NewStats: 3,259,588 , 8,170,565 topics. Date: Sunday, 25 May 2025 at 04:31 PM 11654m

uchefefe:


My understanding skills really vary. If it's written text in Izugbe with accent marks and the like I can maybe understand 5/6 out of 10. I learned mostly from books in Izugbe so if someone isn't writing in it or using the standard writing conventions my comprehension goes down a lot.

Verbally a struggle much more, maybe 2/3 out of 10. I can understand simple commands and phases, but I get lost in actual conversation. I actually understand Yoruba and Hausa better verbally despite not having studied them as long. It just seems like in Igbo an entire sentence gets mushed into one long word and I can't tell where one word begins and the other ends. I think listening more to movies with subtitles may help with that though.

I can ask two more questions, my first is how can I differentiate between the present tense and present continuous tense?

For example in English I can say:
I go to school
I am going to school

In Igbo I can say:
Ana m eje n'ulo akwukwu

Is that equal to both of the above phrases? Or is it just one of them?


My second question is sometime I see "m" in front of verbs for the first person singular pronoun instead of at the end.
For example:
Aga m agwara ha = M ga-agwara ha

Is this also a dialect thing or are they used interchangeably?

@bold...
In Igbo, the first person can often be said in 2 ways:

M ga-abia - I will come, or
Aga m abia - I will come

From my observation, northern Igbo dialects such as Anambra, Enugu, Delta Igbo etc tend to use the first one in spoken speech and southern Igbo dialects (Imo, Abia etc) often prefer the second one. Due to Igbo Izugbe and inter-mixing of Igbos from across all regions, both could be heard used interchangeably but they both mean the same thing. More examples would be:

M ga-eje Enugu
Aga m eje Enugu - I will go to Enugu

M ga-eli nni
Aga m eli nni - I will eat food

M ga-agwa ha
Aga m agwa ha - I will tell them etc.

For me personally, I often use the first sentence structure vs the second one.

As regards present tense vs present continuous tense in Igbo, I think that feature is absent in Igbo language, as with several other African languages. Ana m eje and M na-eje both mean the same exact thing in Igbo. However, there are other ways an Igbo speaker could express present tense vs present continuous tense differently. Take for example:

Abu m nwa akwukwo
M bu nwa akwukwo - I am a student

M na-eje akwukwo - I am going to school ('akwukwo' in short is often used for 'school' vs 'ulo akwukwo', like islayer said, sometimes in spoken speech speakers tend to shorten words as they find convenient).

uchefefe:
@SmallSimba
Thank you for your insight! It is true about Africans not taking their languages seriously; I hope that attitude will soon change though.
I don't think Igbo has noun classes like Bantu languages, but tone and vowel harmony have definitely been huge obstacles for me.

There is also this property of Igbo called olilo uduame or vowel swallowing. For example ugbo ala which means car is pronounced "ugbaala". It makes it difficult for me to interpret words because I learn the sound ugbo as vehicle but suddenly it become ugba because of the word that follows it. I also can't figure out the pattern for when this is done. Names like Ifeoma are pronounced "Ifoma" but Chioma seems to always be pronounced as it sounds. If anyone has insight on this I would be very grateful.

@Shawncavendish
Thank you for pointing this out! No Igbo resourced I've used point out tone, so I was not aware of this fact.
Izugbe may be understood by most people fluent in an organic dialect, but a person who only knows Izugbe cannot understand any organic dialect well. There in lies my problem when watching movies and listening to people talk as most verbal sourced I've found are in an organic dialect

@memgbe
Thank you! I will look into this book and see if there is an online copy somewhere.

@grandstar
You don't have to worry too much about me when if comes to that. I've been told a lot about how things are their. When I marry it will have to be with someone with a genuine love for African who isn't just looking for a way out. I'll take the power outages and crime rate over other things I've experienced in America. Plus when I master my Igbo and pidgin, dem no go even think a be yankee pikin sef (hopefully I said that right)

@bigfrancis21
Thank you so much for clarifying this for me! I've always been confused by it. The woman who taught me told me ndi onitsha use -lu to instead of repeating the vowel after an "r". But then when I here people in my family speak they don't use that at all. Elilu m nni becomes eli m nni.
I thought adding -lu or an "r" before another vowel represented the past tense, while omitting them is like the infinitive. Am I wrong on this?

Essentially:
Elilu m nni = I ate food
Anam eli nni = I am eating food
Agam eli nni = I will eat food

Is elii m nni also I ate food in certain dialects or is it a different tense?

