Ibibio language

Last updated
Ibibio
Usem Ibibio
Native to Nigeria
Region Abia State, Akwa Ibom State, Rivers State, Cross River State
Ethnicity Ibibio
Native speakers
L1: 6.3 million (2020) [1]
L2: 4.5 million (2013) [1]
Latin
Nsibidi
Language codes
ISO 639-3 ibb
Glottolog ibib1240
An Ibibio speaker, recorded in the United Kingdom.

Ibibio is the native language of the Ibibio people of Nigeria, belonging to the Ibibio-Efik dialect cluster of the Cross River languages. The name Ibibio is sometimes used for the entire dialect cluster. In pre-colonial times, it was written with Nsibidi ideograms, similar to Igbo, Efik, Anaang, and Ejagham. Ibibio has also had influences on Afro-American diasporic languages such as AAVE words like buckra which come from the Ibibio word mbakara and in the Afro-Cuban tradition of abakua.

Contents

Geographic distribution

The Ibibio people are found in the South-South region of Nigeria in Akwa Ibom State, Cross River State, and Eastern Abia State (Arochukwu and Ukwa East LGAs). Ibibio communities in Opobo Nkoro and Oyigbo LGA's of Rivers State are largely unknown.

Some Ibibios are also found in other neighboring countries (western Cameroon, Bioko — central Guinea, and Ghana).

Phonology

Consonants

Ibibio consonant phonemes [2]
Labial Coronal Palatal Velar Labial-velar
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive voiceless b t k k͡p
voiced d
Fricative voiceless f s
Approximant j w

Intervocalic plosives are lenited: [2]

Vowels

Ranges for Ibibio monophthongs, from Urua (2004:106) Ibibio monophthongs chart.svg
Ranges for Ibibio monophthongs, from Urua (2004 :106)
Ibibio vowel phonemes [2]
Front Back
unroundedunroundedrounded
Close i u
Mid e ʌ o
Open a ɔ

Between consonants, /i,u,o/ have allophones that are transcribed [ɪ,ʉ,ə], respectively. [2] At least in case of [ɪ,ə], the realization is probably somewhat different (e.g. close-mid [e, ɘ]), because the default IPA values of the symbols [ɪ,ə] are very similar to the normal realizations of the Ibibio vowels /i,ʌ/. Similarly, [ʉ] may actually be near-close [ ʉ̞ ], rather than close [ ʉ ].

In some dialects (e.g. Ibiono), /ɪ,ʉ,ə/ occur as phonemes distinct from /i,u,o/. [2]

Tones

Ibibio has five tones: high, mid, rising, falling and low. A word can mean two or more different things based on the tone ascribed to it.

Orthography

Ibibio alphabet
Essien 1983 [4] Essien 1990 [5] IPA
aa a
bb b
dd d
ee e
ǝǝ ə
ff f
ghgh ɣ
hh x
ii i
ɨ
kk k
kpkp kp
mm m
nn n
ñ ŋ
ñwn̄w ŋʷ
nyny ɲ
oo o
ɔ
ʌʌ ʌ
pp p
ss s
tt t
uu u
ʉ
ww w
yy j

Proverbs

The following Ibibio proverbs with English translations come from The Sayings of the Wise: Ibibio Proverbs and Idioms by Anietie Akpabio, published in 1899. [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 Ibibio at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Urua (2004), p. 106.
  3. Urua (2004), pp. 105–106.
  4. Urua, Eno-Abasi; Gibbon, Dafydd. Orthography, globalisation and IT: A proposal for Ibibio text technology (PDF) (Report). p. 12., citing Essien, O. E., ed. (1983). The Orthography of the Ibibio Language. A publication of the Ibibio Language Panel. Calabar: Paico Press & Books. pp. 7–8. OCLC   16152696.
  5. Essien, Okon E. (1990). "0.3.6". A Grammar of the Ibibio Language. Ibadan: University Press. ISBN   978-978-2491-53-4. OCLC   24681999.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. Akpabio, Anietie (1899). The Sayings of the Wise: Ibibio Proverbs and Idioms .

Bibliography

Further reading