THE UNIQUE WRITING STYLES OF THE YORUBAS, BENIN AND ANIOMA COMMUNITY OF IBUSA
By Emeka Esogbue
(Pen Master)
Some Nigerian societies enjoy distinct locutions in English language yet the word remain the same. These unique spellings are usually reflective in the forenames or family names, items or places of these people.
Telling the etymologies of these words is a difficult task but we know that while the change was a gradual occurrence in some of these societies, conscious efforts were made in some of these societies to adopt the change as noted among the Yorubas. For the Yorubas, it was a conscious effort of scholars then others followed while for the Anioma community of Ibusa, no one can tell its origin.
Among the Yorubas, 'Shade' is 'Sade' yet the same 'sh' is retained in the name, 'Folashade' from which the 'Sade' is derived. 'Funsho' is 'Funso'. 'Orise' is something a layman would hurriedly pronounce as 'Orishe'. 'Oshun' is correctly 'Osun'. The name 'Olaseinde' would ordinarily sound 'Olasheinde' though the 'h' in the name would be found missing. For the same Yoruba people, the combination of 'an' as seen in 'Sango' might mislead non-conversant speakers of the language.
If the Yorubas intentionally love to do away with letter 'h' in the sense conveyed above, the Edo people of Nigeria appreciate it a lot. Among them, 'Omorege' would be written as 'Omoreghe' while 'Onogen' may just be 'Onoghen'. What has changed? Nothing in pronunciation. It would appear that the Edo, especially the Benin have mastered the retention of quiescent words that are mostly 'h'. Take for instance, the quiescent 'h' in the names, 'Urhupa', 'Okhumu', 'Ukhu' (from which the Aniomas derived 'ukwu' suffix in the name of their communities such as 'Ubulu Uku', 'Issele-Uku', 'Onicha Uku' etc. There's also 'Okhumu', something that should simply sound 'Okumu' meaning 'sickling'. And 'Igho' which is money.
The Benin have also utilised silent 'v' in their standard spellings as seen in 'Ovbevbe', something the Anioma call 'ubebe' (wooden shovel) which though is etymologically of Benin. There are many more as you know them.
For the Anioma people of Ibusa, in Oshimili North, letter 'r' is significantly and surprisingly missing in their traditional spelling despite retention of their Enuani version of Igbo. However, it may seem that not many indigenes of the community particularly the young ones know this so they are beginning to lose this unique style of theirs. By 1777, the first printed source in Igbo language had been published and the Europeans were noted to play a great role in this aspect; and by extension, words, phrases, idioms and sayings in this language had become standardized by 1972 specifically.
An obvious loss of 'r' in their traditional spelling begins with the native name of the community as seen in 'Igbuzo' instead of 'Igbuzor'. 'Ibuzo' which is an alternative name of the community is 'Ibuzo' and not 'Ibuzor'. Consequently, 'Ogbo' (age grade or age sets) according to traditional graphism of symbol of the people would then remain 'ogbo' instead of 'ogbor'. The standard spelling of 'Obuzo', the traditional institution of the community is not spared of this. It is correctly 'Obuzo' and not 'Obuzor' as the young ones are inclined to write it today. And so is 'Uwolo', the second among the three War Chiefs of the community.
It is 'Uwolor' in places like Akwukwu-Igbo, Idumuje Unor etc yet 'Uwolo' in Ibusa. 'Unor' (home) then retains 'Uno' while 'Uzor' is 'Uzo' in Ibusa as seen in 'Igbuzo'. This has tended to confuse several persons mostly non-indigenes for as the people natively call themselves 'IGBUZO', outsiders call them 'Igbu-zor' tending to retain the Igbo standard spelling of 'Uzor' which the writing style of the people once forbade. But while it is 'uzor', the traditional spelling system of the people recognizes it as 'uzo'. A name like 'Ajufoh' is also recognised in the traditional spelling of the people with 'h'.
If the truth must be told, among the Yoruba, Benin and Ibusa listed as uniquely possessing quiescent letters in their writing style, only the people of Ibusa appear to be gradually sending their own to extinction. Everything in the community is becoming erosive and cultural names are not spared. As surprising as it may sound, even some adults have not taken note of this so it must die a natural death unless a cultural revival is invoked.
