Bobsky:
"Oyibo" is an Urhobo name.

The name comes in variations such as:

Omoyibo, abbreviated as Moyibo is a unisex name and means "little white" or "fair skinned person."

Oyibo, also a unisex name and means "white" or "fair skinned person."

Oyibonanarhoro, abbreviated as Oyiborhoro, Oyibo, or Oyibode, a male name and means "this is a big white"/ fair skinned person."

Oyiborhoro, abbreviated as Oyibode or Oyibo, also male name and means a "big white/ fair skinned person."

Oyiborode, abbreviated as Oyibode or Oyibo, also a male name and means a "big white" or "fair skinned person."

Yes so is Ologun which is a borrowed Yoruba word

Ogedenge is also a Yoruba word

All these are urhobo names of Yoruba origin

Omo means the same in Yoruba and urhobo thanks to bini

Ologbo means cat in Yoruba and same in urhobo again thanks to bini for borrowing Yoruba words to the south south

So much nonsense coming from that Yoruba supremacist up there.

Probz:
So much nonsense coming from that Yoruba supremacist up there.

I hope you are not talking about my mention. If I have lied them point it out.

aljharem:


I hope you are not talking about my mention. If I have lied them point it out.

Who else would I be talking about?

Oyibo, Onyinbo, Oyinbo, Beeke etc refers to same.
English language itself has so many borrowed words so your arguments here are null and void.
Na to fight over etymology of a word people who coined don die finish.

aljharem:
One thing igbos do is that they hate to admit that they have learnt a lot from Yoruba and Hausa especially the yorubas

Oyinbo or oyibo, ashewo, moin moin, boli, egusi etc are all of Yoruba origin

Now in igbo weddings we have Aso ebi, agbada etc which are yoruba origin as well.

The truth is that igbos before colonialism where forest dwelling people unlike yorubas, nupe, fulani and hausas that travelled a lot.

Even my great grand father when going to hajj want to Mecca by foot. Took him about 8 months or so.

There have mixing of cultures before the igbos became civilised so it is only natural for them to borrow from us.

Not only that things like moin moin beans and melon seed only grow in arid land which the igbos never had.

Please Don't be offended but it is the truth.

Agidi, oka, ogiri, egusi, akara and moi moi are shared. The rest of your post is nonsense for obvious reasons and you know that.

Probz:


Agidi, oka, ogiri, egusi, akara and moi moi are shared. The rest of your post is nonsense for obvious reasons and you know that.

Agreed about the list except for a few areas.
I don't think ogiri is a Yoruba word, I may be wrong though.
moi moi and akara are exclusively Yoruba. Why? The main ingredient, black eyed peas are grown in dryer climate zones found in Yorubaland and Hausaland.
Also, Akara has a direct meaning in Yoruba. it is the generic term for pastry or cake. For example, Akara Ogbomoso, is a type of savory pastry from Ogbomoso which is made from corn. The word for a Western cake is Akara oyinbo/ Akara enbo. Akara also has a deeply cultural symbolism in Yoruba culture as it's eaten as a funeral rite for the old after a certain age. The equivalence of Yoruba's moi moi is Igbo's ukpo.

Dilish007:




Oga the person u quoted is correct.
The white is referred to as Ndi Ocha or Ndi Beke in igbo land. In the yoruba land, the white man is referred to as Awon Oyinbo. In pidgin its Oyibo pipu.

Dont put people down cos u cant find d strength to climb, just take a fvcking seat n chill.

We also say ndi oyibo.

9jakool:

Agreed about the list except for a few areas.
I don't think ogiri is a Yoruba word, I may be wrong though.
moi moi and akara are exclusively Yoruba. Why? The main ingredient, black eyed peas are grown in dryer climate zones found in Yorubaland and Hausaland.
Also, Akara has a direct meaning in Yoruba. it is the generic term for pastry or cake. For example, Akara Ogbomoso, is a type of savory pastry from Ogbomoso which is made from corn. The word for a Western cake is Akara oyinbo/ Akara enbo. Akara also has a deeply cultural symbolism in Yoruba culture as it's eaten as a funeral rite for the old after a certain age. The equivalence of Yoruba's moi moi is Igbo's ukpo.

