 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2017) |
Oyinbo is a Yoruba word used to refer to white people. [1] [2] [3] The word is popular in Nigeria among other groups as well and variation of Oyibo is also used. The word is generally understood by most Nigerian and many Africans due to popularity of Nollywood and Nigerian pop culture.
In the 1470s, the first Portuguese birth occurred in Eko, in Yorubaland, later called Lagos. The word was first used by the Yoruba to describe the Portuguese. It would later extend to all Europeans. Many years later, the word became used for anyone influenced by European tradition, customs, and culture, especially once-enslaved returnees. Oyinbo is generally used to refer to a person of European descent, African perceived not to be culturally Yoruba, or to people of the Human race who are light-skinned.
The word is coined from the Yoruba translation of “peeled skin,” "lightened," or “skinless,” which, in Yoruba, translates “yin” – to scratch “bo” – to off/peel/lightened. the "O" starting the word "Oyinbo" is a pronoun. Hence, "Oyinbo" translates literally to "the person with a peeled-off or lightened skin". [4] [5] [6] Other variations of the term in the Yoruba language include Eyinbo, which is shortened to "Eebo". [7]
To find the term or "White Man," Koelle [ who? ] consulted hundreds of African groups.[ citation needed ] His Yoruba sources included people from Ọta, Ẹgba, Okun, Ijẹbu, Ifẹ, Ondo, Itsẹkiri, and more while his Igbo sources were from areas such as Isuama, Ishielu, Agbaja, Aro, and Mbofia.[ citation needed ] The Igbo respondents consistently used the term Onyọcha for "White Man." In contrast, all the Yoruba participants stated their term was Òyìnbó. [8] These candid testimonies from the Igbo sources indicate that the term “oyinbo” or “oyibo” originated from the Yoruba and their neighboring groups. [9]
Oyibo is also used in reference to people who are foreign or Europeanised, including Saros in the towns of Onitsha and Enugu in the late 19th and early 20th century. [10] Sierra Leonean missionaries, according to Ajayi Crowther, a Yoruba, and John Taylor, an Igbo, descendants of repatriated slaves, were referred to as oyibo ojii by the people of Onitsha. [11] [12]
Olaudah Equiano, an African abolitionist, claimed in his 1789 narrative that the people in Essaka, Igboland, where he claimed to be from, used the term Oye-Eboe in reference to "red men living at a distance" which may possibly be an earlier version of oyibo[ citation needed ]. Equiano's use of Oye-Eboe, however, was in reference to other Africans and not Caucasians. Though Oye-Eboe might be a much older Igbo term that means foreign or different[ original research? ]. [13] Gloria Chuku suggested that Equiano's use of Oye-Eboe is not linked to oyibo, and that it is a reference to the generic term Onitsha used referred to other Igbo. [14]
Oyinbo is a Yoruba language term for a white person or sometimes generally a foreigner. [15] The synonyms are and spelled, Oinbo, Eebo, Eyinbo, Oyibo among other spellings. [16]
Igbo is the principal native language cluster of the Igbo people, an ethnicity in the Southeastern part of Nigeria.
Polyglotta Africana is a study published in 1854 by the German missionary Sigismund Wilhelm Koelle (1823–1902), in which the author compares 280 words from 200 African languages and dialects. As a comparative study it was a major breakthrough at the time.
The Igbo people are an ethnic group in Nigeria. They are primarily found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. Ethnic Igbo populations are found in Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea, as migrants as well as outside Africa. There has been much speculation about the origins of the Igbo people, which are largely unknown. The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa.
Onitsha is a city on the eastern bank of the Niger River, in Anambra State, Nigeria. Onitsha along with various cities and towns in southern Anambra State, northern Imo State and neighboring Delta State on the western bank of the Niger River, form a continuous metropolitan area.
Nigerian Pidgin, also known simply as Pidgin or Broken or as Naijá in scholarship, is an English-based creole language spoken as a lingua franca across Nigeria. The language is sometimes referred to as Pijin or Vernacular. First used by British colonists and slave traders to facilitate the Atlantic slave trade in the late 17th century, in the 2010s, a common orthography was developed for Pidgin which has been gaining significant popularity in giving the language a harmonized writing system.
Egusi, also spelled egushi, are the protein-rich seeds of certain cucurbitaceous plants, which, after being dried and ground, are used as a major ingredient in West African cuisine. Egusi is a Yoruba word, and the popular method of cooking it is deeply rooted in Yoruba culinary traditions.
Igbo land, east is the indigenous homeland of the Igbo people. It is a cultural and common linguistic region in southeastern Nigeria. Geographically, it is divided into two sections by the: an eastern and western.Its population is characterized by the diverse Igbo culture
Sigismund Wilhelm Koelle or Kölle was a German missionary working on behalf of the London-based Church Missionary Society, at first in Sierra Leone, where he became a pioneer scholar of the languages of Africa, and later in Constantinople (Istanbul). He published a major study in 1854, Polyglotta Africana, marking the beginning of serious study by Europeans of African languages.
