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OKRIKA ORTHOGRAPHY by I.E. Ngulube

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RTHOGRAPHIES OF NIGERIAN
LA GUAGES
MANUALX

Ozo·mekuri Ndimele .(Ed.)

Co-ordinated by
Dr~ Tony Enyia

PUBLISHED BY:
NIGERIAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
& DEVELOPMENT
, COUNCIL
20'1'1
 NERDC Orthography Manual X 2011

-
OKRIKA ORTHOGRAPHY
Isaac Eyi Ngulube (PhD)

English Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Email: isaaceyingulube@[Link] Mobile: 08075220804

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Sequel to the one-day special workshop on the development of Rivers State
indigenous language orthographies and writing of books sponsored by the Rivers
State Government and organised by the Rivers State Readers Project in association
with the. Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) held
on 17th September 2009 at the Rivers State University of Science and
Technology, Port Harcourt; The consensus amongst the workshop participants is
that efforts should be made to secure the approval of fourteen (14) more
orthography of Rivers languages. The Okrika language was one of the languages
to benefit from this 'new initiative'~ Dr Isaac Eyi Ngulube, Mr Geoffrey A.
Somiari, Mrs Esther B. Tobin, Mrs Elizabeth Agaga and Hon. Tykyna Jamal;m
were assigned the responsibility of producing the draft copy of the Okrika
orthography to be considered and adopted at a joint meeting between the W akjrjk~
b~ s~ Language Committee and the Rivers State Readers Project •
1

1.1 Symbols
The symbols used for phonetic transcription are in square brackets [ ] and
are taken from the IP A. The diacritic tilde [ -] above a segment signifies that the
consonants or vowels is nasalized. I propose this to replace the letter n, which is
used in the existing orthography, as in [k5] instead of [k6n] 'fishing expedition' .
This is to eliminate the ambiguity of n standing for a distinctive sound segment
(alveolar nasal), as inn and also indicating the process of nasalization, as in nemi.
The same tilde diacritic mark between two lexical items, as in [ ] - [ ] means that
they are in free variation, as in [ak~a] -[akwa]'drum'.
The diacritic circumflex [ ~ ] above a vocoid in the existing orthography
indicates that it is extra long but I propose here the symbol[:] after a vowel be use
to indicate that it is lengthened, as in [Q6o] 'come'. Thus reserving circumflex [ ~]
for the falling tone and [ v] for the rising tone. The marks [ ' ] , [ - ] and [ ' ] are
used to indicate high, down stepped and low tones respectively. In the existing
orthography, two superjacent dots [ '· ] on a vocoid, as in [ii] indicates that the
affected vocoid is short. In this same existing orthography the apostrophe [ '] on a
close front vowel also evinces that the vocoid [i] is short. It follows therefore that
[ ··1and [ '] both show that a vocoid is short. Since length is insignificant in
1
I acknowledge the contributions of Sir Eli D. Kalio towards the completion of this
. orthography.
 Okrika Orthography

99
Okrika, that is length does not make a difference in the meaning of two words, I
propose that [ ··]and [ ']be dropped from the new orthography, but long vowel be
represented with a double vowel e.g. aa and a short vowel be represented with a
single vowel e.g. a. For phonetic transcriptions (between slashes/~ I will use
characters based on orthography proposed by the W akirik~ b~ s~ Language
. Committee, with IPA characters used occasionally when needed for clarity.

2.1 Kjrjk~ Ji n
· About 593, 118 people speak Kirik~. The language of the Okrika people is
called K.,irfk~nj okwein and by the phonological process of elisional-apocope it is
realised as Kirik~. The name Okrika is the anglicised version of the word Kirik~,
which is a shorter version of Wakirik~ meaning 'we are not different' or 'we are b ~ s~
the same people'. Presently, Okrika is used to refer to the people, while Kirik~ is
used to refer to the language the people speak.
Like other tribes in Rivers State the exact provenance of the W akjrjk~ b~ s~
is not known. Their history appears to have been lost with the passage of time.
The traditions of origin making the rounds are fragmented oral traditions fraught
with inadequacies and non-factual acc~unts of the provenience of Wakir!k~ b~ s~.
The time frame when the W akirik~ b~ s~ came to occupy their present territory is
equally unknown. All that is certain is that the W akjrjk~ b~ s~ are of the ancestral
Ijo stock of the central Niger Delta who due to great disturbances, communal
clashes and cannibalisms emigrated from Ijaw (Izon) land and settled on the
various parcels of land where they are now located. With time other people came On --
to live with them and new settlements also came into existence, these influxes of
others into the area have adulterated the language and have equally engineered a
shift in the vocabulary of the language.
fr ~ -

2.2 Location
Kirik~ is located within 4°.44' N and 7°. 05' E, it is about 46 nautical miles
from Bonny in the Niger Delta area of southern Nigeria. It is basically within the
Niger Delta creeks, where it formed the largest group of Islands. The territory
covers an area of about 250.25 square miles. The Okrika territory neighbours
several different communities whose boundaries often reflect ethnic and/or
linguistic groupings within the region. Okrika is bordered by Adoni, Ogoni and
Eleme to the east, Ikwerre to the north, Kalal;>ari to the west and Bonny to the
south. Their major occupation is fishing, trading and a little farming. Its
vegetation is the mangrove forest.
Kjrjk~ is spoken principally in the Okrika Local Government Area
(WALGA), Ogu / ~olo Local Government Area (OBOLGA) and part of Port 2.4
Harcourt Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria. Okrika is located at
the eastern part of Port Harcourt while Ogu and ~olo are situated at the southern b
part of Okrika local Government Area. Kirik~ is spoken in ten (10) main towns a
 Okrika Orthography