Also, are there language laws that exist or are being made to promote Igbo? I know in Lagos they ed that law recently that made Yoruba mandatory for schools and colleges in the state, is there something similar in Ala Igbo?

@izzychap
I would be very interested in that! I will you soon.


Also, for those mentioning Pidgin, are their actual resources available that teach it? I've mostly just picked up what I know from hearing people talk. If there's is anything available I wouldn't mind increasing my Pidgin skills as well.

You can learn to understand different Igbo dialects by watching movies. No one understands all the dialects. I've lived in Igbo land for more than 30 years but I still can't understand some distant dialects.

My guy, just learn pigin english. Igbo's are crook set of beings and mock u when u dnt understand them. D same 4d yoruba's, i have travelled and and stayed in different part of nigeria. D hausa's are hospitable than the two other tribes. And if u want to settle in d country, settle at abuja

...

.

Evangkatsoulis:


You don't have to learn any nigerian language.
The standard language in Nigeria is English(British english) and pidgin english.
You weren't born or bred in Nigeria, you likely know no body here. So forget about your Nigerian roots and move on.
Unless you want to stay in underdeveloped erosion-ridden south yeastern area of Nigeria you do not need Igbo.
Abuja, Lagos and Ph are the active places in Nigeria and you don't need any local language to go through.

You're demented and shouldn't have the title of an evangelist attached to your name. You don't have to insult her place of origin to across your message.

Well @ uchefefe, I commend your resolve at learning an African language and more specifically, your language of origin. Anyone who tells you to do otherwise isn't trying to help. I understand why some Igbos are reluctant to teach you. They simply feel they don't have the time for such and it clearly shows they don't value it. There are millions of other Igbos who value the language. Generally, most Igbos are lethargic in teaching others cultural stuffs . I really suspect that the politics of Nigeria did that damage. I noticed even our traditional cuisine that have become so popular in Nigeria have started to lose their Igbo names. We find is so convenient to translate the Igbo names of our food to English. No other groups do that. Today, 'Onugbu' soup is now called 'bitterleaf' soup; 'Nsala' is called 'white' soup etc. This is very bad and I personally have been trying my best to correct this wherever I see it.
I want to encourage you to continue your struggle in learning Igbo. It is your heritage and you must enjoy it. Our proverbs and idiomatic expressions are second to none and it's only when you really understand Igbo that you can enjoy them. The Late Prof. Chinua Achebe wrote this expression in Igbo; "Ilu bu mmanu Igbo ji eli okwu". It means the proverbs are the oil with which Ndigbo eat their speeches. Igbos convey messages better among themselves using proverbs. It is better enjoy when spoken in Igbo.
Myself at a younger age was deficient in Igbo despite living with my parents who are from the same town. I couldn't string three complete sentences in Igbo without adding English. I couldn't even convey messages in my dialect. It was that bad for me. We were speaking the language of the community where we were born outside Igboland. My parents were actually speaking Igbo to us but we the children prefer communicating in English or the local language among ourselves. I got ashamed of myself one day and vowed to correct that anomaly. It was difficult at the beginning but today, I'm very proficient both in speaking and writing despite never ever attending any Igbo lessons. Today, I consciously avoid the common pitfalls of mixing English in Igbo sentences. You can do it too. Pls, don't give up. Watch Igbo movies and other conversational videos or audios to assist you. Izugbe only helps when it comes to proper spellings and other academic purposes. Make it a habit to speak to any Igbo person you meet in Igbo and insist on continuing in Igbo. Most will eventually become comfortable to speak it with you including your father. I wish there's any other way I can help you.
I'll conclude by saying this in Igbo;
Nne, jisie ike na mbo I n'agba n'imuta asusu Igbo. Tupu I mara ihe n'eme, I mutasigo asusu anyi.

Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, even Ijaw dem are all beautiful languages and starting with one is the key....

However, that name "Nigeria", research where it came from, and research where the name England comes from.....


Just saying...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpe-lGWH3AM

Yujin:

You're demented and shouldn't have the title of an evangelist attached to your name. You don't have to insult her place of origin to across your message.

Err, insult her homeland?
I am also from the south east.
Every I said is a fact.

Evangkatsoulis:


Err, insult her homeland?
I am also from the south east.
Every I said is a fact.

Why are you lying? This your character is typical of a particular ethnic group from Nigeria. Be brave and defend your post as a Yoruba man. You really stink.