Wednesday, 29 June 2016

Human Body In Ibibio

Early this month I introduced the Ibibio Language session with the introduction to Basic Salutations In Ibibio Language. Today we will be looking at the body parts in Ibibio Language.

The Human Body (Idem Owo)

Human - Owo
Man - owoden
men - iden
Woman - owowan
Women - iban
Head - Ibuot (pronounced iwuot /b/ is silent)
Forehead - eko iso
Skull - mkpòkpòrò
Brain - mfri
Face - iso
Eye - Eyen
Nose - iwo
Mouth - inua
Lips - mkpòk inua
Ear - utòñ
Teeth - Edet
Tongue - Edeme
Cheek - mfùk
Hair - nwa
Eye brow /eye lashes - nwa eyen
Hair
Chin - ebek or ekpek
Beards - nwa ebek
Neck - itòñ
Throat - òkpòrò
Chest - Ikpan Esit
Breast - Eba
Nipple - inua eba
Ribs - òkpò nkaañ
Belly - idip
Navel - ekop
Heart - esit
Intestine - nsia
Stomach - ekpa
Back - edem
Hands - ubòk
Legs - ukod
Waist - isin
buttocks - efut
Knee - edòñ
Thigh - ifùkkò
shin - asian
Foot - ikpat
Fingers/toes - nnuun
Nails - mbara
bone - òkpò

I hope you spend sometime going through this for your satisfaction. Tomorrow we will be talking about some actions and feelings in Ibibio. Keep a date.

Sunday, 26 June 2016

Typical Conversation In Ibibio, With English Translations


Following requests from friends to post more phrases in Ibibio Language, I have decided to make a typical conversation to help especially the foreigners to the language. Here it goes. Mr. A is a male foreigner and Miss. B is an Ibibio woman.

Mr. A: Mmekom o ( I greet you!)

Miss B: Mmekom nde ( I greet you too)

Mr. A: Abadie? Idem e? (How are you? How is your health?

Miss B: Asong (I am fine)

Mr. A: Afon. Mbok ami ndo esen owo. Nneke ke ndiongo usem Ibibio. Mkpa mma afo anyanga mien do. (Good. Please I am a stranger, I don’t really know Ibibio language. I would love you to help me there.)

Miss B: Okay, mfina ibaha. (Okay, no problem).

Mr. A: Sosongo eti eti (Thank you very much.)

Miss B: Ado inemesit mmi. (It is my pleasure.)

Mr. A: Afo amefon ido o. Amenam tu tu. Mme uma fien. (You have a good behavior. You have done very well. I like you.)

Miss. B: O sosongo. Mme uma fien nko. (O thank you. I like you too.)

Mr. A: Mkpa ma idi idiongo ufok mbufo. Mkpa ma idiongo eka ye ete mfo. (I would love to know your house. I would love to meet your mother and your father.)

Miss. B: Tank akpan iko? Nko mfina ibaha o. (Truly? I hope there is no problem o)

Mr. A: Iyo o. Mfina ibaha. Nyung nyem ikoom ammo. (No o. No problem. I just want to greet them.)

Miss B: Ok. Di ubaha usen mkpong. (Okay come tomorrow morning.)

Mr. A: Yak nnie phone number mfo naha mma nkan ukood yak antemme usung. (Let me have your number then so I can call you for directions.)

Miss. B: Se number mmi do (that is my number.)

Mr. A: Afo akere die? (What is your name?)

Miss. B: Nkere Eno. Afo o? (My name is Eno. You?)

Mr. Okay Eno. Ami nkere Dayo. Nto Ekiti State. Ndo corper mi. (Okay Eno. My name is Dayo. I am from Ekiti State. I am a Youth Corper serving here)

Miss. B: Okay Dayo. Nya ukit mkpong. (Ok Dayo. I will see you tomorrow.)

Mr. A: Sosongo. Esit annem ndi ukit fien. (Thank you. I am happy to meet you.)

Miss. B: Ami nko. Yak ndi tutu mkpong. (Me too. I have to go. Till tomorrow then.)