All I know is that Yorubas use moin moin and we say mai-mai (in a typical Igbo accent). I've seen akara talked about in ancient Igbo adages. The ultimate etymology might be Yoruba but it's more of a shared word than direct loan. You might get away with it if you were talking about Ijaw or Gwari but Igbo and Yoruba share a lot of root words and we've both been influenced by Igala in the middle.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OiynbBvMblcC&pg=PA155&dq=Igbo+Yoruba+mai+mai+moin+moin&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Igbo%20Yoruba%20mai%20mai%20moin%20moin&f=false

Ogiri's shared. I know the obvious Yoruba version is iru but I heard ogiri's also used deep in the SW and the above book says that too. It's a bit like ogi/akamu and agidi/eko. Igbos use both terms for pap while akamu's a foreign word in Yoruba. Yorubas use both agidi and eko for cornmeal but we only use agidi across the Niger. That book explains how.

Edit: iru’s the Yoruba equivalent of okpei (locust bean). Actual ogiri’s made from castor oil.

Probz:


All I know is that Yorubas use moin moin and we say mai-mai (in a typical Igbo accent). I've seen akara talked about in ancient Igbo adages. The ultimate etymology might be Yoruba but it's more of a shared word than direct loan. You might get away with it if you were talking about Ijaw or Gwari but Igbo and Yoruba share a lot of root words and we've both been influenced by Igala in the middle.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OiynbBvMblcC&pg=PA155&dq=Igbo+Yoruba+mai+mai+moin+moin&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Igbo%20Yoruba%20mai%20mai%20moin%20moin&f=false

Ogiri's shared. I know the obvious Yoruba version is iru but I heard ogiri's also used deep in the SW and the above book says that too. It's a bit like ogi/akamu and agidi/eko. Igbos use both terms for pap while akamu's a foreign word in Yoruba. Yorubas use both agidi and eko for cornmeal but we only use agidi across the Niger. That book explains how.

I'm still skeptical. Akara is used as offering for orisas in Yoruba religious beliefs as well as a key food used in ebora. I think it's a bit odd that two cultures that had limited contact developed the same/very similar terms for a relatively complex dish like moin moin or akara. Isn't ukpo a more accurate word for something similar like moimoi in Igbo? I understand ogede as a shared etymology because it's just a plain plant/fruit not a dish.

I don't think Igala influenced Yoruba since they've been culturally and linguistically cut off from Yoruba by the Niger and the Ebira for ages. The similarity is just from Igala and Yoruba sharing common ancestor. Akamu is used by some Yoruba and its derived from Oka- corn and Mu- drink.
Agidi could be a shared term.

Probz:


Agidi, oka, ogiri, egusi, akara and moi moi are shared. The rest of your post is nonsense for obvious reasons and you know that.

Agidi and Oka are Igbo words

Egusi can never be igbo. Melon does not naturally grow in the east

Bean for moin moin does not grow in the East

What nonsense ?

aljharem:


Agidi and Oka are Igbo words

Egusi can never be igbo. Melon does not naturally grow in the east

Bean for moin moin does not grow in the East

What nonsense ?

It's nonsense that you don't know agidi and oka are used in Yoruba being the afonja supremacist you are.

Probz:
It's nonsense that you don't know agidi and oka are used in Yoruba being the afonja supremacist you are.

It is used but it is called Egidi not Agidi.
And yes Oka means corn in Yoruba.

I believe Bigfrancis and the great Igbo contingent had done justice to this topic many times before. Why are Yoruba's bringing this issue again.
https://www.nairaland.com/3484784/real-originator-these-popular-words/1


https://www.nairaland.com/893361/oyibo-oyinbo..which-correct/6

Please enough of this nonsense, I can already see Yoruba people claiming Igbo to spew trash here.

