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“...AN ELEMENTARY GRAMMAR OF THE IBO LANGUAGE...”
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“...AN ELEMENTARY GRAMMAR OF THE IBO LANGUAGE BY REV. J. SPENCER C.M.S. MISBIONARY, ASABA, SOUTHERN NIGERIA SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, Lonpon : NoRTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C. 1901...”
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“...PREFACE In 1892 I prepared a small Ibo Grammar, at the request of the late Archdeacon Dobinson of blessed memory, with a view to give some assist- ance to missionaries in their efforts to acquire the Ibo language. That little book was singularly devoid of graduated exercises, which would have been of great help to learners. I have endeavoured to rectify this defect in the present book as much as possible, and I have also added an Appendix giving examples of Ibo idiom, and of the various ways in which sentences are formed. I have to acknowledge my indebtedness to the Rev. T. J. Dennis, Acting Secretary of our Mission, for having helped me by his kind criticisms and suggestions here and there, and also for having given up several days of his very busy time to assist me in going over the whole manuscript carefully, to get it in readiness for the press....”
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“...vi PREFACE That this book may prove far more useful than the former, and consequently more helpful to missionaries in acquiring the Ibo language, so that they may the sooner be able to tell the people in their own tongue the glad tidings of salvation, is my earnest and humble prayer. J. SPENCER....”
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“...AN ELEMENTARY GRAMMAR OF THE IBO LANGUAGE I. The Alphabet. Tue Ibo Alphabet contains seven vowels and twenty-three consonants. The vowels are—a, e, @, i, 0, o, U. The consonants are—b, d, f, g, h, j, k, 1, m,n, a, Pp, r, 8, 8, t, W, y, Z, ¢, gb, kp, gh. Diphthongs are rarely found in Ibo, the only proper diphthong being “‘ ai,” found in very few words, as taita, to-day. PRONUNCIATION OF THE LETTERS. The vowels are pronounced as follows :— a as a in van or father, Cy 8 4, may. é 5 © yy Mel. t ,, i ,, pink, or e in me, 0 » 9 3», go. 0 ,;, © ,, not, or aw in taught. wu 4, 00,, food, The consonants b, d, t, p are pronounced as in English. The remaining consonants are pronounced as follows :—...”
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“...2 wn sos Rv aes = ” Ore gee is IBO GRAMMAR fe. ge in gear. he. je. ke. le. me. ne. Te. se. she. we. ye. ze, ch in church. , ñ has the sound of ng in king. gh is a guttural 7, gb and kp represent sounds that can only be learned by hearing them pronounced. The English “v” does not seem to be used in Ibo. II. Accentuation. It is of the utmost importance that learners of Ibo should pay attention to tone, as words of widely different meanings may be spelt exactly alike, and often no meaning whatever is conveyed to the hearers by words wrongly accentuated. The acute (’) and grave (‘) accents are sometimes used ; the former when the voice is to be raised, and the latter when it is to be lowered. The following are examples of words which cannot be distinguished except by their difference in tone :— EXERCISE 1. abu, a song. aka, abi, matter, pus. aka, afd, charm. akdnyd, dfà, name. ahanya, dja, earth, mud. aki, aja, sacrifice, aku, hand. a kind of bead. bamboo mat. toil...”
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“...10 IBO GRAMMAR ort, twenty. aku, inheritance. énya, trap. ukwi, waist, dnyd, sore. tkwt, foot. ube, spear. tghd, farm. ubé, a kind of fruit. ugho, cave, ube, end, utd, bow. üdé, fame, ointment. utd, deceit. ude, groan, sigh. Learners are recommended to commit the fore- going list of words to memory. ~ III. The Parts of Speech and their Inflections. 1. NOUNS. 1. GENDER. The Masculine is distinguished from the Feminine in three ways :— A. By the use of different words: as— Masculine. Feminine, nwoke, man. nwayt or okporo, woman. okpara or okpala, first-born ada, first-born son. daughter. okolo, boy. mgbo, girl. okolobia, young man. nwagbo, young woman. ebunu, ram. atulu, ewe. mkpi, he-goat. MNe-ew, she-goat. okpa, cock, nneku, hen. ndikom, men. ndiyom or umu- nwayt, women. oke, male, nwunye, female. mbekwu, male tortoise. anwm, female tortoise. okoti or okpodi, male lizard. ngwele, female lizard. di, husband, nwunye, wife. B. By affixing the words nwoke and nwayi...”