100
and twenty-five (25) other smaller communities; these are Okrika, Ogoloma,
Ibaka, Ogbogbo, Ogu, Bolo, Ely, Al;mloma, Isaka and Port Harcourt south. This is
besides the numerous fishing settlements (Fishing ports) dotted over the eastern
Niger Delta. Okrika is also spoken in Umuebele in Echie LGA. Those located at
the southern part of Port Harcourt are Okukala-ama, Abuloma, Amadi-ama,
Okuru-ama, 0 3ub99k9-ama, Okoro-ama, Fimnie-ama, Okujagl,1-ama, A3\labie-
Okujagu-ama, Somiari-ama and Koko-ama. The dwellers here speak what in
linguistic literature is called Okrika-Igbo (Ndimele, Forthcoming).

2.3 Genetic affiliation

Kjrjk~ is the language of wider communication for the people of W akjrjk~
b~ s~ ethnic nationality. Although Okrika shares ethnographic background,
. :.s cultural, religious, political and linguistics affinities with Kalal)ari, Nk9r9 and
Jl)ani (Bonny) its linguistic classification is rather complex. For instance, Ndimele
(Forthcoming) observes that:

From a purely linguistic point of view, Echie is an Igboid

lect. Its other close relatives in Rivers State include
Ikwere, Ogba, Bonny-Igbo, Okrika-Igbo and Ndoki.
Ekpeye, though an Igboid lect spoken in Rivers State, is
fairly distantly related to the rest.

On the other hand, Jenewari (1985: 83) posits that:

-... Its [Kalal;mri] closest linguistic relatives are Okrika and
a Jl;ani (Bonny), which ,are mutually intelligible with it.

From Ndimele ' s perspective at least one dialect of Okrika is Igboid while Jenewari
asserts that Okrika is Ijoid. More recent study classifies Okrika under Benue-
Congo within the Niger-Congo Phylum. Kjrjk~ has four distinct dialects - Okrika,
Ogu, Ogoloma and Abuloma. The Speakers themselves observe that the Okrika
dialect is central and is the variety use in most literary work in the area. The Ogu
or Ogoloma dialect contains more 'original' words, and therefore stocks more
obsolete words that can be harnessed in the expansion of Kjrjkfs vocabulary.
Although a relatively minor language in the Nigerian multilingual
community, Kjrjk~ is a historically significant language. It is one of the major
languages of Rivers State and is used for broadcasting and in other sector of the
media system.

2.4 Problems affecting the orthography

The existing orthography is phonemic except that it under specifies
between [n] and [ii] representing both as/n/, because of lack of consensus on the
appropriate symbolism for [ii]. In this paper I will represent [ii] with the voiced
 Okrika Orthography

101
velar nasal /1J /. Secondly, the existing orthography wrongly specifies the
segment [ny], which it represents as voiced palatal nasal I J1 /,again I represent this
as nasalized palatal approximant [Jl. Thirdly, the existing orthography equally
wrongly specifi es [nw] as labialised alveolar nasal /n w/, I propose that it be Er. i
represented as nasalized labial approximant [w]. Fourthly, the existing
orthography uses the sub-dotted close back vowel [\l] to represent extra long
vocoids, but I propose that the sub-dotted [\l] be represented as [ u] to distinguish it
from the plain non-dotted [u].
The existing orthography is unfamiliar to majority of the speakers. Only few
speakers connected with the Rivers Readers Project and members of the Language
Committee are familiar with it, and use it. Preponderance of the speakers of
Kjrjk~ to use Jenewari's words 'do not seem to have any other system of oi
orthographic convention to go by' (1983: 100). This is manifest in the literature Ii::.=
on the language, which is scanty, and 'particularly in recorded songs and order of
funeral service texts'. For instance, there is considerable variation in the writing
of words, some persons will write, as in A below while others will write, as in B
below:
Ex.I A B
t9naye t9ii-aye 'somethings'
t9napu t9ii-apu 'some people'
r;linogbo c;lin-ogbo 'mid night '
t9nal;J{!r? t9n-al;J?r? 'some cases '

The authors seem to follow their 'private' orthographies (J enewari, 1985: 100).
The non-existence of a standard orthography favours the development of the
current orthography.
The attitude of teachers is a big set back for the existing orthography.
While, I accept the argument that there are as yet no specially trained teachers that
· can handle the teaching of the mother tongue, the attitude of the current crop of
teachers leaves so much to be desired. Some complain about the exotic nature of
the letters used in writing the existing orthography, few cited examples are a, 6
and e as in belema, gb6nma and aga. Others are , , as in 9ifi-ogbo; t;, i, as in
l;>t;rt;tibi. The second wave of complaint from teachers is the use of many
unfamiliar digraphs such as ch, gb, gw, kp, kw, nw and ny with ambiguously
realised sound segments (cf section 1. 1 above). Granted that these could be
daunting · for a schoolteacher with no background in linguistics. The realities of
Okrika are that the language has a complex consonantal system resulting from the
overwhelming presence of labialization, palatalization and nasalization, which are
needed to accurately represent realities in the speech of the Okrika person.
Tone marking is an essential feature of Okrika, because variation in the
pitch of the voi ce can bring about a significant change in the meaning of words,
but until this moment there is no agreement on how to mark tone. Jamabo (2009:
 Okrika Orthography ::;... _· . '
::" . .. - "

102
26, mss) presents two different versions of tone marking giving credence to the
current ~ffort:

Ex. 2
mbi imbi 'nut/coconut '
mgbe imgbe 'bone'
mgbe imgbe 'oyster'
mgbele mgbele 'stone'

Finally, the existing orthography has to contend with preponderance of loan words
from neighbouring languages especially Igbo. The argument is polarized, some
opined that these loanwords should be done away with, to gain freedom from
linguistic imperialism, and obsolete words in the language be used to replace
them. Others want these words retained arguing that loaning is a major/viable
method languages use to enrich their vocabulary. ·After consultation with the
Wakjrik~ b~ s~ Language Committee, I decided to let the dynamism of the
language take its natural course, rather than prescribe how people should go about
expressing their creativity.

