dnan & Omenl: Specificity of English Equivalents

M. O. EN egbedaa@aol.com

Monday, January 12, 2009

INTRODUCTION
Different words are used to represent different things and experiences, and different words can define the same thing. Languages are replete with synonyms. In translations, therefore, a word may take the place of one or more synonyms. To determine the referent of a term from one language to another is both academic and practice-driven. For example, the popular Igbo lexical item for money is ego, but a dozen other termsas in English, of coursealso mean money, means of exchange, wealth, etc. Regarding the terms dnan & Omenl, the above observation holds true. Both are compound words. The best way to understand a compound Igbo word is to break it into its basic elements and to analyze the constituent morphemes. Going by the phenomenon of Igbo vowel harmony and morpheme formation, we have seven (4 + 3) components in: d na n & Ome na l.

L & N
Many Igbo dialects use n, l, n, l, and n to mean Earth Deity, land, ground, territory, area, region, nation, country, continent, etc. Even with the ongoing spelling standardization, it takes awhile to get everyone to use the same term for a particular sense in English language. Based on observations and usages, l appears more frequently as land, earth, territory, etc. (Echeruo, 1998; Igwe, 1999). For example, most authors now use Alaigbo (Igboland), but we still have the fossilized Anma (Igbo-speaking areas west of the River Niger) and Annri (a local government area or county in Enugu State, Nigeria). Based on observations and usages, I have proposed and propagated the following as specific terms (uwandiigbo@yahoogroups.com): nEarth Deity, Mother Earth, or Earth Goddess lland, country, region, as in Alaigbo (Igboland) nground, soil, terrain

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dnan & Omenl:

la dialectical equivalent of An and name of a shrine to Earth Deity in Ikwere, River State (Amadi, 1969); also nname of a shrine to Earth Deity in parts of Enugu State and used for land in Enugu State Governor Sullivan Iheanacho Chimes address to World Igbo Congress in 2007.

is a vowel-harmonized pronoun, meaning he, she or it; in this instance, it rightly represents it.

D
This is the root verb of dto be or to exist.

NA
Na is probably the busiest word in Igbo language. It forms nouns, main verbs, auxiliary verbs, preposition, suffix, conjunction, and complementizer. Unsurprisingly and according to Dr. Ejike Eze (Omenka), it presents the greatest source of error in written Igbo. As an auxiliary verb (enyemaka ngwaa), na is easy to recognize because it is hyphenated to the verb, the only time it is followed by a hyphen. In these compound words under review, na functions as a preposition, which is why a is elided as in nl (in the land) and nn (on Earth Deity).

OME
m means a person or thing that creates, happens, or produces (Igwe, 1999); hence: Omezione who repairs; Omenkan artist, one who produces art, also a circumciser (Echeruo, 1998); Omenjone who does what is bad, a wicked person, a sinner (Igwe, 1999); Omemmone who does good or, derogatorily, a do-gooder (Igwe, 1999). OMENL (Ome nl) therefore means things that happen in the land, the habitual, general practices of a people; things that usually happen and accepted as customary: custom, tradition, (Igwe, 1999). Hence, Omenl most likely equates tradition, specifically, but may be use to depict culture (See Wikipedia)which encompasses tradition and other habits happening in the land. In keeping with dialectical differences and mostly in spoken Igbo, the following also apply: Omenn, Omenn, Omenl, and Omenn. Some writers wrongly use the spelling variant Omenalwhich does not respect the convention on dropping a when na acts as a preposition and the next word starts with a vowel. 2

DNN (d nn) denotes religion the religious practices of Igbo people; a traditional religious philosophy that has withstood the onslaught of Europeanized Christian, Middle Eastern, and Eastern religious beliefs. Interestingly, neither Echeruo (1998) nor Igwe (1999) listed the word! To understand the basis for Igbo philosophy, we must understand first the Igbo concept of the Cosmos, a logical concept that makes few pretensions about the great unknown. The Igbo belief is metaphysical and scientific as well as sacred and socio-environmental. Hence, dnn means anchored on the sanctity of n, (Earth Deity)the greatest of all deities under the Supreme Spirit (Chiukwu or Chineke), who is known but can never be completely known. To know Chiukwu, the Almighty God will be the end of wisdom. (See Ene, 1997.) As with Omenl, some authors wrongly use dnanwhich does not respect the convention on dropping a when na acts as a preposition and the next word starts with a vowel. DBEND ( d be nd) means that which is practiced among a particular people (Igwe, 1999), a peoples peculiar practice and their customary heritage, where be is short form of ebeplace where (Echeruo, 1998) and nd means people of.... Hence, the term dbend (which Echeruo rendered as d be nd) reflects heritage or custom. The term has roots in Onitsha region, but it has gained pan-Igbo currency as synonymous with Omenl, which is popular across the land in its stated dialectical variations. DNL ( d nl) points more to culture, since it refers to the totality of general practices so entrenched in the land that people accept and practice them without thinking about it. While Echeruo (1998) does not list the term, Igwe (1999) notes dnl as something in the ground; something in the land, country; custom, tradition and goes on to list omenl and dbend as synonyms. From the definition, it appears that dnn (religion) omenl (tradition), dbend (custom) as well as ass (language) are all elements of dnl; that is, the totality of socially transmitted behavioral patterns, arts, beliefs, food, institutions, languages, dialects, dress codes, traditions, technology, etiquettes, etc. Ubesie (1978) used dnl in the sense of culture. A translation of Irish culture in Volunteering Ireland used dnl as in mta ihe gbasara dnl obodo Ireland (to learn things about Irish culture).

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dnan & Omenl:

CONCLUSION
The Igbo use these terms often and interchangeably because they represent general and habitual practices amongst a particular people. For example, Anizoba (2000) still clung to omenn as a synonym, even though the book is boldly titled Odinani: The Igbo Religion! Generally, dnn most definitely reflects the spiritual aspect of l, on which the religion is anchorednot the land itself. [See Ene, 1997; Odinani Forum, Odinani@yahoogroups.com] For those who still believe and practice aspects of the faith, dnn is the only referent of Igbo religion in the referential realm. All other terms are explanative: g mm, g als, ije na mm, okwukwe obodo, ekpemekpe ndil, nzk ndan, and this Christian-induced fallacy, ife als. Therefore, although any of these terms could convey the sense of culture, custom, tradition, and all their synonyms, a promising specificity of English equivalents is as follows:

dnn represents the Igbo religion; Omenl represents tradition; dbend represents custom, heritage, or legacy; and dnl represents culture.

REFERENCES
Amadi, Elechi (1969). The Great Ponds, Ibadan: Heinemann. .Anizoba, Emmanuel K (2008): Odinani: The Igbo Religion, Trafford Publishing Echeruo, Michael JC (1998): Igbo-English Dictionary: A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Igbo language with an English-Igbo Index, Yale University Press Ene, M. O. (1997): The Fundamental of Odinani, www.kwenu.com Igwe, G. Egemba (1999) Igbo English Dictionary, University Press, Ibadan Odinani Forum: Odinani@yahoogroups.com Ubesie, T. (1978) Odinala Ndi Igbo, Ibadan, Oxford University Press. Volunteering Ireland: http://www.volunteeringireland.ie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igbo_culture Ibid: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odinani

MOE, January 2009