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“...particle ga, which may either be used as a suffix, or affixed to the root of the nearest verb in the sentence. Examples :— Singular. Plurai. osisi, tree. osisi-ga, trees. okulu, fowl. okuku-ga, fowls. ; afele, . plate. afele-ga, plates. awolo, leopard. awolo-ga, leopards. Example of ga being affixed to the root of the verb :— “Tfe oma nke ayi nata-ga-lu n’aka-ya.” J.¢. “ The good things which we have received at his hands.” See Exhortation in Ibo Prayer-Book. Here ga instead of being joined to the noun 7/¢ is affixed to the verb. N.B. As a rule Ibo people do not trouble them- selves to use the Plural Number when speaking of , animals and things. D. The noun nwa, child, and compounds form the plural as under. :— Singular. Plural. moa, child. umu, umuaka or children, umuaro, Nwa-nNe brother umu-nna, brethren. or | or brothers mwa-nNe, sister. umu-nne, or sisters. nwagbo, maid. umu-agbo, maidens. nwa-ngbeyi, orphan. umu-ngbeyt, orphans. nwunye, wife, has for its plural inyeme....”
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“...14 IBO GRAMMAR Compounp Novns. Compound Nounsas they are understood in English are of rare occurrence in the Ibo language, nouns being as a rule coupled together by the word nke =of, expressed, or more often understood. The Indefinite Pronoun onye is largely used in the formation of nouns referring to persons. Such words form their plurals by simply changing onye to ndi. Examples :— ' Singular. Plural. onye-ije, traveller. ndi-ije. travellers. onye-ikpe, judge. ndi-ikpe, judges. onye-afia, merchant. ndi-afa, merchants. onye-agha, soldier. ndi-agha, soldiers. onye-ort, thief. ndi-ori, thieves. onye-nkuzi, teacher. ndi-nkuzi, teachers, a native natives onye-Asaba, of ndi-Asaba, of Asaba. Asaba. Formation or Asstract Nouns. Adjectives are sometimes used as Abstract Nouns. Examples :— jt, black, is sometimes used for blackness, oca, white, for whiteness. ogonogo, long, for length. obodobo, broad, for breadth. Abstract Nouns are formed from Verbs in the following ways :— (a) By...”
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“...16 IBO GRAMMAR Old men and children. The poor man is aslave. My friend is an Asaba man. White people, kings and rich men. 111. CASE. There is no Declension of Nouns in Ibo, Case can only be determined by the position of the Noun in the sentence. The Nominative always comes immediately before the Verb, and can thus be distinguished from the Objective Case. The Possessive Case can only be expressed by inserting ke between the person or thing possessed and the possessor or owner; but frequently rke is omitted, although it is always understood : as— Uno Josefu or Uno nke Jose fu, Joseph’s house ; literally— The house of Joseph. Ugbo nnam, My father’s farm. Nwunye oyim, My friend’s wife. : There is also a-Dative form in Ibo which is expressed by means of the particle 4 added to a verb to form a final syllable, and denotes something done to or for an individual : as— Jesu nwurw or nwulu, Jesus died. Jesu nwuru-lu-m, Jesus died for me. Qnalu olu, He is working. Onalu-lu John olu,...”
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“...PRONOUNS 17 i. Uné Cuku. Nwunyeoyim. Une ndi-ije. Jesu ta-lu-ayi afufu. Okwalu oyim, Qbu nkita nwannem. Nwa onye-oca. Nwayi afu bu nwunye ogalanya. ii. My brother’s child. Tom is working for my friend. Travellers’ house. White men’s teaching. House of assembly. I have seen the length and breadth of Dick’s house. 2, PRONOUNS. The following kinds of Pronouns are to be found in Ibo :— Personal, Reflexive, Relative, Interrogative, De- monstrative, and Indefinite. 1. THE PERSONAL Pronouns have Number and Case, but no distinction of Gender. They are as follows :— Singular. Plural. Mu, often shortened to A=I. Ayi, We. Ngi, often shortened to 7=Thou. Unu, You. O or Ya=He, She, It. Fa, They. The Nominative and Objective are alike in form, the only distinction being that O is never used in the Objective Case. The Possessive is expressed by the Preposition nke = of, Example :— Singular. Plural. Nkem, Mine. Nke-ayt, Ours. Nkei or Nkengi, Thine. Nke-unu, Yours. Nhe-ya, His, Hers, Its. Nke-fa...”
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“...18 IBO GRAMMAR The Personal Pronouns are emphasised in two ways :— (a) by the addition of nwa ; (6) by the insertion of na onwe and reduplication. Examples :— munwa or mu na onwem, I myself. nginwa or ngt nonwet, thou thyself. ayinwa or ayi n'onwe-ayi, We ourselves. N.B. mu na onwem is literally I and. myself; ngi , Wonwei, thou and thyself, ete. i. REFLEXIVE Pronouns. These are formed by prefixing onwe to the Personal Pronouns, FE. g. Singular. Plural. onwem, myself. onweayt, ourselves. onwengi, thyself or yourself. onweunu, yourselves. onweya, himself, etc. onwefa, themselves. III. RELATIVE PRONOUNS. There is but one proper Relative in Ibo, viz. nke = who or which. Examples :— ‘Nwoke nke bialu nyafu anugo. The man who came yesterday is gone. Okuku nke mgotalu n’akai anwurugo. The fowl which I bought from you is dead. The Indefinite Pronoun onye sometimes precedes nke, and occasionally takes its place, when a person in the Singular Number is referred to. The Indefinite...”