2.5 History of the orthography

The history of the orthography is weaved around the efforts of certain
eminent Wakjrik~ b~ s~ sons and daughters. Foremost among them is Pa. William
W. Peters. It was the late Pa. William W. Peters, later known as Chief William
Inyenengi Daka, who first committed the Kjrjke language to writing. It was Rev.
M. Davidson Showers, a Sierra Leonia, who was the vicar of St Peter's Anglican
church then who commissioned Chief William Inyenengi Daka to translate, for
Episcopal reasons, The Queen's Primer into The Kfrfke Primer and also translate
Prayers and Hymns for catechism in the Anglican Communion. These books
became the earliest publications · in Kjrjke; The Okrika Primer was published in
1932 while T?k?-na-nime na was published in 1934. This later book was
dedicated and launched at St. Peter's church Okrika on the 4th of November 1934.
Madam Dinah D. Sam-Kalio in furtherance of Kjrjke published the Kaba
. na Gbun Okw?,in na Kjrfk?nf l}jpj l}t,t (Stories and Idioms in Kjrjke) in 1960. Late
Mr. Levi Sika, of blessed memory, followed in her footsteps and published the
Tatarj Go l)iri 1 & 2 (Kjrjke Reader 1 & 2) in 1969. Through the promptings of
the Rivers Readers Project, Mr. Promise T.J. Iworima now Chief P.T.J Il;mlu
published another Kjrjke Reader titled Kirik?ni Go l)iri in 1972. Mr P. E. A.
are Kuromiema to complement Mr. Promise Kalie's effort developed Kirik<;mi Go l)iri
Teachers' Note published in 1972 by the Rivers Readers project.
Late Chief Ebenezer Dalafaka Worsley Opuogulaya had earlier written and
published in English The Cultural Heritage of the Wakjrjk~ but decided to
translate it into Kjrjke in 1975 for easy assess by the majority who could not assess
 Okrika Orthography

103
it in English. Recently, Hon. Tex Laban Jamabo also translated The Foundation
Class in [Link] (Kjrjke Reader) into Kjrjke in 2000. Mr. Emmanuel S.T. Oroyi
desirous to make an impact in 2007 published Ngei, Main, t?r? kien hara Kirik?ni
.fJjpj .fJl:l (Counting in Kjrjke) and the year after 2008 followed it with Dawoaye na
kienaye na.
Of these publications, only two - The Foundation Class in [Link] and the
Kal?o na Gbuii Okw?fn Kirik?ni .fJipi .!?¥ are still in circulation. The publication of
Kjrfk? Reader and its Teachers' Note marked the beginning of governmental
support and encouragement for the development of Kjrjk~. In addition to the
above corpus, there exist two dictionaries in Okrika, one is Okrika Dictionary
published in 2007 by Dr. Alfred S. Abam (Ado ix). The other is Kfrfk?ni Okwein
Ngbolu by Levi 0. Sika [Online] .
It is interesting to note that in some (if not all) of these early literary works
particularly the translations of William W. Peters' The Kfrfk? Primer and T?k?-na-
nime na, the nine (9) vowels of the language were recognised. The implosives [5
d] were also recognised and written as 1;> and 9 (Jamabo, 2010: 9, mss). It should
also be noted that some of the diacritic marks used by the The Kfrfk? Primer and
T?k?-na-nime na are no more in use. In contrast new symbols have been
introduc~d for accuracy, simplicity, familiarity and convenience.

3.1 Current alphabet

The current Kjrjk~ alphabet is made up of thirty-seven (3 7) letters as
evinced below:

(i) Upper case letters

A B I? CH D 0 E E F G
GB GW H I l J K KP KW L
M N N NW NY 0 0 p R s
T u 1J v w y z se

(ii) Lower case letters

a b 1;> ch d 9 e ~ f g
gb gw h 1 l J k kp kw 1
m n n nw ny 0 Q p r s
t u \l v w y z

3.2 Vowels
Kjrjk~
exhibits a vowel system that consists of nine (9) oral vowels. Each
oral vowel has a nasalized counterpart but the oral and nasalized vowels do not
contrast; moreover oral and nasalized vowels differ only with respect to nasality.
Furthermore, the oral and the nasalized vowels are in complementary distribution;
while oral vowels occur in [-nasal] environment their nasalized counterparts occur
 Okrika Orthography

104
in [+nasal] environment. Apart from this Kirik~ vowels do not exhibit allophonic
variation, each vowel functions as the nucleus of the syllable. Table 1 is an
inventory of the vowels.

