OL D CALABAR

AND

NOTES ON THE JBIBIO LANGUAGE

BY

M. D. W. JEFF REY S, B.A., OXON .,

PH. D. LOND ON.

RHOD ES SCHO LAR.

])ISTR IOT OFFIOER NIGER IA.

Jf. w. T. I. PRESS, CALAB AR.

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DEDICATION .
. .
' .:

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO DOROTHY JEFFREYS

AS A SMALL MEMENTO OF THE LABOUR SHE
GAVE IN HELPING WlTH THE NOTES
ON THE HISTORICAL
REFERENCES.

'j
 PREF ACE

EXTRA CTS from Est:'mates of N£gett'a 1933- 34, page T I.

"70. Item 49. Two special langua ge allowa nces 01
£72 each were approv ed four years ago fer ..officers
t1~e
e~ga g ed on the special study of langua ges in
Soutl)e rn Provi/l ces but provis ion was omitte d fronl
the " 932-33 estima tes as a measur.e of -econom y. One
of -the o~cers has r.etired and the' all,awance has geen
restore d to the other officer who is ·~mployed on
researc h in connec tion with the Ibo. and Efik lan-
guages . It is con~jdered that 'this course is justified
in view of the g.eneral lack of knowl edge concer ning
"these langua ges..••
G. HEMM ANT,

Chief Se~l'etll")' to the Government.

LAGOS

ard Februa ry 1933."

• '< These notes on the Ibibio langua ge, of which Efik is a

dialect emplo yed "as a com mercia I· Nngua franca on the Cross
River, are pubtis hed-
(4) in the hope that they may mark tha beginn ing
of ali extens ive study of the Ibibio langua ge,
(b) as a return to the GoY(,!rnm,ent of "Niger ia for the
privile ge of linguis tic stuc;1)1" at Gover nment ex-
pense for two terllls at the School of Orient al
Studie s, Londo n,
(c) as a means o( remov ing the reproa ch anent the
I bibio (Efik) langua ge contai ned in the Chief
Secret ary's report to th~ Gover nment in the 1933-34
" Estim~t~~ ilOQ mentiQned in the e~tract quoted
above,
 Very considerable and advanced work on the phonetic
structure of the Efik dialect has been undertaken by Miss
I. Ward at University College, London and has recently
been pu blished. ,
, These notes were first offered for publication in Africa
The Journal of the Internatt'onal Inst£lute of Afr~'can Lan-
guages and Cultures, but were rejected on the grounds of
their length. CONTENTS.
The numbers in parenthisis throughout the text refer to
the bibiiographies at the end of the botik.

M~ D. W. JEFFREYS. PREFACE

PART I HISTORICAL.

PART II • THE EFIK DIALECT.

PART . LINGUISTICS.
.-
" III

PART IV PHONETICS.

PART v REFERENCES.

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:HISTORICAL.

