Things Fall Apart

A GLOSSARY OF IBO WORDS AND PHRASES

i : old woman. - . woman,– also used of a man who has taken no title.

cbi- . personal god.

efukfu : worthless man.

egwugwu : a masquerader who impersonates one of the ancestral spirits of the village.

ekwe : a musical instrument,– a type of drum made from wood.

eneke-nti-oba : a kind of bird.

eze-acjadi-nwayi : the teeth of an old woman.

ibd : fever.

ilo : the village green, where assemblies for sports, discussions, etc., take place.

inyanga- . showing off, bragging.

isa-ifi : a ceremony. If a wife had been separated from her husband for some time and were then to be re-united with him, this ceremony would be held to ascertain that she had not been unfaithful to him during the time of their separation.

iyi-uwa- . a special kind of stone which forms the link between an ogbanje and the spirit world. Only if the iyi-uwa were discovered and destroyed would the child not die.

jigida : a string of waist beads.

kotma- . court messenger. The word is not of Ibo origin but is a corruption of "court messenger."

kwenu- . a shout of approval and greeting.

ndicbie- . elders.

nna ayi : our father.

nno : welcome.

nso-ani- . a religious offence of a kind abhorred by everyone, literally earth's taboo.

nza : a very small bird.

obi- , the large living quarters of the head of the family.

obodo dike : the land of the brave.

ochu : murder or manslaughter.

ocjbanje : a changeling,– a child who repeatedly dies and returns to its mother to be reborn. It is almost impossible to bring up an ogbanje child without it dying, unless its iyi-uwa is first found and destroyed.

ogene : a musical instrument; a kind of gong.

oji odu achu-ijiji-O : (cow i.e., the one that uses its tail to drive flies away).

osu : outcast. Having been dedicated to a god, the osu was taboo and was not allowed to mix with the freeborn in any way.

Oye.– the name of one of the four market days.

ozo: the name of one of the titles or ranks.

tufia- . a curse or oath.

udu : a musical instrument; a type of drum made from pottery.

uli.– a dye used by women for drawing patterns on the skin.

umuadct : a family gathering of daughters, for which the female kinsfolk return to their village of origin.

umunna- . a wide group of kinsmen (the masculine form of the word umuada} .

Uri : part of the betrothal ceremony when the dowry is paid.