The Igbo language belongs to the Kwa group of the Congo-Kordofan family. Although it is very similar to the Efik language of the Bantu language family, they are not related.

It is spoken by the people who share the same name as this language, the Igbo people. This ethnic group is one of the most widespread in Africa, especially in Nigeria, and is almost entirely Christian. Oral tradition places the origins of these people in Egypt, from where they are said to have moved to present-day Nigeria more than ten centuries ago.

Interestingly, between 1898 and 1911, they created a secret organisation to fight the British colonisers. This would explain the meaning of the town’s name, which literally means “autochthonous”, i.e. the opposite of foreign.

LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF IGBO

Igbo is written in Latin script. It is an agglutinative language in which suffixes are added hierarchically. It has very little flexural morphology, but a lot of derivational and extensional morphology.

The order of sentences in this language is subject, verb, and object. Verbs are the predominant category in this language, so most derivation takes place with verb roots. Interestingly, there are no passive sentences in Igbo, which has led many scholars to claim that voice is not a relevant category in Igbo.

In addition, it is important to mention that Igbo is a tonal language in which the tone varies according to the dialect It has three tones: high, medium and low.

It should also be noted that Igbo has more than 15 dialects. Some of these are the Waawa, Enuani, Ngwa, Etche, Olu or Izzi. The most important, however, have been the dialects of Owerri and Umuahia, as it was in the dialects of these places that a standard literary language developed.

ECONOMY, CULTURE, AND IGBO

It is said that this group of people is reputed to be more economically successful than its neighbours. This is because Igbo investments are a driving factor in the Nigerian economy. Among this group, attaining wealth is seen as a great achievement to be further cultivated, rather than an object of scorn.

The position of a trader in both the economy and the culture of this community is also very important. Trade is central to the economy, but it is also a sacred profession among the Igbos.

Indeed, trade plays such a vital role that words have been created to express states. Some of these words are imu ahia ,to learn a trade; oru , to start a business; or igba oso ahia, to engage in the trade of another’s property with consent in order to increase one’s capital.

Focusing more on society, it is worth noting that, for this ethnic group, to be a true citizen one must exercise one’s duties in order to make society more productive. In fact, traditionally this society was characterised by egalitarianism, as the rights of all people were respected and titles were earned through merit and hard work.

IMPORTANCE OF THE LANGUAGE

It is the standard language of commerce, radio and television in Nigeria. The great commercial development of the Igbo ethnic group has given rise to several successful entrepreneurs such as Innocent Chukwuma and Cosmas Maduka.

The good use of the resources of this group has led to the recognition and use of the Igbo language, thus increasing both the importance and the value of the language