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“...20 IBO GRAMMAR vi. INDEFINITE PRONOUNS. They are :— onye, one, plural ndi used of Persons only. onye-obuna, any- body. The following Adjectives are sometimes used as Indefinite Pronouns :— dmeline, many. onenone, few. onwo, ufodu, some. EXEROIsE 7. VocaBULARY. gbu, kill; past, ghbulu. 20, heal ; past, zolw. dibia, doctor. i, Ayi na unu. Saul gbulu onweya. Afugom onwo. Anamaco imelime. Mu zolu onwem. Onye gbulu Abel? Onye nakwa akwa? One ndi bu ndi ori? Adamaco nka, Obu nkenu. ii, We, you and they. I have seen you and him. The Doctor healed himself. Who killed Saul? Give me some. Doctor, heal thyself. Whose (plu.) are these? Who is my neighbour? 3. ADJECTIVES. There are Adjectives of Quality, Quantity, and Distinction. 1, ADJECTIVES OF QUALITY. These call for no special remark. As a rule Adjectives come after the Nouns they qualify....”
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“...22 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 1000, IBO GRAMMAR isato or asato. tenant or itegete. ult. ii na ofu. ali na iboa or maboa. ili na ito or mato. ti na ino or mano. it na ise or mise. wt na ist or belu ino woru. ili na isa or belu ito n’oru. ilt na tsate or belu iboa noru. ii na itenani or belu ofu n'oru. orw or ogu. oru na ofu. oru na iboa. oru na tli. ore na, tli na ofu. oru na ili na itenant. ogu nabo. ogu nabo na ofu. ogu nabo na ii. ogu nabo na ili na ofu. ogu nabo na ili na, itenani. ogu tto. ogu ito ne ili. ogu ino. ogu ino na il. ogu ise. ogu ise na tli. ogu ist. ogu ist na tlt. ogu isa. ogu isa na tli. ogu tsato. ogu tsato na tt. ogu itenani. ogu tenant na tli. ogu ili or iruli. ogu mise or ogu tli na ise. nr. nnu na oqu sc. nnu na 1ruli. mnt na ogu mise, or belu ogu ise na nnis siabo. anu nado. nnw nabo we truli....”
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“...ADJECTIVES 23 2000, nn tse. 8000, nnw isa na truli. 4000, nnw ali. : 5000, anu maboa na iruli. 6000, nnuw mise. 7000, nnu ili na isa na irult. 8000, #lénnt or elt. The Ibo language is rather poor in the expression of numbers, there being no terms above ulannu to express very great numbers. Numbers above 8000 are expressed by repetition of nnu and ulannu. Very great numbers are often expressed by using the phrase “nnu kwulu nnu,” that is 400 x 400 ; or by the use of the Indefinite quantitative adjectives “otutu,” “imelime,” both meaning numerous. ' Repetitions of egw (20), as ogu nabe ogu ito, etc.,: take the words they qualify between ogu and the word showing the number of times it is repeated: as— ogu akpa ego nabo, forty bags of cowries. ogu anyinya tse, one hundred horses. Iu the same way 2000 men will be nnwu madu ise. C. The Ordinals. The Ordinals are formed by prefixing nke (of) to the Cardinal numbers." ‘ The following are examples :— 1st, nke-mbu, or nke-isizi. 2nd...”
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“...24 IBO GRAMMAR 10th, nke-ili. llth, nke-ili na ofu. 12th, nke-ili na iboa, or nke-maboa. 20th, nke-oru. \ 30th, nke-orw na wt. 40th, nke-ogu nabo. 100th, nke-ogu tse. 400th, nke-nnw. 8000th, nke-ulannu. III. ADJECTIVES OF DISTINCTION. The following are examples :— nkena or nka frequently) |};, shortenedintoa; nunwa, . afu, nufu, that. ndia, these. ndi-afu, afu-ga, those. CoMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES. Adjectives cannot be easily compared in Ibo. ‘Degrees of Comparison are expressed by the use of the words “ka,” “kali,” or “ kalili,” to denote the Comparative Degree ; and “ kasi,” “ kacasi,” or “ kali- casili,” to denote the Superlative. All these words come from the verb ka, to surpass. Examples :— Isa di nma. Shrimp is good. Az, ka nma. Fish is better. Anu kacast nma. Meat is best. Osist nkem di ogonogo. My stick is long. Nkei ka ogonogo. Yours is longer. Nhe nwannem kasi ogonogo. My brother's is longest. The adverbial particle mar? is used to express a kind of Comparative. See examples...”
