh, and Ika also uses wu. Doesn't Ngwa even use wu as well? Listen to this, it's Umuahia music:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mGeidkhUNo

ezeagu:

Ask anyone from Umuahia, they definitely use wu. Oh, and Ika also uses wu. Doesn't Ngwa even use wu as well? Listen to this, it's Umuahia music:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mGeidkhUNo

Even my own native enugwu-ukwu people in anambra state use 'wu' instead of 'bu'. They say 'ive owuna' instead of 'ife obuna'.

I was listening to Morocco Maduka's song yesterday and I heard where he spoke 'oro' for house. I was surprised for I thought 'oro' was only spoken by the ikwerre people to mean house [ulo - olo (the igbanke people say olo) -oro]. I went back a few minutes just to be sure of what I heard and it was the same. I do know Morocco is from anambra and the dialect he used was pure anambra dialect. It then follows thatt he was singing in his particular anambra dialect and which means that an area of anambra say 'oro' instead of 'uno'. From the foregoing it means that Ikwerre is just as valid as any other Igbo dialect and it shares more similarities with Awka dialect, and a little more with Owerri dialect.

ezeagu:

Ask anyone from Umuahia, they definitely use wu. Oh, and Ika also uses wu. Doesn't Ngwa even use wu as well? Listen to this, it's Umuahia music:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mGeidkhUNo

Ngwa doesn't use "wu" but I don't know Umuahia town(Ibeku) real dialect but Oboro and Ikwuano that I know uses "bu" but when they want to speak a more centralized Igbo they could switch between the 2. This song was done in spoken Central Igbo used around Owerri axis and nothing like a dialect.

As for Ika, their similarity with Owerri is very uncommon to me based on what I've seen Agbotaen write as Ika. Even "Dein" is used in Owerri to refer to a senior or superior.

Ngwa uses either "bu" or "vu" depending on the sub-dialect. "O vu l'ezhi" in Ngwa means "O bu ezioku" or truth.

bigfrancis21:
Even my own native enugwu-ukwu people in anambra state use 'wu' instead of 'bu'. They say 'ive owuna' instead of 'ife obuna'.

I was listening to Morocco Maduka's song yesterday and I heard where he spoke 'oro' for house. I was surprised for I thought 'oro' was only spoken by the ikwerre people to mean house [ulo - olo (the igbanke people say olo) -oro]. I went back a few minutes just to be sure of what I heard and it was the same. I do know Morocco is from anambra and the dialect he used was pure anambra dialect. It then follows thatt he was singing in his particular anambra dialect and which means that an area of anambra say 'oro' instead of 'uno'. From the foregoing it means that Ikwerre is just as valid as any other Igbo dialect and it shares more similarities with Awka dialect, and a little more with Owerri dialect.

The variance in "oro" might be more vast than we assume. Igbo language has not really been explored to its fullest because early studies were done assuming everyone spoke exactly alike and that might have eclipsed some less popular dialects. "Uyo" is Oratta version while Isu uses "oulow" which is different from central "Ulo"/"Uno". Awka dialect is another strange dialect like Isuama with abnormal pronunciations which majority of Igbos will find difficult to understand. Onitsha/Idemili to me is the easiest non-central Igbo and should be easily understood by most Igbos.


As someone familiar with the dialects, I believe Ikwerre, Ohaji, Oratta(Owerri and Ngor) and Etche speak versions of similar dialect with little variations here and there. Ngwa, Asa, Ndoki, Mbaise and Omuma(Eastern Etche) also speak similar dialect with variations.

Abagworo:

Ngwa doesn't use "wu" but I don't know Umuahia town(Ibeku) real dialect but Oboro and Ikwuano that I know uses "bu" but when they want to speak a more centralized Igbo they could switch between the 2. This song was done in spoken Central Igbo used around Owerri axis and nothing like a dialect.

As for Ika, their similarity with Owerri is very uncommon to me based on what I've seen Agbotaen write as Ika. Even "Dein" is used in Owerri to refer to a senior or superior.

Ngwa uses either "bu" or "vu" depending on the sub-dialect. "O vu l'ezhi" in Ngwa means "O bu ezioku" or truth.