THESE notes are entirely an expression of a personal opinion

and do not purpose to represent those of the Nigerian
Government in any way. These notes are an enlargement
of two Chapters in a thesis on the Ibibio for which a Diploma
in Anthropology was awarded in 1930 by the University
of London.
So much confusion exists over the tribe known to-day
by the name of Ibibio, that these notes are put together in
an attempt to rectify past misconceptions and to place the
tribe in its proper relation to a ~mall community of very
mixed origin, viz. the Efik. The Efik, through European
influence, have. up to now, wrongly over-shadowed toeir
parent stock the Ibibio.
On the historial side it may be presumed that the Ibibio
were visited by the Phoenician navigators. For, Necho,
king of Egypt, 600 B.C., (I) is said to have despatched
such navigators to accomplish the circumnavigation of Africa.
The expedition is considered to have started from the Red
. "\
. . Sea, and to have proceeded by way of the Indian Ocean,
round the southern promontory, through the Pillars of
Hercules and so back to Egypt. The voyage is said to have
taken three years. As navigation was theri for the most part
restricted to coast-wise sailing, it follows that these sailors
must have come in on the Ibibio coast for food arid water,
especially as the direction in which they sailed took them
against the set of the current and wind when in the Bight~
That this record of the circumnavigation of Africa was
actually accomplished may be inferred from a phenomenon,
rejected by Herodotus as being but a traveller's tale. These
navigators stated that after a certain time they had the sun
on their right hand. It is generally presumed that this
remark refers to the rising of the sun as they traveIled up the
Western Coast ot Africa, but, as these navigators were
acquainted with journeys up and down the Red Sea, the
2 OLD CALABAR.
phenomenon of having the sun rise on their right hand as
they voyaged north would have been an every day occurre nce,
and would not have merited any special no tice. It i~ clea r
that this normal experience is not what struck these
circum navigators.
In all their sailing experiences, until thi s voyage was
undertaken, they had never sailed far enough south to have
passed beyond th e Tropic of Capricorn. After th ey had
passed this tropic the sun would always be north of them
and when they were sailing from east to west, as lh ey must
have done for some months in order to round the Cape of
Good Hope, the sun would be for the whole of the day on
their starboard beam or right-hand side. Tbis prolonged
northerly position of th e su n was a phenomenon they had
not before experienced. In all their voyagings east and west
on the Mediterranean and Indian Oceans, roughly the limits
of their sea-borne trade routes in tbose days, the sun would
only appear north of th~m while it was summer an d while
they were in the southern half of the Red Sea or Indian
Ocean. So the persistence of the sun to the north, i.e. on
their starboard beam, for months on end could not previously
have occur~ed. This true account, of the sun's position
which was rejected by Herodotus as a traveller's tale, and
which could not have been invented, becomes the tou ch-stone
by which the veracity of the story is tested and found to be
correct. This account of the circumnavigation of Africa
must be regarded as the first authentic record that the shores
of the land at present inhabited by the Ibibio was visited by
foreigners from the Mediterranean.
The next record showing that these shores were visited
by early navigators is the one stating that about 450 B.C. ,
Hanno fitted out an Armada of sixty large ships, in which
sailed some 30,000 persons of both sexes. The object of the
expedition was to start a colony on the Afri can coast. The
expedition passed through the Pillars of Herculcs and at a
distan ce of two days from them, the city of Thymialerium
was founded. A further voya <Yc of two clays brought them
to Cape Sokis, a promontory of Libya. lere a temple to
Neptune was erected. Continuing the voy age, a region was
HISTORICAL 3
reached where the land appeared all on fire and torrents of
flame rushed to the sea. On trying to land it was found that
the earth was too hot to allow walking over it. There was
one particular object that held the attention j by night this
object appeared as a great fire min gl ing with the stars, by
day it waS ,a mountain of stupendous hei ght. To this moun-
tai n was given the name of the " _Chariot of thc Gods." A
voyage of three days from the "Chariot of the Gods"
brought these navigators, to a bay with an island whose
inhabitants, human in form, were covered from head to fuot
with shaggy hair. To these beings they gave the nam e,
GorilIae, a word of African origin obtained from their
interpretel's (2).
Now the Cameroon mountain, unsupported by allY
neighbouring peaks, and rising abruptly from the sea to Over
13,000 feet, gives one the impression of stupendous height.
It is still an active volcano; for it was reported as being in
eruption in 1838, 1863 (3) and again in 1921-22 when lava
streams flowed into the sea. That these navigators were then
off the coast of the land now inhabited by the Ibibio is thus
clear from this reference to a large and active volcano. Profes-
sor Gregory, the emiment geologist, in his book on volcanoes
wrote:- "On the eastern coast of the Atlantic the only
active volcano is that of the Kameruns, which was seen in
action by th e Phoenician, Hanno" (4). Hutchinson makes
the same observation j he writes, "In the days of Hanno, who
voyaged th is way from Carthage 2500 years ago, an
expl ration along the western coast of Africa was made,
but the navigators turned back on seeing fire issue from
the crater of the Kameroons mountain. As everything in
that epoch wa s looked upon in the light of Heathen
mythology, the mountain was named the 'Chariot of lhe
gods' " (5).
For centuries there is silence, no historical records
:.; howin g that this part of Africa was ever visited by sea-
going persons, have come to light until the Norman trad ers
from around Vieppe clai med to have b en trading on the
Guinea coasts a century before the Portuguese arrived.
These French settlements are said to have lasted until

