Oyibo

Oyibo or Oyinbo is a word used in Nigerian Pidgin, Igbo and Yoruba to refer to a westernised people.[1][2][3] In Nigeria, it is generally used to refer to a person of European descent or people perceived to not be culturally African. The word is pronounced oyinbo (/ˌoʊˈ ˌjiːŋ boʊ/) in Yoruba speaking areas and oyibo (/ˌoʊˈ ˌjiː boʊ/) in Igbo and in Nigerian Pidgin. Olaudah Equiano, an African abolitionist, claimed in his 1789 narrative that the people in Essaka, Igboland, where he claimed to be from, had used the term Oye-Eboe in reference to "red men living at a distance" which may possibly be an earlier version of oyibo. Equiano's use of Oye-Eboe, however, was in reference to other Africans and not white men.[4] Gloria Chuku suggests that Equiano's use of Oye-Eboe is not linked to oyibo, and that it is a reference to the generic term Onitsha and other more westerly Igbo people referred to other Igbo people.[5] R. A. K. Oldfield, a European, while on the Niger River near Aboh in 1832 had recorded locals calling out to him and his entourage "Oh, Eboe! Oh, Eboe!" meaning "White man, White man!" linked to modern 'oyibo'.[6][7]

Origin

The origin of the word is difficult to ascertain. In addition to the aforementioned theories, demonym takes the form “onye”+ “place of origin” in the Igbo language. Hence, whereas an Igbo is referred to as “onye Igbo,” a Yoruba is referred to as “onye Yoruba,” a German “onye Germany,” etc. Thus, the first whites in Igboland were referred to as either “onye ocha” (singular) or “ndi ocha” (plural), for “white person” and “white people,” respectively (“ocha” meaning “light"). Interaction between the Igbo and the Europeans resulted in the whites attempting to refer to the Igbo with a name similar to what the Igbo called them but there was a problem in pronouncing Igbo words, owning to the presence of a double-lettered alphabet, which require varying degrees of nasal pronunciation, in some of the consonants, e.g., “ch,” “gb,”gw,””kp,””nw,””ny.”As these were not present in the English language, the white man found it difficult to give the Igbo a similar demonym as the Igbo gave him; instead, a name resulting from a mutilation of Igbo words—“oye Ibo,” instead of “onye Igbo”—was produced, meaning “Igbo person,” just as the Igbo called the white man “onye ocha.” It may have been this “oye Ibo” that the Igbo later started using to refer to the white man in a way of mocking him for his inability to pronounce “onye Igbo.” This practice may have been later adopted by other southern Nigerian tribes and, coupled with dialectal variances, one may obtain different pronunciations, such as “Oyinbo,” as used by the Yoruba of south-western Nigeria.

Oyibo is also used in reference to people who are foreign or Europeanised, including Saros in the Igbo towns of Port Harcourt, Onitsha and Enugu in the late 19th and early 20th century.[8] Sierra Leonean missionaries, according to Ajayi Crowther, a Yoruba, and John Taylor, an Igbo, descendants of repatriated slaves, were referred to as oyibo ojii (Igbo: black foreigners) or "native foreigners" by the people of Onitsha in the late 19th century.[7][9]

Some believe the name is coined from the Yoruba translation of “peeled skin” or “skinless,” which, in Yoruba, translates to “yin” – scratch “bo” – off/peel.

Usage

Oyibo and Oyinbo are the words used in Nigerian Pidgin and Yoruba, respectively, when referring to Europeans or a westernised people. In Igboland, the usage of the term is more common among the western and northern Igbo. The southern Igbo variant, bekee, is more often used in Imo and Abia states. The word “oyibo” has also come to be used in a figurative sense by Igbos especially, in reference to albinos, the English language, and all things connected with the white man. Indeed, the original Igbo coinage for people of European descent, onye/ndi ocha, has become more and more standardised in recent years and is sometimes chosen to refer to the white man specifically.

“Obodo oyibo,” literally “white man’s town,” is an Igbo coinage that refers to overseas (especially Europe and North America), which is now commonly used all over Nigeria and has, more recently, been adopted in Nigerian Pidgin.

Related

In Central and West Africa the name for a person of European descent is Toubab.

In Ghana the word used for a 'white' person or foreigner is ‘Obroni’ in the local languages, those of the Akan family.

References

  1. ↑ Matthias Krings; Onookome Okome (2013). "Global Nollywood: The Transnational Dimensions of an African Video Film Industry, African Expressive Cultures". Indiana University Press. p. 267. ISBN 9780253009425.
  2. ↑ Toyin Falola; Ann Genova (2005). Yoruba Creativity: Fiction, Language, Life and Songs. Africa World Press. ISBN 9781592213368.
  3. ↑ Elisabeth Bekers; Sissy Helff; Daniela Merolla (2009). Transcultural Modernities: Narrating Africa in Europe Volume 36 of Matatu (Göttingen) series, Journal for African Culture and Society. Rodopi. p. 208. ISBN 9789042025387.
  4. ↑ Carretta, Vincent (2005). Equiano, the African: Biography of a Self-made Man. University of Georgia Press. p. 15. ISBN 0820325716.
  5. ↑ The Igbo Intellectual Tradition. Palgrave Macmillan. 2013. p. 45. ISBN 1137311290. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  6. ↑ Laird, MacGregor; Oldfield, R. A. K. (1837). Narrative of an expedition into the interior of Africa. Richard Bentley. p. 394.
  7. 1 2 Lovejoy, Paul E. (2009). Identity in the Shadow of Slavery. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 61. ISBN 1441193960.
  8. ↑ Njoku, Raphael Chijoke (2013). African Cultural Values: Igbo Political Leadership in Colonial Nigeria, 1900–1996. Routledge. p. 20. ISBN 1135528209.
  9. ↑ Okwu, Augustine Senan Ogunyeremuba (2010). Igbo Culture and the Christian Missions, 1857-1957. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 95. ISBN 0761848843.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.