Table I: Kjrjk~ vowel inventory

[-Back} [+Back}
[+High] i I uu [+High]
[-High] e c a o;; [-High}

Ex. 3
ein Orthographic Phonetic [Link]? English
[i} piri [piri} 'forest'
,
i [1] pfrf [pin} 'give
e [e} ere [ere] 'female'
? {t;} ?r? [ere} 'name
0 [o] 616 [616] 'pomade'
and 9 [;;] 919 [:516] 'cough'
-een a [a} ara [ara} 'her(~~'
u [u} furu [furu] 'steal'
~ [u] ikp[tk7:1 [ikpuku] 'stump'

_ as 3.2.1 Vowel amity

In monomoraic words there are no constraints on the nucleus vowel but in
polymoraic words there are severe constraints on the co-occurrence of the vowels
of the language. The nine vowels above divide into two sets: wide (expanded)
vowels and narrow (non-expanded) vowels. Theoretically, in a simple word
vowels from the two sets do not co-occur. This phenomenon is referred to as
vowel amity (Ngulube, 2008). The nine vowels are exemplified in the two amity
sets, as shown below. In K!rik~ vowel amity system the [-High] vowel [a] is
neutral, that is, it can occur with the wide vowels as well as with the narrow
vowels in a simple word. Although, [a] is shown above as belonging to either
harmony set, it is articulatorily and acoustically associated more with the narrow
(non-expanded) vowels than with the wide (expanded) vowels.

Table 2: Vowel amity sets in Kirike

Wide (Expanded) Narrow (Non-expanded)
[-Back] [+Back] [-Back] [+Back]
[+High] i U I U [+High]
h
.,ot [-High] e (a) o E a ::l [-High]

Table 3 below illustrates vowel amity in Kjrjk~ . The data 1s phonetically

transcribed therefore are assumed to be in square brackets.
 Okrika Orthography

105
1 able j ; wzae (JJxpanaea) vowels Narrow 1 Non-expanaea) vowels
i fil as in: iri 'razor' ! f1l as in: Ir/ 'I, me'
iku 'louse' 1ku 'rock'
deki 'carry' d'ck1 'nurse a child'
piri 'forest ' pin 'Kive'
e [e] as in: ere female' ~ [c} as in: ere 'name '
6ele 'spacious' 6dc 'sweet'
ele .'field' i ii '[Link]'
u f ul as in: p6ku 'bat' ~ fu] as in: p6ku 'water side'
owu 'war ' .JWU 'heat, air'
0 fol as in: 6ki . '
'swim 9 f:Jl as in: :Jkf 'take'
616 'pomade' :51:5 'couJ?h'
·•
ado 'compound' :3cb .'fashion'
a !al as in: bar 'chip' q fc;zl 6fzi 'creaky'
iia 'my, mine' ij(l
, ,
'your '
ora 'his' r;irr;i 'her, hers'

Although, I have demonstrated that most instances of vowel amity occur in simple
words, there are also instances where it operates across the boundaries of simple
words. Consider the example below:

Ex. 4 ·
mi Ty aye~ 'This is mine.' > iya 'my'
mi jyaye~ 'This is yours.' > iya 'my'
mi
'
araycc;
,.
'
'This is hers' > .ara 'her'
' _, ' ,
mi 1mnaye¥ 'This is ours.' > mina 'our'

The reduplicated suffix -~ at the end of the above sentences stress possessiveness.

3.3 Consonants
Table 4 below shows that Kjrjk~ has twenty-seven consonants.
 Okrika Orthography

106
Table 4: Kirik~ consonant inventory

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Gloual

Plosive p b d k g
Implosive 6 a
Nasal m n IJ
Nasalized w J
Affricate tf dJ
·•
Fricati ve .r v s z h
Lateral I
Rhotic r
Semivowel w y
Labial velar kp gb
Labialised kw gw

There are consonant clusters resulting from the loss of syllabicity of a high back
vowel [u] after velar sounds [k g] before an open vowel [a] in the language, for
instance kw and gw. While Kalahari has the ak\la 'drum' and g\la 'mix' Kjrjk~ has
le akwa 'drum' and gwa 'mix'. Indicating that its closest relatives retain the
le syllabicity, which is lost in Kjrjk~ resulting in consonant clusters. My data shows
no evidence of long consonants in the language. The observed digraphs are not
sequences of consonants but single segments hence the use of the tie-bar.
International Phonetic Alphabet symbols (IPA) are used here including certain
non-Roman characters such as [IJ] for the voiced velar nasal, [6] for the voiced
labial implosive, [d] for the voiced alveolar implosive. Affricates are represented
with digraphs [tj] and [d3]. The palatal approximant Li] is represented with the
graph y following the convention prevalent in African language descriptions
although this somewhat deviates from the IP A accepted practice. Accordingly the
rhotic [ r] is preferred to -l: The voiceless glottal fricative [h] occurs in exclamation
words and few other words used to introduce folk stories, as in hee 'exclamation',
hoin 'call to introduce a folk tale', haan 'response to the hoin call'.
The distribution of [z] in Kirjk~ is highly restricted; it occurs in only three
words, as in zaa 'scatter', ozu 'farm' and azuai 'run away': Note that the alveolar
nasal [n] is a phonemic segment /n/ in its own right but it is also used to mark or
indicate the process of nasalization of preceding vowel (s), as in 9kw~!n [:JkwH]
'speech, talk'.
 Okrika Orthography " Ok .
l -
107 I 10
Ex. 5·
Orthogmphic Phonetic Kfrfk? English
b [b] [Link] fbaiJ 'chip'
b [6} batn [Link] 'croaky'
d [dJ de in fdelJ 'peace
,
(I [d] (iinma [dlma] 'change
ch [tj] chfri [tfln] 'lion'
chiri [tfiri] 'market' Ex.
f [/] .r1119 [fut:5J 'soup
g [g] g~fn [gif] 'write'
gb [gb} gbolu [gbolu] 'short'
gw {gw} gwa [gw a] 'mix
*h [h} h?h? [hrhr] 'light (of body)'
j [d3] jike [d3ike} 'shake'
k [k} kana fkaaJ 'basket'
kp [kp] kpapi; [kpapuJ 'scissors
kw {kw} [Link] {:Jkwffj 'to talk'
l [!} loku [loku] 'cheek'
m [m] minemgba [minemgba] 'all of us'
n [n} nemi [nemi] 'wisdom'
n [IJ}
- --
, ,
anana f a1Ja1JaJ 'sparkle' in
*nw fwJ nw?ngf fwfgJJ 'walk'
*ny []] nyengib9 [Jegi6:JJ 'mother' Ex. -
p [p} piri [piri} 'forest'
' ' ,
r [r} r?g?n:g? [rcgcrigi] 'langour
s [s] sc:nib9 [scnffo] 'elder'
t [t} t9rl:l [t:5ru] 'face'
,
v [v] vukuma [vukuma] 'swing trap
w [w] wakf [waki} 'cast (net)'
y [y} Y?riy?ri [jcrI}t:n} 'transparent'
*z [z] ozii [ozii} 'farm'