4 OLD CAL A BAR
about 1410 when the calamities which then overwhelmed
France distracted peoples' attention from the trade of the
Guinea coast, and the settlements were abandoned (6).
The Portuguese then dared the terrors of the Bights and
were soon well acquainted with the Calabar River and the
surrounding natives. It has even been suggested that the
Portuguese worked the l ead-silver mines in the Abakaliki
District and used the Cross River for their transport, but
no direct evidence is forthcoming that they did do so, and
it is most unlikely that they ever penetrated inland so far,
much less had mining settlements th ere.
As a result of the sea borne slave-trade inaugurated
by the Portuguese, direct re ference · to the Ibibio, but under
another name, occurs co mpara tively eady. Their history is
bound up with that of Old Calabar and the Efiks, who
are an impure stock of the Ibi b iu and who may be regarded
as one of the Ibibio sl a ve-brokers to the slavers. Calabar
is both the name of a port and of the province of an
administrative area in which the Ibibio reside. The port
is the commercial as well as the administrative centre of the
province. The Efiks who inhabit the port and its immediate
environs call the place Ata Akpa, while Europea ns have for
centuries called it Old Calabar. The name was changed to
Calabar in 1904 by Public Notice in the Government Gazette.
The eadiest mention that I have been able to trace
of Old Calabar occurs in, A true relation of the inhuman
' and tt1tparallelled actions and barbarous mzerders, of negroes
or mool'S, commdted on tkree Englishmen in Old Calabar ttl
(;ut'lley. , This account is found in the Hadeyan voyages
and is the stlrvivor's story of how, he, John Watts, in
1668, was iri the Cross River on the ship "The Peach Tree"
and going ashore with three other Englishmen was captured
by the Blacks. The three were killed and eaten and he,
sold into slavery, was redeemed by the master of an English
ship some months later (7). The next reference occurs in
the table of a ship's carg o of slave!" sold in the Leeward
Islands in 1681 by the Royal African Compan y . where
£18. 9s. 9d. a head was paid for 74 "' Old Calabar negroes
and many women" (I)).
-
HISTORICAL
The origin of the name Old Calabar is uncertain j Sir
Harry Johnson suggested that the name of the present
Calabar is derived from the Portuguese words, "Cala Barra
--the bar is silent" For, he remarks "At the entrance to the
~ld Calabar River, unlike alJ the other river mouths, there
IS no perceptible bar and consequently no noise of break-
ers (9). As this. explanation cannot apply to the place,
New Calabar, whIch has a noisy bar, this derivation must
be abandon ed. In further support of this rejection, it must
be pointed out that in early records there is no suggestion
that the present Cross River was ever calJed after that
characteristic.
,Dr. Baikie points out that "Old Kalabar is known
at Bonny as well as in Igbo as Efiki, and at Aro they
talk of a people living near or among the Efik whom
they call Mon or Mong" (IO). To-day the Anang, a branch
of the Ibibio, are called by the Bonny, Opobo and Ogoni
people by the name of Mong. .
Count de Cardi would make New Calabar arise 'from
Old Calabar, but an examination of the evidence does not
support his suggestion. He writes: "It is on record that
these two countries (Bonny and New Calabar) had been
scarcely ever at peace for any length of time, since New
Calabar was fir~t. founded some two hundred and fifty years
ago, when tradltlun says one of the Ephraim Duke family
l e f~ Ol~ Calabar and settled at the spot from whence they
retired III r880. The New Calabar people, though said to
be descended from the Old Calabar race, have not retained
any of the characteristics of the latter" (II).
When writing of thp. murder of three English sailors at
Old Calabar in 1668 de Cardi mentions that this cannibalistic
orgy "occurred previous to the arrival in the Old Calabar
River of the Efik race" (r 2). He describes the date of the
~rriva,1 of the Efi~s at Old Calabar thus: "The original