Mr. A: Kaadi. (Good bye)

Hope that helps…

Numbering In Ibibio Language

Numbering in Ibibio is also a very logical series to follow. I have split this numbers into series to aid you in understanding how exactly this numbering system is carried out. They are;

The Simple Numbers Series #1 - #9

1 kiet ("ked" in some dialects)
2 Iba (the "a" is a falling tone, different from "Iba" for "Pant underwear" with a rising "a" tone)
3 Ita (the "a" is a rising tone, different from "Ita" for "fist" with a falling "a" tone)
4 Inaang (the "aa" is a falling tone, different from "Inaang" for "wayward" with a rising "aa" tone)
5 Ition (falling "I-"
6 Itio-kiet
7 Itia-aba (/Aba/ falling "a" and falling "a")
8 Itia-ita
9 Usok-kiet

The Duop (Ten) Series #10 - #14

This series like any subsequent series is done by adding the names of numbers from the simple number series to this series' name. For example. 11 is an addition of 10 and 1, Duop is 10 and one is kiet, therefore 11 in Ibibio is Duop Mme kiet (and in Ibibio is <em>"mme".) </em>Now also the changes in the beginning letters of the simple number series in other series.

10 Duop
11 Duop-o-kiet
12 Duop-eba (the "a" in the "-eba" is a falling tone while the "e" is a rising tone, this is different from the "a" and "e" in "-eba" for "breast" both with rising tones)
13 Duop-eta (/eta/ falling "e" and rising "a")
14 Duop-enaang

The Efid (15) Series #15 - #19

15 Efìd
16 Efid-e-kiet
17 Efid-eba
18 Efid-eta
19 Efid-enaang

Edip - The Twenty Series #20 - #30:

20 Edìp
21 Edip-mme-kiet
22 Edip-mme-aba
23 Edip-mme-ata
24 Edip-mme-anaang
25 Edip-mme-ition
26 Edip-mme-itiokiet
27 Edip-mme-itiaba
28 Edip-mme-itiaita
29 Edip-mme-usokiet
30 Edip-mme-duop
31 Edip-mme-duop-o-kiet
32 Edip-mme-duop-eba
33 Edip-mme-duop-eta
34 Edip-mme-duop-enaang
35 Edip-mme-Efid
36 Edip-mme-Efid-e-kiet
37 Edip-mme-Efid-eba
38 Edip-mme-Efid-eta
39 Edip-mme-Efid-enaang

The Aba (40) Series #40 - #59

Numbered just like in the Edip Series. You can do this by replacing the " Edip" with the "Aba"
40 Aba
41 Aba-Mme-Kiet
50 Aba-Mme-duop
51 Aba-Mme-duop-o-kiet
55 Aba-Mme-Efid
56 Aba-Mme-Efid-e-Kiet etc

The Ata (60) Series #60 - #79

Just as in Edip and Aba Series

60 Ata
61 Ata-Mme-Kiet
70 Ata-Mme-duop
71 Ata-Mme-duop-o-kiet
75 Ata-Mme-Efid
76 Ata-Mme-Efid-e-Kiet etc

The Annang (80) Series #80 - #99

80 Anaang
81 Anaang-Mme-Kiet
90 Anaang-Mme-duop
91 Anaang-Mme-duop-o-kiet
95 Anaang-Mme-Efid
96 Anaang-Mme-Efid-e-Kiet etc

The Ikie (Hundreds) Series #100 - #999

100 Ikie Kiet
101 Ata-Mme-Kiet
110 Ata-Mme-duop
120 Ikia-Mme-Edip etc

200 Ikie Iba
201 Ikie Iba Mme-Kiet
210 Ikie Iba Mme-Duop
220 Ikie Iba Mme-Edip etc

300 Ikie Ita

Tòsìn (Thousands) Series #1000 - #9999

1000 Tòsìn Kiet

Note: There is no letter "G" in Ibibio. The "g" in Anaang for example is only used in this piece to show how the words are pronounced. "-ng" sound in English is written as "ñ" in Ibibio.

I hope you have a good time learning how to write and call numbers in Ibibio.