The academic fact remains that the earliest documented use of the word Oyibo in Nigeria was in Igboland, amongst Igbo people.

[b]
"Great post but http://ukpuru.tumblr.com/search/bekee , https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=aoCMN_twPJUC&pg=PA62&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://ukpuru.tumblr.com/post/115997041797/igbo-ubani-bonny-island-dialect-word-list-by

'Some notes: We’ve been told that ‘bèké’ ‘foreigner/white man’ is corrupted from William Balfour Baikie’s name, however ákụ́ bèké and mmanyá bèké are on this list published in 1830, six years after Baikie’s birth, so that’s out the window.'

Re. bekee, I honestly think this mbracka-buckra-bekee theory is much more plausible. And it explains why it's only southern Igbos that use bekee (Cross River/Akwa Ibom to Abia/Imo - i.e., the Igbo hinterland).

'Also, the Igbo word for "white man colonizer" is "bia i ke," meaning "they have come to divide"; however, that was corrupted to be called bekee. Some authors have incorrectly said that it was the name of the English explorer Dr William Baikie.'

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=594cCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT194&dq=bekee+divide+baikie&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjL4ammnNfQAhVRF8AKHZkECicQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=bekee%20divide%20baikie&f=false

Baikie's theory is definitely out of the window. I think it's definitely either one or the other of the above."[/b]

pazienza:
Please enough of this nonsense, I can already see Yoruba people claiming Igbo to spew trash here.

The academic fact remains that the earliest documented use of the word Oyibo in Nigeria was in Igboland, amongst Igbo people.

You should read ur brother's comment here:

AndreUweh:
In Southern Igbo areas e.g Abia, Imo and Upland Rivers state including Bonny and Opobo, Oyibo is hardly used for Europeans. Bekee or Nwabeeke, onye ocha or Ndiocha is used instead of Oyibo. The Igbo groups that uses Oyibo are Western and northern Igbos.
The southern Igbo people were the first to encounter the Europeans and they did not call them Oyibos but Ndi ocha.
@Odumchi and Alh Uche, there is no winner or loser here.

When swamp Igbos don't use Oyibo , na Enugu Igbo on a hill close to Benue wey neva see white man until like when.... go come dey claim ownership of a Yoruba word.

Stop lying bro. Oyinbo is a Yoruba word. Anambra/Enugu Igbos denasalised it by removing the nasal n before the B, because their dialects lacked nasalizations. And from there, it entered pidgin as Oyibo, because majority of yorubas do not go near pidgin. But now, the Yoruba form is gradually coming back to take pre-eminence if you notice the internet very well.

pazienza:
Please enough of this nonsense, I can already see Yoruba people claiming Igbo to spew trash here.

The academic fact remains that the earliest documented use of the word Oyibo in Nigeria was in Igboland, amongst Igbo people.

Which means nothing since language predates written history.

The problem here is really a simple one: Oyinbo is more than likely a Yoruba word because it can be broken down within the language.

However, that does not mean that the word couldn't be of shared heritage, or is a simple coincidence unrelated to the similar-sounding Igbo word oyibo.

With that said, it baffles me why tribalism is still so rampant in this day and age. People borrow words all the time. English sef is a result of extensive borrowing. You all ignore the truth and would rather chase the half-truth to dismiss the actual truth.

The fact is also that you can never definitely prove a word's origin 100%, but based on the evidence we do have, it would be silly to claim that oyinbo isn't a Yoruba word. Meanwhile no one really knows where the Igbo oyibo came from. It may either be unrelated, shared or borrowed. However, pretty much every Igbo/Yoruba word that cannot be broken down into pieces is likely to be borrowed. If that is the case, then no one knows whether oyibo was borrowed from Yoruba or another source.

AbakalikiPress:


You should read ur brother's comment here:




When swamp Igbos don't use Oyibo , na Enugu Igbo on a hill close to Benue wey neva see white man until like when.... go come dey claim ownership of a Yoruba word.