* The letters h, ny, nw and z are rec!undant in K!dk~ as they do not contribute
anything to the productive phonology of the language. I propose that they be drop
from the list of the consonant inventory.

4.0 Special features

4.1 Vowel length
K!rik~ has both short and long vowels. A short vowel is represented with a
single vowel .symbol, while a long vowel is represented with a double vowel
symbol, as in a vs. aa. The language does not make contrastive use of vowel
length; in other words, the differences between short and long vowels do not result
 Okrika Orthography

108
into a difference in the meaning between two words. In the current orthography,
short and long vowels are recognised whenever they occur, but there are no long
consonants in the language. In Kjrjk~ tone and the grammatical environment
sometimes condition vowel length. A word, which normally ends in a sequence of
two vowels, may become shortened; conversely, a word with a short vowel may
have its final vowel lengthened, as in (Data from Jenewari 1983: 91):

Ex. 6
(iJEgbe + 9g(m99--> Egbe 9g9n99 'top of a box'
(ii) gbr;)ri + atelil ~ gbr;}ri atelif 'a (single) road'
(iii)ora + opu ~ (Jra opuil 'his greatness'
(iv) ana + so ---> anas6o 'that destiny, fate'

A careful examination of the above data also indicates that emphasis plays a major
role in determining whether a vowel lengthens or shortens. In example (i) and (ii)
the vowels are shortened because no emphasis is required whereas in (iii) and (iv)
the vowels are lengthened because specificity is mandatory.
A comparison of Kalabari and Kirik~ evinces that sometimes a specific
consonant, in this instance the voiced labial plosive [p ], gets deleted
intervocalically and the consequences is a compensatory lengthening of the vowel
in Kjrjk~, as in:

Ex. 7 Kalal;arj Kirike

. ·, .
jcjupu ~ f<fuu 'grave'

In Kjrjk~ the process of labialization induces a shortening or a reduction in the

sequences of vowels, as in:

Ex.8 Kalal;arj l([Link]?

g'?ia gwa 'mix •
gz~ 9 gw9 'cure, heal '
,
kuefn kwCin 'sober
-te
k~ani kwani 'what of'
- p
In these examples, it is the rounded vowel [u] that is realized as semivowel [w],
resulting in the loss of syllabicity.
Finally, responses to yes-no questions often demand that the vowels
involved are lengthened as a means of emphasizing the key element in the answer
-yes or no.
Ex.9
Q. o l;osci? 'Has he arrived?'
A. iin, o bosam. 'Yes, he has arrived.'
 Okrika Orthography

109
Note that the word aan also means 'yes' but only in response to a call, as in:

Ex. JO
Call: Saye
Response: aan

4.2 Nasalization
Kjrjk~ has m n IJ as nasal consonants and ] and w as nasalized consonants.
The nasal consonants automatically nasalizes any vowel in their proximity,
consider:

Ex. 11
ini {inij 'they' mini [mini} .'flesh'
mine [m'inij 'we ' mina [mTr;aJ 'relative'
9mb¥ [5mbu] 'mullet fish ' m6n6 [mono} 'specie offish'
imb~ (zmbD] 'navel'
e
Note that the voiced labial plosive [b J does not inhibit the spread of nasality to ·
the adjacent vocoid. In this data, the direction of nasality is progressive. Besides,
this automatic process of nasalization, there are also vowels with inherent nasality,
these vowels occur in the environment of oral consonants, as in:

Ex. 12
k(Jn [k5) 'fish expedition' asim [ asii] 'horse'
san [sa} 'urinate' tan [ta} 'painting'
sin [sij 'remove ton [t5] forbidden'
k~n [k6J 'respect' bein [6eij full'
kun [ku] 'arrest' bc;fn [6Eij 'honey'
kin [kij 'tap palm wine' dun [ dU] female antelope'
kan [ka] 'tear' g#n [git] 'write '
fin [Ji} 'fly' [Link] [git] 'shoot'
tun [tu} 'bear (animal)' ikpain [ikp!it] 'squirrel'

The ultimate (word-final) alveolar nasal [ n] is used in the existing orthography to

mark vowel nasalization. In current orthography, I have proposed that the tilde
diacritic mark be used (cf. section 1.1) leaving the alveolar nasal In/ free as an
phonemic segment as in:

Ex. 13
ndende 'how '
nd6 'breast'
 Okrika Orthography

110
I like to point out here that in the current orthography the alveolar nasal [n] is not
written before a nasalized approximant [j w] and in word-final positions since the
syllable structure of the language is CV, V-CV and CVV, consider the data below:

Ex. 14
Existing Current Phonetic
*jny9n fy9n .ZY9 [ij5] 'strength'
*fnyan fyan ,zya fuaJ 'safety'
ty, *nyingi yingi --
yzgi. [Jigi] 'mother'
*nyanaf?9 yanaf?o yaaf?9 []li:6:;] 'owner, God'
*ny9ni y9ni --
y9z []5i] 'wither'

From the above data the impression a casual observer will run away with is that
the first element - the close front vowel [i] or [1] as the case may be is not
nasalized. Secondly that the orthographic [ny] is actually a palatal nasal while the
coda alveolar nasal is an indicator that the vowels are nasalized. The * data
evinces that the initial alveolar nasal is an indicator that the close front vowels are
nasalized but they are not written orthographically that is why they are asterisked.
While the coda alveolar nasal is an indicator that the vowels and the palatal
approximants are also nasalized. I have represented this understanding in the close
phonetic transcription above. Again, note that in the above data the palatal
approximants are nasalized as the transcriptions evince but orthographically not
indicated. The direction of nasality is regressive . . Following from the above
analysis the next set of data becomes simplified, consider:

Ex. 15
Existing Current
l,Jeinme l;eime 'It isfull'
fiinmci <;iima 'change'
binma bfma 'quench it'
p1,mma pl,ima 'fill it'

The impression a casual observer has, looking at the existing orthography, is that
the above data contain sequences of nasals that are incompatible in place of
articulation; the first is an alveolar [n] while the second is a labial nasal [m]. The
alveolar nasal is a coda while the labial nasal is an onset. But, this is not the case
as the current data above and phonetic data below illustrate.
Ex. 16
[oeime] 'It isfull'
{dlma] 'change'
[blmaJ 'quench it'
[p?7ma] 'fill it'
 Okrika Orthography Ok

111 l l:
The alveolar nasal indicates nasalization in the erstwhile orthographic convention
whereas the bilabial nasal is an onset syllabic nasal. Finally, in some quarters the
data below is interpreted as in A but this paper proposes B for consistency:

Ex. 17
A B
fnyan [f]i5] [ij5j_ 'refuge'
fnyian [[Link]] [/jtaJ 'struggle'
fnyanyan [l.J1a.J1aJ maJaJ 'leaf' · In c-
fny9n [lji5} [ij5] 'strength' a .,._
.ny9n [)15] []5} 'somewhere' VO'.' •

nwan [nwa} fwaJ 'duiker'

nweni [nwei] [weiJ 'people' Ex. 2
nwananwana[nw5:1iw a:J -
.:.- .{,""
.{,
[wa:wa: 1 'smart '

4.3 Syllabic nasal

In K!rjk~ the nasal consonants are m as in ama 'town', n as in nemi 5.0
'wisdom', and fl as in afiafia 'sparkle' . Out of these three, m and n are syllabic,
that is, they can bear tones as do vowels, whereas fl is an onset velar nasal.
Secondly, there are two alternative ways of saying these words in the language -A
and B. At the plenary session held in St. Peters Anglican Church Okrika on the
16th February 2010 the people assert that the words in column A be regarded as the Ex. 11
standard because it is easy to learn and it is also the most widely used. Consider
the examples below:

Ex. 18 A B
,
mgba imgba 'wrestling
ngwt'9'
.
tngw¥9
'
'sugar cane er ·
mgbele mgbele 'object thrown at people' no· ·
mgbe imgbe 'oyster'
mgbe imgbe 'bone'
mgbo!U imgboli1 'sand eel'

ng6 ing6 'wealth, richness '

ngi/;J9 ingi/;J9 foolish person'
nd6 ind6 'breast'
nda inda 'shiny nose (fish) ' (2

4.4 Palatalization Ex
It is pertinent to note here that in the standard Okrika palatalization is not
wide spread. But in certain individuals' idiolects ~is palatalised especially before
 Okrika Orthography

112
.· n a high front vowel [i} and 1s represented orthographically as sit, consider the
. e following data:
Ex. 19
(!) ncima shi obiri 'abuse'
(ii) t9r1:f shi 9ri . 'suffer, suffery'
(iii) shi t9k1:f 'bad child'
(i v) shi tj(Jt 'stubborn'

In one dialect of K!rik~ (Amadi-ama) the close front [i] in the above data becomes
a semivowel [j] through a glide formation process especially if the front close
vowel occurs between a consonant and an open vowel, as in:

Ex. 20 Standard Variation

nama si obiri ~ nama sjobiri
t9r1:f si 9ri ~ t9r1,i sj9ri

5.0 Word division

One area of the existing orthography where there is so much disagreement
among writers is word division. Everybody does what comes to him naturally.
Most writers argue for:

Ex. 21
t9n-aye 'somethings '
tQii-apu 'some people'
din-ogbo 'midnight'
tQn-ab?r? 'some cases

(1) In the current orthography, I recommend that compounds be written as solid

not hyphenated or open, as in:

Ex.22
t9naye 'somethings'
t9napu 'some people'
diiiogbo 'midnight'
t9nab?r? 'some cases'

(2) Separate subject possessive pronouns from the nouns that they specify, as in:

Ex. 23
'
Jya anana 'My sheep'
1ya obiri 'My dog'
fya 9/;Jrko 'My fowl'
 Okrika Orthography Ok