No, standard Igbo only uses bu. I may have been wrong about Ngwa, but I can guarantee 100% that some parts of Umuahia at least use wu. Central Igbo was based on the Ohuhu dialect of Umuahia with some other influences and changes such as the wu to bu.

The only way to be sure is to ask an Umuahia person.

pazienza:

You are getting it all wrong. What we are trying to do,is to remove the importance most igbos have come to attach to states of origin. We are exposing how stupid and naive it is,when people try to hold unto artificial creations like states of origin

I have met most igbos that when you ask where they are from,they would simply tell you their state of origin,and would feel more related to you,if you are from this new artificial identity of theirs.

States in igboland are as heterogenous as hell,with many different igbo tribes,placed on the same state.

As an idemili man, i am more related to an enuani man from delta state,than to an umunze man in orumba,who himself is more related to okigwe groups and umunneochi groups in imo and abia state.

It would be stupid for me to start wearing anambra at heart,seeing as anambra is but an artificial creation that not long ago,included ezza,izzi and even nkanu tribes.

Not long ago, there was just Anambra and Imo states in south east, myopic people rallied around those two artificial creation to create divisions in igboland, those days,to reduce the friction that was building up, the saying that anambra na imo bu umunne became a mantra, funny that immediately those two states were divided,people rallied around their new found identities of Enugu,abia,and ebonyi,while the remnant of the old imo and anambra,still held unto those two artificial creations.

A better approach for me would be,to give all those identities away, and wear igbo at heart,seeing that one way or the other,all igbo tribes are bound by one destiny.

thanks for this contribution. I wrote that to dissuade some ignorant ones who want to cast aspersion on their kins.

In my dialect, we use 'ghu' for 'bu', 'gu' for 'gi'; arunshi for alusi etc.
While going through my genealogy, I came across a name 'Nwanri'. This got me thinking wide... possible Nri connection. However, some of my people say its an arochukwu warrior that founded my town but if so, why is it called Umunze when it is clear that the Aros did/do not practise the nze titleship?
Again, the large Ikoro (about the size of 2000ltrs GP tank) found in each of the villages that constitute my town was said to have been carved by some men from Umudioka(whether that of Awkuzu or Dunukofia, I know not).
Generally, communities that are close tend to have that sense of kinship because interactions over the years help shape their separate dialects to be more similar hence the Idemili/Oshimili similarity, Orumba/ Isuochi-Okigwe similarity, Uratta-Mbaise/Etche similarity etc.
Finally, their are many dialects in Anambra but we are comfortable with Onitsha dialect or Igbo Izugbe yet when we converge in our local assemblies, the common dialect rules.
4gbo nine bu ofu.

Yujin: In my dialect, we use 'ghu' for 'bu', 'gu' for 'gi'; arunshi for alusi etc.
While going through my genealogy, I came across a name 'Nwanri'. This got me thinking wide... possible Nri connection. However, some of my people say its an arochukwu warrior that founded my town but if so, why is it called Umunze when it is clear that the Aros did/do not practise the nze titleship?

Nze, the name, and the "Nze" in the Nze/Ozo titleship could simply be coincidence. So far, no evidence has been discovered to suggest that the two are mutually inclusive.

D

ChinenyeN:
Nze, the name, and the "Nze" in the Nze/Ozo titleship could simply be coincidence. So far, no evidence has been discovered to suggest that the two are mutually inclusive.

Nwokem,"Nze" means to refrain from evil/sin in all of Igbo land and that's the idea for taking Nze na Ozo title. In taking the title you abstain from doing evil things.

@Yijin,you are not alone,nwanne. Even my town,Umuoji was said to have been founded by an Aro warrior,yet,there is no atom and I mean there is no single trace of Aro culture tradition nor social structure to support such concotion. Well,for us Umuojians we know for a fact that Okodu is a direct decendant of "Ifikuanim". We do have Aro settlers but most of them don't even know their forefathers were settlers but we call them "Umuobia"(visitors) but today they are part of us. I will advice you to disregard those concotion of a story because they are bunch of lise because we know the settlers among us. Don't you let anybody take your identity away and sell it to strangers who has no defined culture!

Nri ji Offor Igbo!

Ala Ngwa,I have asked you to define what "Nzenwata" mean in Ngwa but you dodged that question...smh .