Stop lying bro. Oyinbo is a Yoruba word. Anambra/Enugu Igbos denasalised it by removing the nasal n before the B, because their dialects lacked nasalizations. And from there, it entered pidgin as Oyibo, because majority of yorubas do not go near pidgin. But now, the Yoruba form is gradually coming back to take pre-eminence if you notice the internet very well.

Stop talking trash. Andrew uweh is from Imo state, where the call the white man bekee, he is not from Anambra /Enugu /Delta Igbo area where the white man have been called Oyibo since antiquity.
He is entitled to his own opinions and not facts, I don't know what you think you can prove by quoting him.

pazienza:


Stop talking trash. Andrew uweh is from Imo state, where the call the white man bekee, he is not from Anambra /Enugu /Delta Igbo area where the white man have been called Oyibo since antiquity.
He is entitled to his own opinions and not facts, I don't know what you think you can prove by quoting him.

The truth of course.

Most slaves from Igboland were conveyed mainly via forests, or two main rivers. The Imo river and the Cross River. Both in Southern Igboland area.
So I don't exactly get ur lies that Oyibo was igbo mockery of white people asking for "Onye Igbo". Shey na Awka abi Nsukka people dem dey ask for Igbo pple from abi, Oratta and Ngwa.

Decide for yourself.

StarFlux:
Which means nothing since language predates written history.

The problem here is really a simple one: Oyinbo is more than likely a Yoruba word because it can be broken down within the language.

However, that does not mean that the word couldn't be of shared heritage, or is a simple coincidence unrelated to the similar-sounding Igbo word oyibo.

With that said, it baffles me why tribalism is still so rampant in this day and age. People borrow words all the time. English sef is a result of extensive borrowing. You all ignore the truth and would rather chase the half-truth to dismiss the actual truth.

The fact is also that you can never definitely prove a word's origin 100%, but based on the evidence we do have, it would be silly to claim that oyinbo isn't a Yoruba word. Meanwhile no one really knows where the Igbo oyibo came from. It may either be unrelated, shared or borrowed. However, pretty much every Igbo/Yoruba word that cannot be broken down into pieces is likely to be borrowed. If that is the case, then no one knows whether oyibo was borrowed from Yoruba or another source.

Oyibo is an Igbo word ,and Ndiigbo have a historical explanation of how that word came about, and this is backed by historical data recorded by the whites, that placed the very first usage of that word to be amongst Igbo speaking people.

I don't give a dead rat about your Yoruba Oyinbo or it's explanation, and by the way, stop acting neutral, you obviously are Yorubacentric, embrace it, there is no shame in it. No one is deceived by your desperate failed attempt at claiming neutral and "detribalized ".

pazienza:


Oyibo is an Igbo word ,and Ndiigbo have a historical explanation of how that word came about, and this is backed by historical data recorded by the whites, that placed the very first usage of that word to be amongst Igbo speaking people.

I don't give a dead rat about your Yoruba Oyinbo or it's explanation, and by the way, stop acting neutral, you obviously are Yorubacentric, embrace it, there is no shame in it. No one is deceived by your desperate failed attempt at claiming neutral and "detribalized ".

Stop lying!!
Cultural revisionist.!... chei otu asi.

AbakalikiPress:


The truth of course.

Most slaves from Igboland were conveyed mainly via forests, or two main rivers. The Imo river and the Cross River. Both in Southern Igboland area.
So I don't exactly get ur lies that Oyibo was igbo mockery of white people asking for "Onye Igbo". Shey na Awka abi Nsukka people dem dey ask for Igbo pple from abi, Oratta and Ngwa.

Decide for yourself.

Provide just one historical record by white men, of Yorubas calling them Oyibo. Just one.

Your peeled skin kodi honey lies is embarrassing, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

pazienza:

Provide just one historical record by white men, of Yorubas calling them Oyibo. Just one.

