In French, for example, an accent mark would indicate that you pronounce the letter differently. In Spanish, an accent mark indicates which syllable has emphasis. However, in Igbo, the tone is separate from the pronunciation of the letter itself. Many letters in the Igbo alphabet sound the same in Igbo as they do in English. You can download a free alphabet chart at https://www. omniglot. com/writing/igbo. htm.
The tone is high or low relative to the other tones around it. For example, “kedu” is a word that means “what” or “how,” and is also used to say “hello. " Pronounce it keh-duh. For the first syllable, use a high tone with your tongue to the roof of your mouth. The second syllable is a low tone, with your tongue flat. Practice it with the first syllable low and the second high just to see how the vowel sound changes with the different tone.
For example, ákwá (high-high) means “weeping,” ákwà (high-low) means “cloth,” àkwá (low-high) means “egg,” and àkwà (low-low) means “bridge. " The U. S. State Department’s Foreign Language Institute uses a basic Igbo course that includes tone drills. You can download them for free from the Live Lingua Project at https://www. livelingua. com/course/fsi/Igbo_-_Basic_Course.
If possible, check the dialects being used. Make sure you’re staying consistent within the same dialect. For example, Onitsha and Owerri are the two main Igbo dialect zones. While these dialects have many words in common, even they have some differences. [6] X Research source
Igbo written language is phonetic, so for the most part you will be okay if you learn the pronunciation of letters and write a word as it sounds. If vowels have either a dot under the letter or an umlaut above, this indicates a different pronunciation of that letter. New Standard Orthography uses an umlaut, but you may see previous versions in writing. [8] X Research source
For example, bi means “live. " If you want to say “I live,” it would be ebi m. For first person singular, the letter “m” follows the verb stem. Separable pronouns can be used as a subject, direct or indirect object, or to show possession. For example, the Igbo word anyï can be used to mean “we,” “us,” or “our. " The word itself does not change regardless of how it’s used.
For example: ebi m (I live). You don’t have to harmonize the vowels if you’re using separable pronouns. Simply use the verb stem. For example: anyï bi (we live).
The suffix -tara or -tere is added to a verb stem to indicate an action occurred in the past. For example: ö zütara anü (he bought meat). Choose the suffix form to harmonize vowels, not for gender or any other reason.
For example: ülö ise means “five houses. " The word ülö means “house” while ise means “five. "
If you find someone who is trying to learn English, you might be able to work out an exchange in which both of you help each other practice. Helping a native speaker learn English will also help you understand the grammatical structure of Igbo. They may make mistakes because some aspect of English grammar is absent from Igbo grammar. For example, they might say “five house” instead of “five houses,” because in Igbo the noun form doesn’t change when pluralized.
For example, “congratulations” in Igbo is kongratuleshön.
Start with the basic greeting, “hello”: kedü. Other common phrases said in greeting are built from this word. For example, “How are you?” is “Kedü ka ö dï?” To ask a person’s name, you would say “Kedu aha gï?”
Columbia University has a collection of Igbo language materials available at http://www. columbia. edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00fwp/igbo_index. html.
The rhythm of music and the repetitiveness of lyrics makes music an easy way to learn any language. Additionally, you can have music on in the background while you’re doing other things. Identify artists you enjoy, then search for songs and videos on sites such as YouTube.
