A Look At The Benin Letters And Sounds By RICHMOND .E. IDAEHO
It is specifically important at
this point to direct attention at the alphabetical system of the Edo
people, considering the present circumstances of the Edo language,
which is almost fading away as a result of the influence of other
cultures within and outside the Nation state, Nigeria, in which the
Edo ethnic group occupy the present Edo state´ and by extension,
parts of Ondo, Delta, and Anambra states. Language, it should be
noted, is part of a people´s culture. It is the one most important
means of expressing a people´s culture, values, and beliefs.
It is used for communication,
interaction and exchange of ideas. Consequently, the extent to which
a people´s language is developed and influenced necessarily reflects
upon the culture of the people, and a change or loss of language
invariably affects the perception of the people; viz their culture
and socio-cultural realities. thus, language is a means of
experiencing, and perceiving the environment and at same time, of
communicating same to others. In view of the foregoing, the Edo
language is therefore the medium of interaction within the cultural
frame of the Edo people. The unit constituents of language are the
alphabets, and to properly understand the nature of the Edo language,
it is important to have recourse to the alphabets and sounds which
make up the language. In this piece, the focus will be the Edo -
Benin/Bini tribe of the Edoic race or ethnic group.
The objective of this paper is to
present the Edo alphabet and sounds in relation to the Edo language
as core to the people´s socio cultural´ development and survival,
and to expose certain misapplication of. the language and/or
introduction´ of foreign letters and sounds into the Edo alphabet.
Here the words Edo, Benin and Bini shall be used interchangeably.
There are 24 alphabets in the Edo language with 7 (vowels and 17
consonants. Interestingly, there are also 7 pairs of consonants (that
is the pair or double consonants) which though are not part of the 24
consonant letters.
They occupy a special category in the
Edo alphabetical system and are pronounced differently from the
single consonants. The Benin letters include the following: a/aa/;
b/bi/; d/di/; e/a; e/e/; f/fi/; g/gi/; i/i/;; h/hi/; k/k a I; 1/1 a
I; m/mi/; n/nil; o/;Q/or/ p/pi/; r/ril; s/si/; tltil; u/uu/; v/vi/;
w/wi/; y/yi/; z/zi/. The vowels include a; e;e;i o/o;and u, while the
consonants are b• d• f• g. h• k• I• m• n• p: r• s•
t• v• w• y. and z The double consonants, which are combinations
of two consonant letters and sounds, include the following: gb, as in
Ugbowo; gh, as in ughe; kh as in Ekhosuehi; kp as in Akpakpava; rh,
as in Erhun; mw as in Omwan; and vb as in Ovbokhan. These´ double
consonants are pronounced together and not separately or arbitrarily
choosing and pronouncing one of them as most people, of other ethnic
groups, do.
There are also corresponding double
consonants in other Edoic groups or tribes. For example bh, as in
Ibhadomen; kp as in Okpebho; gh as in Ighalo in Esan. In Etsako,
there is vh as in Ivhador etc. The bh in Esan and vh . in Etsako, are
closely pronounced like the vb in Benin. Also to be noted is wh as in
Emoborowho; kp as in Akpo; gh as in oghene; rh as Omoriobokirhie; in
Urhobo and ts as in Oritsejafo in Itsekiri etc.• It is clear from
the above that there is no j/ji/ in the Benin alphabet nor is there
the shl C / or kr/kri/ double consonants or sounds. It is therefore
surprising how certain ,words purportedly claimed to be Bini words
are then pronounced or even spelt with “j” and “sh”, “kr”,
etc. This is. rather a misnomer and a far shift from the Bini
language, hence the people´s socio-cultural reality. A people´s
alphabetical system constitutes the basis of their word formation
(morphology) and the sound dictates their pronunciation (phonetics)
The language of• the people
therefore is predicated upon the variety of letters and symbols
available in that particular culture for the construction of its
language as language is “a systematic means of communicating by the
use of sounds or conventional symbols”. Hence, words cannot
be formed in isolation but necessarily from a system of conventional
signs, sounds, and gestures. Linguistic formation, in other words,
follows the alphabetical systems of such linguistic groups. As such,
no symbol or sound not being part of the linguistic system cat”: be
used to form words within such linguistic cum cultural frame. This is
because a people´s culture is essentially tied to the language, as
what cannot be expressed by the language of a people is considered
not to exist - at least there is lack of knowledge of its existence -
within the cultural realities of the people, and a people´s
expression of their realities and existence through language is
limited by the symbols and sounds used for such purpose.
Thus, it is through language, that the
knowledge, belief, values and behaviour of a people can be
experienced, expressed and shared. Consequently, no words could be
formed in a particular culture or language where the letters) and/or
sound(s) used does not occur in the alphabetical system of that
culture. Accordingly, the use of the “t and “sh” symbol and
sound in the formation of certain words within the Bini lingua
context is practically inappropriate and intolerable as neither the
single letter “j” nor the double consonants “sh” as well as
their sounds can be found in the Edo alphabetical system. Although,
sociologically, language is flexible, ´yet a foreign or new or
modified word, symbol or sound cannot be regarded as belonging to the
given culture unless´ and until it is forthwith included in the
linguistic/alphabetical frame of such people.
There is, therefore, no word as “Jesu”
or “ljesu” or any of its inflections as in “Jesurobo”, in the
´Edo language. Similarly, there are no words like “Oshodin”,
“Ologboshere”, “Iyashere”, “Tatashe”, etc whether in
their spellings or pronunciation, in the Benin language. These are
improper words or names and do not, reasonably and culturally
speaking, fit into the Benin linguistics or socio-cultural realities.
This is because there is no “j” letter nor the “Stl” in the
Bini alphabet. Words which are expressed with such symbols are not
B-ini words neither in their spelling, as in “Oshodin” nor in
their pronunciation /osodin/. However, an accurate spelling and
pronunciation of these words would exclude the “j” symbol and
substitute it with “y” as in “Yesu”, “Iye”, whereas
“oshodin”, “tatashe”, will loss the “h” letter and the
“sh”1s1 sound to become “Osodin”, “tat´ase”, “Iyase”
etc. ´ The use of the “j” and “sh” letters and sounds is due
partly to inadequate knowledge of the Edo, alphabet and partly to the
influence of foreign and local cultures.
For example “Jesu” is a corruption
of the foreign word Jesus and in an attempt to arrive, at a near
accurate of the word, the letter “j” was equally used for the
localized name, disregarding the fact that the “j” letter does
not exist in the Benin alphabet. The common misapplication and
mispronunciation of the “y´ letter and sound for “j” also
aided this inaccurate and intolerable transliteration. As for
example, in some homes you hear some children call their mother “ije”
rather than “iye”. , The, occurrence of the “j” letter in
some Edoic culture like U-le Esan, as well, hastens its use in the
Benin language . The “sh”/ S I and “Ch”/tS I sound can be
found in some Nigerian languages like Hausa, and other Nigeria
languages. In unequivocal terms, neither the “j” nor the “sh”
feature in the Benin language. It ´will be submitted that though,
the “j” and “sh” symbols and sounds form part of the
linguistics of some Nigerian languages, they are however not included
in that of the Benin - the primordial
Edoic tribe - and as such cannot ´be
used for constructing or forming words, names or anything whatsoever
within the cultural existence and experience of the, people. Until
these symbols and sounds are so incorporated into the Benin
alphabetical system, they, and whatever words are formed therefrom,
remain linguistic misnomers.