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“...26 IBO GRAMMAR idea, without the addition of any qualifying or modifying word or particle: as— bia, to come. ca, to wash. gbu, to kill nu, to hear. le, to sell. kene, to thank. mebi, to spoil. gozi, to bless. ü. Compound Verbs are formed— A. By the conjunction of two Simple Verbs. B. By the addition of some qualifying or modifying word or particle to a Simple Verb. A. Compound Verbs formed by the union of two Simple Verbs :— ’ buda, to bring down ; from bu, to carry, and da, to fall. dakpudo, to fall upon ; from da, to fall, and kpudo, to cover. kpafu, to stray ; from 4pa, to walk, and ju, to lose one’s way. kpagbu, to choke ; from kpa, to straiten, and gbu, to kill. kpocigha, to call back ; from #po, to call, and cigha, to return. gafe, to pass over ; from ga to pass, and je, to fly or cross over. gbaso, to run after ; from gba, to run, and so, to follow. sowanye, to increase, in growth ; from so, to grow, and wanys, to increase, B. Compound Verbs formed by the addition of some...”
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“...28 IBO GRAMMAR sa, signifying spreading abroad ; as kwusa okwu afu, spread the word abroad. si or sta, signifying completion of action; mesia, to finish doing. tu, * signifying down ; as titu, to strike down ; gbatu, to shoot down. ta, followed by be, signifying as much as possible ; see Rom. xii. 18, Ibo New Test. wa, signifying plainly; as kwuwa, to speak plainly. zu, signifying inclusiveness ; as mazu, to know all ; furzw, to see all. See also Acta xvi. 28, Ibo New Test. ghali, signifying about ; as jeghali, to walk about ; fughali, to wander about. et, signifying to close; as mect, to shut; Apoct to lock (a door, etc.). C. There is another class of Compound Verbs which is formed by the addition of a noun to a verb. These Compound Verbs are mostly separable, the object being inserted between the two words that form the verb. Examples :— Yu-nanya, to love (lit. to see in the eye). tkpo-ast, to hate. ine-anya, to look upon (lit. to look eye). ime-ebele, to have mercy (lit....”
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“...30 IBO GRAMMAR CONJUGATION OF THE VERBS. There are four Moods or modes of expressing an action : namely, the Indicative, the Subjunctive, the Imperative and the Infinitive. TENSES. There are eight Tenses in Ibo—the Present In- definite, the Present Incomplete, the Past, the Past Incomplete, the Perfect, the Pluperfect, the Future, and the Future Incomplete. ConsuGaTION OF THE VERB. (Active voice) nye, enye, give. INDICATIVE MOOD. Present Tense (Indefinite). Singular. Plural, enyem or mnye, I give. ayi enye, We give. a nye, thou givest. unu enye, you give. O nye, he or she gives. Ja enye, they give. Present Incomptere Tense (Sign) na. Singular. Plural. anamenye or Le ayt nénye, we are giving. a . mnenye, yi m giving 4 nenye, thou art giving. unu nénye, you are giving. oO nenye, he is giving. Ja nénye, they are giving. N.B. “i nénye,” “o nénye,” etc. =‘‘i naenye,” “o ” naenye,” etc. In all those tenses where “ae,” “ae, or “aa” come together in one syllable, the first vowel is...”
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“...32 IBO GRAMMAR Furure Tense (Sign) ga. Singular. Plural. agamenye or mgenye, I shall give. ayi génye, we shall give. a genye. una génye. @ génye. Ja genye. Future INcoMPLETE TENSE. Singular. Plural. agamnaenye or | I shall be mganagnye, giving. ayt ganénye, we shell be giving. 4 ganenye. unu ganënye. 0 ganënye. Sa ganénye. NEGATIVE FORM (Sign) ro. Present TENSE. Singular. Plural. I give not, or ayi enyero, we don’t give. Enyerom, \ T don’t give. , ‘ a nyero. unu enyero. o nyero. Sa enyero. / Forure Tense (Sign) wma, ma. Singular. Plural. mmaenye, I shall not give. ayi amaenye, we shall not give. t maenye. une amaenye. oO maenye. Ja amaenye. Past Tense (Sign) roli. Singular. Plural, enyeromli, I did not give. ayi enyeroli, we did not give. à nyeroli. unu enyeroli. o nyerolt. Fa enyerolt,...”