lOhabltants of the di strict now occupied by the Old Calabar
people are the Akpas whom the Calabarese drove out and to
a great exten t afterwards absorbed. ' This immigration of
the Calabarese is said to have taken place a linle over a
h\Jndred and fifty years ag() " (13).
 oLD CALABAR
The Rev. Hugh Goldie had this idea of a fairly recent
migration of the Efik to their present habitat when he wrote
as follows :-" The people of Efik, the country known to the
world as Old Calabar, were according to tradition. driven
out of their native seat, Ibibio, by the conquerors in a tribal
war, and scattered themselves along the estuary of the
( Cross) River into the various settlements in which we now
find them" (14).
As Ephraim Duke is the paramount family of the Efik
and as these were not in Calabar till 150 years ago, a figure
which agrees approximately with the Aro invasion of Ibibio
territory and so would account for a large migration of
Ibibios, it is difficult to see how two hundred and fifty years
ago, Ephraim Duke could have migrated from Old Calabar
to found New Calabar.
However, conclusive proof exists that the Ephraim Duke
family could not have founded New Calabar. In a recent
court case the genealogy and founding of the present Duke
family came up in evidence (Civil Suit No. R. 21 / 1932
Adam EplLmt'm Duke V. Edem Etfiorn 101m Eyamha.)
The evidence pointed to about (1790- 1800) as the time when
the Duke House with the Eyamba House was estabiished.
Burton in his travels, IS63, also suggests that New Calabar
was founded by Ephraim Duke from Old Calabar settling
there about 200 years ago (15). Against this Burton
remarks that one of the shoals into the mouth of the Bonny
River is called the Calabar Flat (16). The present town of
Bonny was formerly the town of Culeba from which the
Cal a ba r shoal was obviously named. Dr. Baikie showed
that" New Calabar" is also called Kalebar, Calabar, New
Calbary, Calebare, Calabarine, Rio Real, and that Old
Calabar is also called Old Kalbourgh and Oude Cal borg. "
(17). The name "Oude Cal borg " has a su spiciously
Dutch ring about it. The Dutch at one time had trading
posts on the coasts of Guinea. It is thus seen that originally
there were on the coast two places, one called Oude Cal borg,
and the other Culeba.
From Culeba or Grand Bonny, a great trade in slaves
was done. but its name was early changed to Bani. This
HISTORICAL
town of Culeba is most probably the source from which both
Old and New Calabar have confusedly been named. That
New Calabar took its name from Culeba is clear from what
f..> lIows. Dapper in r686 wrote: "Enremontant Rio Real,
a qlleJque vint milles de la cote, on entre dans la Province
d e Krike qui touche a cette de Mace du cote du Couchant.
Au midi de Moce en desendant vel's la cote on rencontre La
Province de Bani dont Ie principle village est Culeba" (IS).
Speakin o- of the same place, Jean Barbot wrote:'" This
river is called by the Portuguese Rio Real, by the English
Kalabar, and by the Dutch Kalabari, from the town of New
Kalabari or Kalabar and its territory situated on it" (19).
The Rev. Clarke in 1S48 recorded that "Okulubur was
the language of New Calabar" (20). There is a tribe of
natives in the vicinity of Degema who to this day call
themselves Calabarese and whose language is called Oku-
lubllr. These same people inhabit the island of Okrika.
There is thus perpetuated the old and original name of
Culeba in Okulubur and in Calabaree and in New Calabar.
Attention must now be directed to the important word Maca
in Dapper's quotation. Dr. Talbot, on quoting the same
passage of Dapper as above, suggests that Moko is pro-
bably O g u, but gives no reason for his suggestion which
will be shown to have no support, and that on the
contrary Moko is a name for the Ibibio. Talbot calls Kuleba.
Bonny, . a~d this would appear to be correct (21). Again
Dr. Ballne wrote: "Okuloma, (town) is the Culebo of
Barbot, the Kuleba of Ogilby and the Grand Bonny-town of
traders (22). The origin of New Calabar from Culeba is
thus established.
