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Stemming the tide of centrifugal forces in Igbo orthography

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Abstract

The paper deplores the increasing practice whereby individuals and groups write Igbo with orthographic conventions that deviate from those of the official Igbo (Ọnwụ) Orthography. It warns that these divergent acts are steadily dragging Igbo Orthography into a state of anarchy whose consequences could be more disastrous than those of the earlier orthography controversy of 1929–1961. The paper briefly traces the history of Igbo orthography from the earliest mention of Igbo in the sixteenth century writings of European travelers to the present times. Among its recommendations for the restoration of sanity in Igbo orthography are: the respect of the present official one until new conventions are officially agreed to and sanctioned; the revival of the Igbo Standardization Committee which formerly regulated and supervised developments in the language; the convening of an international workshop on Igbo orthography and the production of an enlarged Pan Igbo orthography for writing in dialects while the present official (Ọnwụ) orthography serves for Standard Igbo.

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Notes

  1. Achebe (1972).

  2. Emenanjo (1984).

  3. Achebe and Udechukwu (1982).

  4. Isichei (1977) reports many early written references to the Igbo. One such is by Duarte Pacheco Pereira 1505–1508 in his Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis (translated and edited by George H.T. Kimble, Hakluyt Society, series II, Vol. LXXXIX, 1937, p. 127).

  5. Isichei also mentions John Grazilhier, 1699 ‘Mr. John Grazilhier’s Voyage from Bandy to New Calabar’ in John Barbot A Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea (Vol. V in Churchill’s Voyage and Travels, London, 1746) p. 461.

  6. Equiano (1814).

  7. Laird and Oldfield (1837).

  8. Goldie (1862).

  9. Schon (1862).

  10. Crowther (1857).

  11. Koelle (1854).

  12. Crowther (1870).

  13. Hair (1967, pp. 16, 82).

  14. Ọraka (1983, p. 26).

  15. Ward (1941, pp. 2–4).

  16. Uchendụ (1965). A few examples from p.107 of the book are given below, with present day Standard Igbo equivalents in brackets: ɛzɛ (eze = king or tooth); ƆfƆ (ọfọ = symbol of justice); ɵmɵ (ụmụ = children).

  17. Igwe (1999, p. XI) explains that he was a member of the Orthography Committee and gives an account of the Committee’s work which culminated in the production of the Official Igbo Orthography (or Ọnwụ Orthography) of 1961.

  18. Society for Promoting Igbo Language and Culture (1976).

  19. Emenanjo et al. (1990).

  20. Chijioke and Osuagwu (2001).

  21. The metalanguage workshop was attended by eminent Igbo scholars from within and outside Nigeria; papers from the workshop are published in Ikekeọnwụ and Nwadike (2005).

  22. Welmers and Welmers (1968).

  23. Echeruo (1998).

  24. Igwe (1999). On p. X, the author explains that entries in the dictionary are drawn from different dialects of Igbo, hence, wherever possible and necessary, variants are given from different dialects. The features of aspiration, nasalization and palatalization had earlier featured in M.M. Green and G.E. Igwe, A Descriptive Grammar of Igbo. London: Oxford University Press, 1963. The book was based on the Ọhụhụ dialect, spoken near Ụmụahịa.

  25. The West African Examinations Council, West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASCE), Igbo Language 1, Objective Test Paper. Lagos, June 2001.

  26. Uchechukwu. ‘The Representation of Igbo with the Appropriate Keyboard.’ In: Ikekeọnwụ and Nwadike (2005).

  27. Ikekeọnwụ, ‘Igbo Language Development: Intrigues, Palliatives and Solutions.’ In: Ikekeọnwụ and Nwadike (2005).

  28. Ụwalaka (1996).

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  1. Department of Arts and Social Sciences Education, Faculty of Education, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria

    Chinyere Ohiri-Aniche

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Ohiri-Aniche, C. Stemming the tide of centrifugal forces in Igbo orthography. Dialect Anthropol 31, 423–436 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10624-008-9037-x

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