Your peeled skin kodi honey lies is embarrassing, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

You are the one who should be ashamed for trying so desperately to weave a fable round the meaning of Oyibo.
Of all the explanations, the igbo one sounded the most like a fairytale. Even the Bini one made more sense.

Out of Nigeria's East and West Coast, which people saw white people first?
Hian!

"I have the intention of putting this across a long while ago, I believe now is the time. So how did the word Oyinbo crept up in Yoruba lexicon? This piece might help. The Yoruba has been familiar with different races from the onset of time. The Yoruba were a race of diverse races at one point in their history. To the Yoruba ancestors, the white were not always "Oyinbo", the most tenable word for a white person with the ancient Yoruba is Ofun.

Originally however, the parent word for 'Oyinbo' may have come from the Fon kingdom of Dahomey, who contacted the white folks first after the long seperation from that race. The Fon for a white man is 'Yevo'. This word is derived from 'Oye' and 'Ovo', meaning, "of different shade".

To the Fon, mankind is called Gbetor, meaning 'father of life', now the word in full is a phrase, 'Gbetor-yenor' meaning, 'a shadow (or replica) of the father of life'. That establishes 'ye' as in 'yes' as shade or shadow in that language. For instance, Yesehmeh in that language stands for 'shade's transit point'. Again, racial shade is known to this people.

To the ancient Yoruba, white- man is 'e fun', we still say it in Yoruba language as 'Oyinbo-alawo-funfun'. That's a long-tail-expression however. Some Yoruba ancestors were white-skinned. It shows in the way Yoruba peoples named them afterwards based on their colour.

For instance, the word Efunyela simply means "white skin is befitting to Ela". The Yoruba perception of their ancestors can also be observed in the way Yoruba sees the albino. They says, owo koko lafii wogi, owo Orisha lafii wo afin. Afin are spotted with Orisha, who are Yoruba ancestors.

The Yoruba equally have black heros. One of the black hero in annal of Yoruba history was Odu. And in that regards is the folksong, "eye melo t'olongo wale?"...'Okan Dudu-Aro, Okan Sese Osun'. Hope you don't take the nursery rhyme as worthless. 'Duduaro' in another way round is 'Odunaro' a Yoruba surname spotting with a black thinker in annals of Yoruba history.

"Sese Osun" is also a historical phrase, we speak of Osun as "Osun-se-ngese, Olooya 'yun" and also 'etu obeje elese osun', a totem of mother Osun, the matriarch of Yoruba race. Osun was a black beauty of Yoruba history, hence it is said, 'Odu eleyinju ege'. Osun is o su, that is of dark shade. Another way of putting it clearer is O du."

I got that digging around on Nairaland. Oyinbo conceived of there doesn't even originate from the Yoruba but the country of Benin. All I can see is Yorubas attaching a meaning to everything and then claiming it to theirs. I dunno.

The "oye Ibo"-oyibo theory is very plausible. I can get behind the Yoruba remix (oyinbo) but the fact that it's pronounced oyibo even by the Yorubas makes me wonder. Or is the "n" in "oyin" semi-silent?

AbakalikiPress:


You are the one who should be ashamed for trying so desperately to weave a fable round the meaning of Oyibo.
Of all the explanations, the igbo one sounded the most like a fairytale. Even the Bini one made more sense.

Out of Nigeria's East and West Coast, which people saw white people first?
Hian!

Furthermore, at Aboh "R. A. K. Oldfield, a European, while on the Niger River near Aboh in 1832 had recorded locals calling out to him and his entourage "Oh, Eboe! Oh, Eboe!" meaning "White man, White man!" linked to modern 'oyibo'."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyibo
Meanwhile, we still await any historical narrative by the whites, where they were referred as Oyinbo by native Yoruba speaking people.
Shamless lots.

pazienza:



Furthermore, at Aboh "R. A. K. Oldfield, a European, while on the Niger River near Aboh in 1832 had recorded locals calling out to him and his entourage "Oh, Eboe! Oh, Eboe!" meaning "White man, White man!" linked to modern 'oyibo'."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyibo
Meanwhile, we still await any historical narrative by the whites, where they were referred as Oyinbo by native Yoruba speaking people.
Shamless lots.