The Anioma people are a subgroup of the Igbo people predominantly indigenous to present day Delta State, Nigeria, along with communities in Edo State. The Anioma people encompass and are native to the nine northeastern Local Government Areas of Delta State and the Ika-Igbo communities of Edo State. Politically, the Anioma occupy the Delta North Senatorial District where they are the majority group.
Catherine Obianuju Acholonu was a Nigerian author, researcher and political activist. She served as the Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to President Olusegun Obasanjo on Arts and Culture and was a founder-member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).
Pius Okigbo was an eminent Nigerian economist from Ojoto village, the present headquarters of Idemili South Local Government Area in Anambra State; he was the older brother of the poet Christopher Okigbo. Receiving his secondary schooling at Christ the King College, Onitsha, Pius passed his Cambridge School Certificate examination in Grade one in December 1940 with an exemption from the University of London matriculation. In 1941, he admitted into the prestigious Yaba Higher College, Lagos, for a diploma course in arts (1941–1942). Due to conversion of Yaba College into a military base for the Royal West African Force during World War II, in 1942 he was transferred to the Achimota College in Accra, Gold Coast, where he completed his studies in Latin, Greek, history, English language, and literature with a diploma certificate in 1943.
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British journalist Flora Shaw, who later married Baron Frederick Lugard, a British colonial administrator. Nigeria is composed of various ethnic groups and cultures and the term Nigerian refers to a citizenship-based civic nationality. Nigerians are derived from over 250 ethno-linguistic groups. Though there are multiple ethnic groups in Nigeria, economic factors result in significant mobility of Nigerians of multiple ethnic and religious backgrounds to reside in territories in Nigeria that are outside their ethnic or religious background, resulting in the mixing of the various ethnic and religious groups, especially in Nigeria's cities. The English language is the lingua franca of Nigerians. Nigeria is divided roughly in half between Muslims, who live mostly in the north, and Christians, who live mostly in the south; indigenous religions, such as those native to the Igbo and Yoruba ethnicities, are in the minority.
Igbo Americans, or Americans of Igbo ancestry, or Igbo Black Americans are residents of the United States who identify as having Igbo ancestry from modern day Bight of Biafra, which includes Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe & Nigeria. There are primarily two classes of people with Igbo ancestry in the United States, those whose ancestors were taken from Igboland as a result of the transatlantic slave trade before the 20th century and those who immigrated from the 20th century onwards partly as a result of the Nigerian Civil War in the late 1960s and economic instability in Nigeria. Igbo people prior to the American Civil War were brought to the United States by force from their hinterland homes on the Bight of Biafra and shipped by Europeans to North America between the 17th and 19th centuries.
Igbo Jews are members of the Igbo people of Nigeria who practice Judaism. It is a tenet of their beliefs that they have ties to one of the lost tribes of Israel, the tribe of Gad.
Nigerian English, also known as Nigerian Standard English, is a dialect of English spoken in Nigeria. Based on British and American English, the dialect contains various loanwords and collocations from the native languages of Nigeria, due to the need to express concepts specific to the cultures of ethnic groups in the nation.
Igbo people in Jamaica were trafficked by Europeans onto the island between the 18th and 19th centuries as enslaved labour on plantations. Igbo people constituted a large portion of the African population enslaved people in Jamaica. Jamaica received the largest number of enslaved people from the biafra region than anywhere else in the diaspora during the slave trade. Some slave censuses detailed the large number of enslaved Igbo people on various plantations throughout the island on different dates throughout the 18th century. Their presence was a large part in forming Jamaican culture, Igbo cultural influence remains in language, dance, music, folklore, cuisine, religion and mannerisms. In Jamaica the Igbo were often referred to as Eboe or Ibo. There are a substantial number of Igbo language loanwords in Jamaican Patois. Igbo people mostly populated the northwestern section of the island.
Gambeya albida, commonly known as white star apple, is a forest fruit tree commonly found throughout tropical Africa. It is closely related to the African star apple which is also common throughout West Africa. Some schools of thought feel that they may just be a variety of the same species. Also in the family is the purple star apple.
Yoruba Americans are Americans of Yoruba descent. The Yoruba people are a West African ethnic group that predominantly inhabits southwestern Nigeria, with smaller indigenous communities in Benin and Togo.
The following list names English words that originate from African languages.
Igbo literature encompasses both oral and written works of fiction and nonfiction created by the Igbo people in the Igbo language. This literary tradition reflects the cultural heritage, history, and linguistic diversity of the Igbo community. The roots of Igbo literature trace back to ancient oral traditions that included chants, folk songs, narrative poetry, and storytelling. These oral narratives were frequently recited during rituals, childbirth ceremonies, and gatherings. Proverbs and riddles were also used to convey wisdom and entertain children.