113 114
f tjl),i 'My head'
6 1?9o 'You (pl) come.' be.
0 kp6njjsime 'You (pl) sit down. '
inf olokumtf 'They shouted. '
, , ,
wa [Link] 'we saw (it).' k?
,ir,i OWU t<)k~? 'I am a male child. '
mine tomoni? 'We are human beings.'
a ye {iiki sam 'I have watched something. ' ?~
, , ,
a ye 9r,Lmtf 'She saw something. '

(3) Separate object possessive pronouns from the nouns that they specify, as in:

Ex. 24 (
mi
- , -,
Jyaye? 'This is mine. '
, , -,
mi 1yaye? . 'This is yours. '
mj ciyayeef 'This is hers. '

(4) Proper names are written solid, as in:

Ex. 25
T?k?na
l)ikib9 (8J ~

Jnyanaf?9ftam~m? res~ _
· Sot<)nye

(5) Emphatic pronouns are written separate, as in:

Ex. 26 .
ori anf dekiy?? 'He carried it. '
maa ani t9k1:1mae? 'She is the girl. '
ini mangiaf?? 'They are running. '
wa anf <)kfsam 'We have received it. '

(6) Positive, negative and question indicator suffixes should be written together
with the ·verbs to which they collocate, as in:

Ex. 27 ·
l?ki a l)o/;Jfa 'I shall/will come'. sc- ··
a sol?fr/l 'I shall go'.
aye fil?fr/z 'I will eqt '.
al?e . a boal;e 'She is coming'.
a c.i?rial?e 'She is laughing'.
zy Okrika Orthography

3 114
inf ye dikial;ef 'They are watching something'.
b. e.'? i (J ol;e? 'Will you come?'
a bol)e? 'Will she come?'
ini 1)6be? 'Will they come?'
k? 'not'
af?ob? 'I did not come'.
a munk<;. 'She did not go '.
<;k? 'not'
a boefk~ 'I will not come'.
ay e ch~6efk? 'She will not cook I

o si t,i!;[ ch(ujrjkq 'He will not prove stubborn'

(7) The past tense marker must be attached to the verb root, as in:

Ex. 28
-m?
a 96m? 'I came'.
atim? 'She played'.
9fzmc; 'You ate (pl) '.
o dekim? 'He carried it'.

(8) 'Yes' in its various forms een, aan, and iin must be written separated from the
rest of the response (see example 10 above).

6.0 Tone
Tone is a vital feature of the words in K!dk~. The word si, with a low tone
means 'evil' or 'be (come) bad' but si, with a high tone means 'twenty'. In Kirjk~,
tone is also a vital feature of the sentences:

Ex. 29
a l;oa!;i 'I am coming '.
a !;oalJi 'She is coming '.
arj ffomu(Jf{l 'I will beat you '.
ar,i ffomu !;if(;l 'She will beat you ·.
o l)o ani c;[Link] 'He has come to see it (sg) '.
6 bo ani c;likisam 'You have come to see it (pl) '.

· Similarly, the only difference between the pairs of sentences is essentially the
tonal pattern. The language has three major tones high, downstep and low. The
low tone is left unmarked, the high tone is marked ' while the downstep tone also
is marked - to differentiate it from the mid tone mark - in other closely related
languages.
 Ok ~
Okrika Orthography

115 116
Ex. 30
so 'sky' vs. s6 'go away
, -
ene .'
'ram vs. ene 'day'

Sequences of vowels trigger rising and falling tones, which are analysed as
sequences of two tones:
Ex. 31
,
Chua 'wear' de kt 'carry
abiye 'what I want' chiin 'call'
goo'"' 'read' c/iki 'nurse (a child) '
!)60 'come

Preliminary analysis shows that when the words occur in isolation or as the first
word in a sentence there are six different tonal patterns in the language. However,
a more detailed analysis is required to establish the correct number of the tonal
patterns in the language. When words are combined in a sentence, they sometimes
change their tonal pattern, as in:

Ex. 32
def?6o 'husband' but dew'?lbe 'Her husband'

Other examples are:

Ex. 33
ta 'wife' but tar6ma 'his wife'
i(Ji 'handsome' but ibiowub9 'handsome man'
de in 'peaceful' but deint6ku 'peaceful child'
opu 'great' but ama opu Sf?nfl)9 'most elder of a town '

This data suggest that it is the initial word, which undergoes the tonal change. But
at other t,imes both words undergo a tonal change. According to Jenewari (1985:
97):

In the typical tone group (defined as the unit of the sentence

within which a word may undergo a change in its citation tone
pattern), the tonal ' contrasts in the non-initial words are
neutralized, such that it is possible to reduce the tone patterns of
such words to a formula.

These observations for Kalal;mri appear functional in K~dk~ as well, as in:

Ex..34
a+ so ~ a soo 'her destiny'
 Okrika Orthograp hy
(

116
a+ t.f!Ji ~ at.f!Ji 'her head'
ara +folio ~ ara l6lia 'her star'
ara + wc7ri ~ ara wari 'her house'

as A stUdy of Kirik9 data raises the issue of simplifying the tone marking system.
Here, !shall adopt some of the recommendations from Jenewari (1985: 98). First,
I shall avoid a syntactically based tone marking system, where the following
elements are tone-marked:

(i) The first lexical item of the subject;

(ii) The f irst lexical item of the object;
(iii) A verb, which has no object;
:TI-st (iv) The fi rst lexical item of an adverbial phrase.