By Emeka Esogbue
(Pen Master)
Some Nigerian societies enjoy distinct locutions in English language yet the word remain the same. These unique spellings are usually reflective in the forenames or family names, items or places of these people.
Telling the etymologies of these words is a difficult task but we know that while the change was a gradual occurrence in some of these societies, conscious efforts were made in some of these societies to adopt the change as noted among the Yorubas. For the Yorubas, it was a conscious effort of scholars then others followed while for the Anioma community of Ibusa, no one can tell its origin.
Among the Yorubas, 'Shade' is 'Sade' yet the same 'sh' is retained in the name, 'Folashade' from which the 'Sade' is derived. 'Funsho' is 'Funso'. 'Orise' is something a layman would hurriedly pronounce as 'Orishe'. 'Oshun' is correctly 'Osun'. The name 'Olaseinde' would ordinarily sound 'Olasheinde' though the 'h' in the name would be found missing. For the same Yoruba people, the combination of 'an' as seen in 'Sango' might mislead non-conversant speakers of the language.
If the Yorubas intentionally love to do away with letter 'h' in the sense conveyed above, the Edo people of Nigeria appreciate it a lot. Among them, 'Omorege' would be written as 'Omoreghe' while 'Onogen' may just be 'Onoghen'. What has changed? Nothing in pronunciation. It would appear that the Edo, especially the Benin have mastered the retention of quiescent words that are mostly 'h'. Take for instance, the quiescent 'h' in the names, 'Urhupa', 'Okhumu', 'Ukhu' (from which the Aniomas derived 'ukwu' suffix in the name of their communities such as 'Ubulu Uku', 'Issele-Uku', 'Onicha Uku' etc. There's also 'Okhumu', something that should simply sound 'Okumu' meaning 'sickling'. And 'Igho' which is money.
The Benin have also utilised silent 'v' in their standard spellings as seen in 'Ovbevbe', something the Anioma call 'ubebe' (wooden shovel) which though is etymologically of Benin. There are many more as you know them.
For the Anioma people of Ibusa, in Oshimili North, letter 'r' is significantly and surprisingly missing in their traditional spelling despite retention of their Enuani version of Igbo. However, it may seem that not many indigenes of the community particularly the young ones know this so they are beginning to lose this unique style of theirs. By 1777, the first printed source in Igbo language had been published and the Europeans were noted to play a great role in this aspect; and by extension, words, phrases, idioms and sayings in this language had become standardized by 1972 specifically.
An obvious loss of 'r' in their traditional spelling begins with the native name of the community as seen in 'Igbuzo' instead of 'Igbuzor'. 'Ibuzo' which is an alternative name of the community is 'Ibuzo' and not 'Ibuzor'. Consequently, 'Ogbo' (age grade or age sets) according to traditional graphism of symbol of the people would then remain 'ogbo' instead of 'ogbor'. The standard spelling of 'Obuzo', the traditional institution of the community is not spared of this. It is correctly 'Obuzo' and not 'Obuzor' as the young ones are inclined to write it today. And so is 'Uwolo', the second among the three War Chiefs of the community.
It is 'Uwolor' in places like Akwukwu-Igbo, Idumuje Unor etc yet 'Uwolo' in Ibusa. 'Unor' (home) then retains 'Uno' while 'Uzor' is 'Uzo' in Ibusa as seen in 'Igbuzo'. This has tended to confuse several persons mostly non-indigenes for as the people natively call themselves 'IGBUZO', outsiders call them 'Igbu-zor' tending to retain the Igbo standard spelling of 'Uzor' which the writing style of the people once forbade. But while it is 'uzor', the traditional spelling system of the people recognizes it as 'uzo'. A name like 'Ajufoh' is also recognised in the traditional spelling of the people with 'h'.
If the truth must be told, among the Yoruba, Benin and Ibusa listed as uniquely possessing quiescent letters in their writing style, only the people of Ibusa appear to be gradually sending their own to extinction. Everything in the community is becoming erosive and cultural names are not spared. As surprising as it may sound, even some adults have not taken note of this so it must die a natural death unless a cultural revival is invoked.
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