Wednesday, 6 July 2016

A Text on the Taste of Language: Igbo, as a Case Study Via an Igbo Poem.

Art by Chinweike Nwabuzor

       Any Language to none native speakers is always a thing tongue has to grabble with, till cognition and behaviour concur with it as a vehicle of thought. Otherwise, one is deaf and deft dumb where he could not speak when he should. 


    If kids speak whatever language one can name or think of, then there’s not a single one that is unlearnable or ungrabbable.

         
    Igbo language like its counterpart, is only difficult for someone who has not tried conscientiously to learn it. 


The fundamental thing in appreciation of any Language is to learn the Alphabet. https://actplusart.blogspot.com.ng/2016/05/learn-igbo-alphabet-with-fun.html


The Lectio Difficilior (hard text) in Igbo Language is the placement of the diacritics
ˌdʌɪəˈkrɪtɪk
noun
plural noun: diacritics

A sign, such as an accent or cedilla, which when written above or below a letter indicates a difference in pronunciation from the same letter when unmarked or differently marked.

Cf. Accentuation too.


       I hereby present this poem, an excerpt from my new Igbo novel (Title withheld till publication). The first to place the diacritics appropriately will stand a chance of having my first Igbo novel, Ọgazị Amaka sent to him or her. 

         Other formats like eBook and or PDF could be forwarded if the virtual text is not possible.

Nke gbakara dum isi bụ ka ha pụtara na ọma ahia ebe obodo niile zara ka eze azụ, 
Mbe bido ukwe

“Oha obodo Mbekwu na-ekele
Mgba putara ahia, adighi ofele
A hu Odum, a hu ihe o dudu
A hunu Mbe, a hu ihe o bekwu
Oha obodo olu m ka na-ekele
A si m na mgba a adighi ofele
            Ehi elekere asaa taa n’isi ututu
Ka isi bu m na Odum ntu ntu
O tuo m, m tughariakwa tuo ya
Chiriri mgba, a chiiriri mgba
Oha obodo olu m ka na-ekele
Mgba putara ahia, adighi ofele
Ka m si n’elu honiri Odum n’ala
            Chi ya mgba n’anya unu ugbua”

I hope you enjoyed the poem?
What do you make out of it?
Finish the story in no fewer than five sentences from your perception of the poem gearing towards either climax or anticlimax.

No comments:

Post a Comment