NDEBE SCRIPT PROJECT
The Ndebe system of writing is the first completed Igbo writing system in history. Igbo is the principal native language of the Igbo people, an ethnic group of southeastern Nigeria with about 45 million speakers and over 20 dialects. The Ndebe script pays homage to the old Nsibidi logographs but it is a unique, original, and more importantly, a holistic way to write the Igbo language.
Invented by Lotanna Igwe-Odunze, a writer, illustrator, iOS Engineer, and an Igbo language devotee in 2009, the Ndebe script was refined and perfected over a decade. The Ndebe script combines ancient Igbo designs with modern practicality in the first true usable format. It is a writeable, readable, and indigenous written form of the Ìgbò language.
“Long after Nigeria and Ìgbò people received independence, our language never caught up with the modern world. Today, Ìgbò is a threatened, if not an endangered language because, no matter how many initiatives and meetings we attend to encourage people to speak Ìgbò, our language will never truly flourish until we write and read widely in Ìgbò,” she stated.
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“Rather than having individual letters which are then combined to spell words which is the writing system in English, Ńdébé represents all the possible sounds in Ìgbò as already combined characters for each syllable the way it sounds,” says Lotanna Igwe-Odunze, the incredible creator of the Ndebe writing system.
“The Latin alphabet makes tone marking a chore, resulting in most people omitting it in their writing, does not fully cover the range of Ìgbò sounds, has caused innumerable bad spellings of Ìgbò words, which are now ubiquitous, influences pronunciation of Ìgbò words like English, eroding fluency even in native speakers, stunts Ìgbò expression, especially Igbo literature, as there is zero incentive to write in Ìgbò over English, has inflicted countless other sins on the grammar, vocabulary, and syntax of Ìgbò and harmed the speech of too many Ìgbò speakers to count” says Lotanna.
Lotanna brilliantly captures her “why” and “what”, going all the way, provides a concrete “how” by creating a lasting solution to the current challenge experienced by Igbo speakers using the English alphabet system to write in Igbo.
Hence, the invention of the Ndebe writing system. The Ńdébé script merges the ancient Ìgbò designs with modern practicality thus creating a more functional writing system for modern-day Igbos. Ńdébé is a syllabary. This means that rather than having individual letters which are then combined to spell words like in English, Ńdébé represents all the possible sounds in Ìgbò as already combined characters for each syllable the way it sounds. The complete syllabary contains, numbers, symbols, punctuations, and all syllables listed by vowel and tone.
Built in tone notation, Ndebe introduces a revolutionary method of visually representing the Ìgbò tones, meaning one will never have to struggle to figure out the tone of a word. It covers the full range of Ìgbò phonemes by introducing for the first time in Igbo history, characters for the interchangeable Ìgbò sounds such as R/L, F/H, etc. it also enforces correct Ìgbò spelling through its syllabic structure.
Ndebe is a visually stunning, intangible cultural heritage to fortify the Ìgbò identity for generations. The Ndebe script is designed exclusively for Igbo with the needs of Igbo speakers and hopeful Igbo writers in mind.
The Ndebe script has several features including:
It is visually distinctive from English eliminating any possibility of confusion with sounds that have been previously associated with English letters.
It has pretty letters.
It’s economical. It reduces the length of all words by the total number of vowels in each word!
It provides a single letter for each of the bilabial implosive sounds (gb, gw, etc) as it is proper since these are individual sounds.
It is mostly cursive which gives writers greater flexibility when exploring other uses for written Igbo such as calligraphy
It accommodates all dialects of Igbo and promotes writing of own dialect.
The Ndebe writing system is embracive of the Nsibidi script. The Ndebe project is developing the Nsibidi script into a full logographic shorthand that can be used to pass secret messages
Ndebe has 1174 characters, and Only 97 of them must be memorized to be able to read and write Ìgbò competently.
Lotanna is a trailblazer and the Ndebe script invention is beyond amazing. She is an inspiration and we cannot fully express our pride in words.
We are incredibly proud of you Lotanna Igwe-Odunze. Shine on Lotanna and we wish you even more successes in the future.
For more information, kindly visit https://ndebe.org/