It is no longer Onye Igbo, it is now Oh! Eboe!
lol.... lies can't keep up!

AbakalikiPress:


It is no longer Onye Igbo, it is now Oh! Eboe!
lol.... lies can't keep up!

That's how the white man wrote it, using his own orthography. Just as they wrote Ibo/Igbo as Eboe, Ngwa as Ungua, it's not hard to see that "Oh Eboe" is Oyibo when written with the correct orthography.

pazienza:


Oyibo is an Igbo word ,and Ndiigbo have a historical explanation of how that word came about, and this is backed by historical data recorded by the whites, that placed the very first usage of that word to be amongst Igbo speaking people.

I don't give a dead rat about your Yoruba Oyinbo or it's explanation, and by the way, stop acting neutral, you obviously are Yorubacentric, embrace it, there is no shame in it. No one is deceived by your desperate failed attempt at claiming neutral and "detribalized ".

Right. Instead of countering my argument you apply fallacy, interesting. You're more than likely unfamiliar with the concept of fallacy, so I'll allow you to google it and educate yourself on the subject.

You fail to realize (despite your best intentions, I'm sure) that whether a word was recorded first or written down first, here or there is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Take this experiment of thought: Let's assume France had no written language. Let's assume that the French word for sky ciel was first recorded and used in an English poem before any French references - Would that make the word English? Sure (it makes it a borrowed English word), but not English of origin. The same logic can be applied to oyibo.

The simple fact is that oyibo makes no sense in Igbo by itself which is one sign that it might've been borrowed. You mention "historical reasons" and list a bunch of people shouting the word at the white men. That gives us nothing on the origin of the word. If it is, as you say, obvious that the word is Igbo - Why can't you be so kind and break down the word for us: syllable by syllable.

I'm patiently awaiting your break down of the word.

pazienza:


That's how the white man wrote it, using his own orthography. Just as they wrote Ibo/Igbo as Eboe, Ngwa as Ungua, it's not hard to see that "Oh Eboe" is Oyibo when written with the correct orthography.

Another Ika man already came on this thread and said that they still use Onye Ebo to refer to white people in his village, and not oyibo.
So, tell me what stopped the Southern Igbos from doing the same?

Ndi Ocha was the Original Igbo word for Europeans. It is not hard to see that later on, Bekee and Oyinbo came via external influences based on which people the different mba Igbo were relating with at the time. Oyibo from the Western front through Edo/Delta axis. and Bekee from the Southern coastal front.

StarFlux:
Right. Instead of countering my argument you apply fallacy, interesting. You're more than likely unfamiliar with the concept of fallacy, so I'll allow you to google it and educate yourself on the subject.

You fail to realize (despite your best intentions, I'm sure) that whether a word was recorded first or written down first, here or there is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Take this experiment of thought: Let's assume France had no written language. Let's assume that the French word for sky ciel was first recorded and used in an English poem before any French references - Would that make the word English? Sure (it makes it a borrowed English word), but not English of origin. The same logic can be applied to oyibo.

The simple fact is that oyibo makes no sense in Igbo by itself which is one sign that it might've been borrowed. You mention "historical reasons" and list a bunch of people shouting the word at the white men. That gives us nothing on the origin of the word. If it is, as you say, obvious that the word is Igbo - Why can't you be so kind and break down the word for us: syllable by syllable.

I'm patiently awaiting your break down of the word.

You dey mind am? That guy na core Igbo supremacist, so mind how you deal with him.
By the way, there is als a written historical account that dates to the 1830s of Yoruba people referring to whites as Oibo or Oyibo..... I think I saw someone post it somewhere before.
So it's not even as if there are no written records of them using it from way back.