This tone marking system did not go down well in Kalabari because it was
difficult to teach it to educated speakers of Kalal,Jari talk less of non-educated
speakers. Secondly, I shall adopt a lexically based tone marking system, which
simply requires marking the tones of words where it is essential to avoid
ambiguity. Following this new approach, it is vital to tone mark the pronouns
because a lot of them are in pairs which differ only in tone, consider:

Ex. 35
jri '/' vs. fri 'You (sg)'
0/9 'He ' vs. 619 'You (sg)'

. There is a preponderance of words in Kjrjk~, which are spelt alike except for tone,
as m:
Ex. 36
,
(Ja 'tomorrow Ix 'say' l)i 'demand'
,
ba 'kill ' bi 'hurry' (Ji 'hire
pd 'break' (Je 'he ' .fi 'eat'
!;Jo 'come rfa 'fetch' so 'heaven ' ~
1?9 'so mebody'
,
rfa 'oldman' s6 'go away
_ ce s9
' 'en ter
· ne
are This accepted ap proach to tone marking has a number of merits over the first
- of system, and therefore is recommended for K!rik~. However, it remains to be seen,
when all the detai ls have been worked out, whether the average native speaker will
find it relatively easy to learn (Jenewari, 1985).
 Okrika Orthography

117 11
6.0 Sample text in the current orthography Th
AMANYANAI}Q l}I NGU
B9l9sa siki, gb9ri c;iapa l;>ie sime figv, ara c;iein c;iumo l;>u iny9fa, piki ara simy-kiri
mi difima c;ioki buu Jupita l;>e tykymy fia ori amanyana1;>9 se ari Syjnma. Nguma
amanyanal;>9 l;>i l;ara mi afii dyri se Jupita be tarimany; <;>kuma ara l;>ie J;>ylyma bia
l;>ara Q\l gb9ri chin ikil;>a Q nw9 se <;lapa mi l;>ie ari piri Sy nw9 se ari J;>ymy fia 'afii
amanyanal;>9 be-y'.
Chin ikil;la mil;>vfiemika l;>ara l;>v sokoro myngi mi l;>ie koro l;>ara mi figvma
l;>alafama so-9kvma, ari mangi mu bj9my. Okvma chin ikiba mi l;>vjikeba l;>ara ari
nw'<;>ri siki ari afii kpekimamy. Ari kele-kelema min l;>ara mi se m\.m afii la, se
f\lk\l afii tanji piki afiia QgQfiQ tima-b9r9my.
Nw9 sime amanyana}.J9 figvma bv by-lyky. Afii ari piki firima Jupita by
Syjnma, se Q l;>e y ~ -y fia, c;iumo nyana amanyanal;>9 se ari firima. Afiigose Jupita l;>e
kur9-feiii l;>e se ari syjnmamy. Iw9 amanyanal;>9 J;>y o l;>o <;>ria tomonima Ia kirikiri, u n<l
mi Q saki ari gbQ gb<;> pyi yy-y myngi bie papa iiifii ~engy tolumasa wu, Q gb9
minimy. Afii miy Sy ari piki firima Jupita be Syjnma, 9 tykymy fia, o jin
amanyanaj;)9 se ari Syjnma, afiikafiika ari se tatari siki ari simy kiri mi l;>u weri.
Okvma Jupita l;le l;liel;lu se gboinma ari pokimy. O nw9 se ari bym(f fia 'omina
yenymika mi fia gbyjn-a t9rvsi<;>ri onwo ori.'
I)aw9ye: Ori9ku <;>ri9ku se ye bu ye fun syl(f mi, tofi-a siki ani siye na
bufuka na deki l;lo l;lomy.

Translation of sample text

The Frogs' Choice of a King
Many years ago, there were multitudes of frogs breeding in a pond. These frogs
were tired of the condition of life in the pond. So, they prayed to their Great Ruler
to send them a king that would govern them justly. When Jupita, for that was the
name of their great ruler, heard it. The' request of the frogs to have a king sounded
ridiculous and amusing to him. However, to keep the frogs quiet, he dropped a
dried heavy stick into the pond, which forced the frogs into hiding for fear. But
after few days of observation the frogs saw thatthe log of timber was floating on
the water motionlessly. They drew closer to have a good look, but nothing
happened. They threw caution to the wind and started jumping on top of the
heavy log of timber, and actually began to play on it.
This type of sedentary and motionless King was not pleasing to them.
Consequently, the frogs decided to hold a meeting and then sent a message to
Jupita, complaining that it was a lively and vibrant king that the frogs needed.
Their great ruler, Jupita, now thought it wise to send them a powerful and vibrant
bird as the new king of the frogs. On the assumption of office as the king of the
frogs, the new king began to peck the frogs with its powerful beak and ate up most
of the frogs. Any frog that nears the surface for breathing air the powerful Bird-
king picked and swallowed it.
Okrika Orthography

118
The frogs' experiences under this austere, hard and cannibalistic ruler-king compel
them to send another message to their great ruler to with immediate effect send
them a good king to rule over them or be allowed to remain in their original estate.
Jupita on getting this last message became angry and decided to keep quiet and do
nothing about it, for no subject or group of subjects of his will dictate to him what
to do as a great ruler of the world. After a while, Jupita decided in response to the
request of the frogs to send them a message: 'You frogs must select your own king
from amon g yoursef f but you will' be responsible for any wrong choice that you
make. Secondly for ignorantly asking for a king to rnle .over you in the pond you
will receive a corresponding suffering In the form of the pond drying yearly'.

Morals: Dcn:10cracy is about the governed making a choice about who rules over
them but th ere is a responsibility attach to it. A bad choice and anarchy, hardship
and sufferin g will descend upon them all.
 View publication stats

Okrika Orthography

119
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