Ibo-English Dictionary
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ANTHROPOLOGICAL REPORT O N TH E - IBO SPEAK ING P EO PLES OF NIGERIA . E W TH M A . O R C O . O S M . A N TH T , , ETC G O VER NM ENT ANTHROPOLOGIST . P A R T V . ADDENDA TO - IBO ENGLISH DICTIONARY . L O ND O N ISO N A ND S O H A RR NS . L O NDO N H A I A N N P I N E I N O D I N A Y O I I I S M A J E RR SO N D S O S , R T RS R R T ST Y , ’ M I N L N R . ST . A RT S A 611869 " 55 P A REF C E . The present volume conta ins firstly the Addenda and C of I bo D ictiona r orrigenda the y previously published , the of ma inl so proofs which were read y in the colony, that M S . i comparison with the original was mpossible . I n the second place it contains re -determinations of tones of certain words in the previous Dictionary, and in the third f I t place a number o words used in the Asaba dialect . must be understood that these latter by no means comprise the whole of the Asaba vocabulary ; words included in the previous Dictionary are not reprinted here . on ha s The tones were noted the assumption , which since turned out to be incorrect, that they are four in number, high , R V I low , and upper and lower middle . eference to Part will show that by the study of phonograph records many more tones have been discovered . As , however , words pronounced according to the number notation adopted in this Dictionary to not appear be recognisable , even if they are absolutely e I I n accurat , have not hesitated to print my data here . a c of ertain number cases, material collected at an early stage of my tour was left unrevised , and in such , words are , as a rule , marked with accents only . wa s I The whole of the material collected personally, and have made no attempt to incorporate material collected either by the C hurch M issionary Society or the R oman C atholic M to C ission at Asaba . A request addressed the hurch M issionary Society in 1910 for permission to study their I material wa s refused . mentioned the subject informally at R M a fi C . the oman atholic ission , but m de no de nite proposal I n view of the fact that comparatively little of my time is d to evoted linguistic research, it would have been impossible F iv PRE ACE . to e revise with due care material collect d by other people , and it is undesirable to include in any Dictionary data collected at different hands unless comparative unif ormity is obtained by careful revision . The main mass of the Dictionary refers to the Asaba in language , but certain cases words from the Hinterland and of e from the east the Niger are included , as also c rtain words - accidentally omitted from the O nitsha Awka Dictionary . Such words are shown by a lette r or other abbreviation in m of brackets . The short ti e available for the collection material in the colony prevented me from examining in of t detail many points interes . Thus g lenis is f ound of a of in a certain number words , and the t ble consonants of shows two or more variants the same consonant are in use . W H M NORTHCOTE . T O AS . P H O N I C L M N ET E E E TS . C S ONSONANT . 13 , 13 , with glottal stop . ' 6 in cZLm' ch , ch as . d , d, cerebral d . f , f , bilabial . g , g, uvular ” G y , soft (fricative) g as in N . erman 11 , ud e j , as in j g . k, k , uvular 1, m ) n ) palatalised n is written ny n sin er n , g as in g . P , p , with glottal stop . 1 3 rh , breathed r . S ) s . s, cerebral S , as Sh . M PHONETIC ELE ENTS . t , cerebral t . of th t , has something a sound ; it is formed by putting the tongue against the upper teeth . V ) y , bilabial v . y, unvoiced v . W. Y , N 2 h z . , as V W O ELS . ma a , short a , as in French . a , long a . e , close e , resembles French e in let there e, e, as in , , very open . 1, i, open i . ici i , as in French . 0 q , 9, very open . 0 . , less open , found after d , r , g , etc 0 , slightly open . 0 0 ea u . , French , as in v undin 0 0 o erro . , close , perhaps with g 11 0 u, u , very open , sounding almost like . u . , close u DIPHTHONGS . a n a u a s do. , especially in dialectical forms such dau for oa , i o , after a vowel signifies abrupt close . con below a vowel indicates a Specially long, usually tracted , vowel . sign of nasalisation . i Sign of palatal sation . L E PHONETIC E EM NTS . vii C N N ONSO A TS . b appears to be in some cases more fully voiced than in others . I) : sounds like a very fully voiced b it is , however , f or probable that the glottal stop really exists , such forms a s i b o (more properly written i b o) are pronounced i gb o by neighbouri ng tribes ; and the third person o f to ka o b u e kill , is in the O dialect g , the g being distinctly ff heard ; but the main audible di erence between b u e , kill u and b u e , carry , is that the former is more f lly voiced . W n is n here the precedi g k pronou ced , however , the b is only l partial y voiced , if at all . I n w s i k the ord printed in the D ctionary , p, a considerable k b proportion might well be written . c . I , j omitted to determine whether j and c are front ff plosives or a ricates . From the phonetic changes from th e . which they are due , latter is more probable d , also t , are occasionally cerebral . t (t) appears to be i of i nterdental in a certain number cases , in giv ng a sound th E e to nearer than the ordinary nglish t . d lenis app ars be found sometimes . I t f f, v . is exceedingly di ficult in many cases to determine - whether f is denti labial or bilabial , but the distinction does not appear to be of any importance for the meaning of the I f . t o word is often said that v is not found , in point fact a n n unvoiced v is by o means uncommon . ff I t g appears to be voiced in di erent degree . is also found as a lenis , for example in a g o , leopard . A systematic distinction between the lenis and fortis is not made in the Dictionary owing to lack of time for the revision of the material in the C olony . I n addition to the ordinary g , a uvular g is found , shown . I I I I I t as g This termed postvelar g in Part of this report . o I . t is only very slightly expl sive The same applies to k . in may be that this g and k are reality fricative , for in whispered words the k sound seems to disappear altogether M viii PHONETIC ELE ENTS . 11 O n a nd to . I be replaced by the whole , however , am disposed to think that they are stopped , not fricative . in I sele h is only rarely found but certain areas , such as a two As ba, it appears as an intrusive letter between vowels . l in a certain number of cases , appears to be formed much I n the same way as in English . other cases the tong ue does u not to ch the palate , but makes a semicircular movement to the left , and then returns to the central position . The sound thus produced is almost indistinguishable from n and r . The distinction between this 1 and the other one is not made in the Dictionary . y n . There is some uncertaint about words which are ' r Ii k S printed in the Dictiona y under . uch words as n k p u r might just as well be written m p u , where m bea s the same d In relation to the or inary as n does to n . rh is written for a breathed r very frequent in the Asaba u I t lang age . is also found at Nimo on the other side of the Edo see R th e Edo Niger , and in the languages ( eport on Speaking Peoples) . r h S is interchangeable with r ( ) . t b , m and other consonan s are sometimes followed by a of h one 0 diphthong, whic component is usually , this is w mw b etc. printed , , , where the word is not found with a In m w bw . simple or b it should be looked for under , , etc I n a certain number of words th e division into syllables is s a ba mw - a mw w a k-wu a na a la unu ual ; such are p (ah g) ak u ( ) , g - - ko k-o iéok u I cok - u e (anag ala) , ogogo (og ogo) , Q (o ) , ( ) , igw i -we oh- le ko k -O ( g ) , obele ( e ) , O (c ) ; there is perhaps a B simultaneous glottal stop.