Igbo Language and its Dialects: A Challenge for an Igbo Language Teacher

Abstract

The dialects of Igbo share a considerable degree of lexical items, a variety of phonological, morphological and syntactic features as well as a great deal of mutual intelligibility. Amidst the various dialects of Igbo is a ‘standard’ variety (Igbo Izugbe), which is more or less imagined than being real since it is practically impossible to locate/trace the ‘standard’ variety to a particular geographical setting within the Igbo speaking communities. Here, I provide an overview of the phonological, lexical and morpho-syntactic variations in some Igbo dialects and further highlight how such variations pose a challenge to an Igbo teacher in the school system. This study is based on a database collected from adult speakers of Igbo across the South-eastern states of Nigeria. The database includes both actual and potential words/sentences, which Igbo speakers across the dialects would agree to be in consonant with the grammatical rules of their language. While it is generally agreed that pupils and students should be taught in the ‘standard’ Igbo for ease of communication across dialects, it is suggested that the various dialects should not be disparaged; the pupils/students should be exposed to them. The dialects form part of the richness and fascination of Igbo as a language, and creating a promising future for Igbo studies requires adopting a positive attitude towards its dialects. Dialectal variation in Igbo should not be seen as an obstacle towards improved scholarship/teaching in Igbo but as a rich and valuable asset.