It is now necessary to deal with Old Calabar. Its
origin accord ing to Dapper is as follows: "A trois lieues de
l"embollchu re de Rio Real est la riviere de Loitomba, que
les Portugais nomment Rio de S. Domingo. . . Apres
Loitornba vient la riviere de l'Ancience Calborie au Calbourg,
p~rcc que ~e paY~,d';ntre.detlx est den~e d'eau. La cote depuis
Rw R eal Jusqu a I Anclenne Calbone a 24lieues d'entendue
Est-Sud-Est, De Calbourg on va a Rio del Rey" (2").
There is thus no confusion in the mind of Dapper over Old
 OLD CALABAR
and New Calabar. One is called after the native · town of
Culeba, and the present inhabitants call themselves I, Cala-
barese ". The other is definitely a European name. The
present indigenous inhabitants of Old Calabar declare that
the name is a European one. The ide ntity of Old Calabar
and of Baikie's Oude Calbourg is apparently established.
There is thus ,really no connection between Old and New
Calabar. The Rev. J. Clarke mentions, "Karaba, the Efik
tribe on the river, Old Calabar" ('24)' As there is no ,I L"
sound in the Ibibio language, nor in its dialect of Efik, this
change in the name is one that would be expected.
Though the .matter of the origins of these two towns of
Old and New Calabar is thus satisfactorily ascertained, yet
the fact must not be overlooked that at an early date there
was great confusion over the nam es and sites of Bonny,
Andony, and Calabar. Thus Jean Barbot in 1699 writes:
"The territory 'of Krike lies some leagues north-north-west
of Rio Real and borders south on that of Moko, which lies
on the se~ as well as Bani (f) another territory with a large
village called Kulebo, and eight or ten smaller in the com-
pass of four leagues" (25). It is clear from preceeding
descriptions in other parts of Barbot's narrative that Bani is
the Bonny of to-day. The name of the people has since been
given to the town that was then known as Culeba and which
gave the name to the new settlement that arose about then of
New Calabar. The Editor, however, has added a foot-note
thus :-
1 ;l
"(f) This probably is Boui, or Doni, (hereafter mentioned) called
BlLni in our Pilots ; as Kulebo seems to be Kaledo at the
mouth of Old Kalabar river"
The editor made his foot-note in 1746. Barbot, in 1699, the
man on the spot, made no mistake : he did not confuse Boni
with Doni, some twenty-five miles further east, nor did Barbot
confuse Kuleba with Kaledu, which, if on the old Calabar
river would be about 80 miles east. There is no confusion
if Barbot's statement is accepted: viz. that Boni was the name
of a people with several towns one of which was cailed Culeba,
and known to-day as Bonny (26).
Regarding' historical references to the Ibibio, Dapper in
) HISTORICAL 9
1686 states that the Rio Real or New Calabar River runs
through the province of " Krike" (Okrika to-day) and thatj
on the South, this province touches that of Moco (27). This
word Moco, it is contended, is a direct referen·ce to the Ibibio
and the contention g ains stre ngth from the remark,> of
Captain Hugh Crow who, frequt:nting Bonny during the
years 1795-1808, wrote: "Bes ides the Ib0cs and Breches,
we received negroes of several other nations, named Quaws,
Appas, Ottams, arid Brasses. The Quaws (or Moscoes of
the West Indies) are an ill disposed people whom the Ibo
view with great aversion, as they consider them cannibals
in their own country" (28). Adams, in 1823 confirms this
statement, for he wrote as fullows, speaking of the I boes
(or Heebos as he called them) and defining their boundaries,
"The country inhabited by a nation called" Ibibby or Quaw,
(the Mocoes of the West Indies) bounds it on the east" (29).
Mary Kingsley in her visit to Calabar about 1896 wrote as
follows: "The Kwo people whose country lies on both sides
of the Kwo lbo, and behind the Ibenos, are the tribe from
whom were drawn the supplies of Kwo or Kwa slaves
known under the name of Mocoes in the West Indies" (30).
Again, A. C. Douglas, a District Officr, in 1895 speaking of
his meeting with Roger Casement, wrote: "I have,
answered Casement, as you know, just returned from a trip
