When you talk about languages that are rich in tone and sound, Igbo language ranks very high not just as a rich toned language, but also as a culturally rich language with different pronunciations and meanings for certain same morphological shapes or words.
The tones in Igbo language are used by Ndigbo to ascertain and differentiate meanings and intentions in the use of certain words with the same inscriptions and shapes. This is made easier in written Igbo with the use punctuation marks (Uda olu), otherwise, a non Igbo person cannot differentiate certain Igbo words. Now, you can understand why most Igbo people are proudly Igbo
Lets us look at some Igbo words with different meanings differentiated by the tones.
Akwa:
- Ákwà - Clothes
- Àkwà - Bed
- Àkwá - Egg
- Ákwá - Cry
- Ákwà - Clothes
- Ákwà - Pushing
- Ákwà - Cough
- Àkwá - Sewing
Igwe:
- Ígwē - Sky
- Ígwé - King
- Ìgwè - Crowd
- Ígwé - Grind
- Ígwè - Metal
Eke:
- Èké - Market day
- Éké - Python
- Ékè - To share
- Èké - To tie
- Éké= Create
Ike:
- íké - Power/strength
- íkè - To tie
- íkē - buttocks
Isi:
- Ísí - Head
- Ísì - Cook
- Ísī - Smell
- Ìsì - Blindness
- Ị́sị́ - To say
- Ísì – To grind
Ego:
- Ègó - Buy
- Égō - Money
Akpa:
- Àkpà - Bag
- Àkpá - Discuss
Contact us to add your own @
