The Igbo language is very different to English when it comes to grammatical labeling. There is quite a few overlap with the parts of speech used in both languages. However, Igbo includes adds its own word classes that serve to better represent their grammatical words.

The attempts to best catalog all valid word classes for the Igbo language by following its own list of word classes.

Currently, the list of supported word classes includes:

    value: WordClassEnum.ADJ,
    label: 'Adjective',
    nsibidiValue: '依名器',
    description: 'An adjective describes a noun. It explains how a noun is.',

    value: WordClassEnum.ADV,
    label: 'Adverb',
    nsibidiValue: 'ń器動',
    description: 'A describer for how or the extent to which a verb is performed. Eg. nwayọnwayọ, Ikiike, Ọsịịsọ.',

    value: WordClassEnum.AV,
    label: 'Active verb',
    nsibidiValue: '動壊',
    description:
      'A verb that is pure action. Can be stopped and started instantly. Grammatically, it has a clear ' +
      'present/ongoing action. Eg ‘gba’, ‘ri’, ‘ga’ etc can be in the clear present/ongoing form ‘na-agba’, ' +
      '‘na-eri’, ‘ga-aga’.',

    value: WordClassEnum.MV,
    label: 'Medial verb',
    nsibidiValue: '論動',
    description:
      'A medial verb is a verb with two present tense concepts. One is inactive/stative, ' +
      'while the other is progressive/active.',

    value: WordClassEnum.PV,
    label: 'Passive verb',
    nsibidiValue: 'ò轄動',
    description:
      'An action that tends to be mostly a situation/state. It is not performative. Its ' +
      'command is always spelled like past tense, though toned like a command while its ' +
      'present tense is always its root. Eg. ‘bụ’, ‘nọ’, ‘bi’ etc are conditions/states and ' +
      'their command forms are ‘bụ̀rụ́’, ‘nọ̀rọ́’, ‘bìrí’ while their present is ‘bụ’, ‘nọ’, ‘bi’, respectively.',

    value: WordClassEnum.CJN,
    label: 'Conjunction',
    nsibidiValue: '依ǫ接接',
    description: 'A word joins or links two words or two sentences. Eg. Na(And,That), Maka, Ka(That).',

    value: WordClassEnum.DEM,
    label: 'Demonstrative',
    nsibidiValue: 'ǫ探動',
    description: 'A word is a pointing word. It shows. Eg. A, Ahụ, Nke, ugbua.',

    value: 'NM',
    label: 'Name',
    nsibidiValue: '名',
    description: 'Person is uniquely called. Eg. Chiọma, Ezenwa, Naịjiria, Amerịka, etc.',

    value: WordClassEnum.NNC,
    label: 'Noun',
    nsibidiValue: '依名',
    description: 'Used to identify any people, place , or thing. Eg. ụlọ, iko, akwụkwọ.',

    value: WordClassEnum.ND,
    label: 'Nominal Modifier',
    nsibidiValue: '名核伸',
    description:
      'Words act similar to the English adjective and noun. They are described as ' +
      'nominal modifiers since they are technically nouns that provide details like adjectives.',

    value: WordClassEnum.NNP,
    label: 'Proper noun',
    nsibidiValue: '依名以',
    description: 'Person/place is uniquely called. Eg. Chiọma, Ezenwa, Naịjiria, Amerịka, etc.',

    value: WordClassEnum.CD,
    label: 'Number',
    nsibidiValue: '口控',
    description: 'What any digit or group of digits is called. Otu, Abụọ, Atọ.',

    value: WordClassEnum.PREP,
    label: 'Preposition',
    nsibidiValue: '簡残',
    description:
      'This is that word you mention before a location time or person. They cannot ' +
      'just exist on their own. A noun must come before them Eg. Na(In, On, At), mgbe/oge, elu, okpuru, Akụkụ.',

    value: WordClassEnum.PRN,
    label: 'Pronoun',
    nsibidiValue: '依名衣',
    description: 'Person/place is uniquely called. Eg. Chiọma, Ezenwa, Naịjiria, Amerịka, etc.',

    value: WordClassEnum.FW,
    label: 'Foreign word',
    nsibidiValue: '接穀',
    description:
      'A word that is known to not be an Igbo word. Mostly does not follow the Igbo words formation pattern.',

    value: WordClassEnum.QTF,
    label: 'Quantifier',
    nsibidiValue: '接感口',
    description: 'A word that shows the amount of something. Niile, Ụfọdụ, Imeriime.',

    value: WordClassEnum.WH,
    label: 'Interrogative',
    nsibidiValue: 'ǹ絵',
    description: 'The typical question tags. Eg. Kedụ?, Ebee?, Olee?, Gịnị?, Ole?.',

    value: WordClassEnum.INTJ,
    label: 'Interjection',
    nsibidiValue: '撃岐営依',
    description: 'These are exclamative words. Eg. Ewoo! Okokokoo! Olooo! Chaị! Ee! Mba!',

    value: WordClassEnum.ISUF,
    label: 'Inflectional suffix',
    nsibidiValue: '壊興動',
    description:
      'Explainable parts of a verb that an attached, especially at the beginning of a ' +
      'verb, to create a tense for the verb. They can occur in other contexts as an ' +
      'entirely different part of speech. Eg. I, Ị, O, Ọ, A, E, N, M, Na-, Ga-. ',

    value: WordClassEnum.ESUF,
    label: 'Extensional suffix',
    nsibidiValue: '壊査動',
    description:
      'Suffixes attached at the end of a verb to add more meaning to the verbs. They ' +
      'also tend to retain their idea when on their own. Some of them stem from other ' +
      'verbs. Eg. -kwa, -rịrị, -ghị, -la, -kwu, -ju, -pụ, etc.',

    value: WordClassEnum.SYM,
    label: 'Punctuations',
    nsibidiValue: 'ò韻ǹ肝',
    description: 'These are punctuation marks used in the Igbo language.',

The Igbo API is an open-source project that is supported and pushed forward by the Igbo community. If you don’t see your own dialect represented in this list, please contact us to request your dialect.

DialectsFrequently Asked Questions