to the Qua Ibo River, where there has been some trouble
with the Opobo Chiefs' boys. They have been looting the
market, assaulting and beating the women and causing an
uproar among the Quas " (31).
It would thus appear that the identity of the Mocoes alias
Kwas with the Ibibby or Ibibo had been established beyond
dispute. However, the confusion which has dogged the
identity of the Ibibio comes again into evidence. The R ev.
Clarke in his pamphlet, African Dt"alects, 1848, introduces a
doubt. He writes: "Moko, a large district up the Old Calabar
River and inland from Efik and Romby. A class of
languages which commences north of Rombyand extends
inland behind Old Cala bar" (12).
Unfortunately the people here referred to are also called
Kwa or Qua by the Efik, The cqnfusiOll is th~reby increa~eq
16 OLD CALABAR
because these Qua though not the same in origin or speec h as
the Kwa, alias Ibibio, are here classed nevertheless as M oleo.
Thus, through there being two distinct and separate p.eople
called Kwa, the term Moko has been confu sedly appll e ~ to
these two disti nct peoples. It is necessary to know somelhmg
about these Qua behind Old Calabar whom Ciarke regards
as Moko.
By the Efik the Qua are called Abakpa, i.e. Ik0t. Abakpa,
though they themselves refer to each other as AkIn and to
their next clan, the Ekoi, as Eyagham.
The Akin tradition to account for the Efik calling them
Abakpa is that many years ago two Aki~ hunters arrived
in the vicinity ofCalabar and saw two men In a ca.n?e. Each
party spoke to the other but the languages w~re dIfferent . ~nd
neither could understand the other. On e Ale n hunter sa l(! to
the other "ba-akpa," come aw ,.y first (as the thing to do 110\')
and they went off. The Ir;en in the canoe he~r!ng the wo:ds
"b:l-akpa " called the Akin "Abakpa." 1 hIS ex pres sIOn
"ba-akpa" with the above meaning is still in current use
among the Akin or Qua. Theorigin of the term Qua or Kwa
is said by rIle Akin to be due to the first Portuguese traders
who so called them, after a chief by name Oqua who was
reignina then and wirh whom they opened ne g otiations.
The R~v. J. K. Macgregor pointed out that Okwa is
stiil a n:lmc commom among the people of Qua Town
and that in Efik, Qua Town becomes Akwa Obio (where
Akwa=big and Obio=tmvn) and is 'called Big Qua Town.
The language of the Akin or Qua is Bantu, wher~as the
language of the Ibibio will be shown to be Suda.l1lc. So
that if Moko refers to these Qua who are Bantu, It cannot
refer to the' Ibibio who are Sudanic. The next two extracts
make the identification of the Moko even more diffic ult.
Clarke continues with, "The people of Old Calabar and
Cross River are of the Moko class . . . J\ na ng, near
to Otam and Efik in the Moko country" (33). Now Anang'
is a dialect of th e Ibibio and thus th e term ?II o ko is by
Clarke made to include the 'Bantu Qua among ,,,ho111 the
Efik settled, and also the Ibibio or parent stock of th e
Efik. The origin and the language of the Qua and of the
( HISTORICAL t I
Ibibio are quite dilferent and distinct; so different are the
languages that, if one belongs to the Moko class the other
cannot.
Again, that there is confusion is well shown by Count
de Cardi, who, when speaking from the view point of the
Efik, wrote:- II Efik Race-The inhabitants of Old Cala-
bar, said to have come from the Ibibio country, a district
lying between the Kwo country and the Cross River" (34).
He differentiates between Ibibio and Kwo as though they
were distinct peoples. It will be shown that Kwo is but
another name for the Ibibio.
It is thus clear that there is at present great uncer-
tainty over the word Moko and it is the intention of the
following few pages to clear up this uncertainty. The
next authorities to be quoted declare against Ibibio as a
mem ber of the Moko class of languages Thus, the Rev
Koelle records as follows:- "No IX, llfolw Languages,
N.B. The natives of the following tribes are call ed II'I oko
in Sicrr:l Leone ; hence we retain this appellation for the
whole family of their languages" (35). Neither Efik nor
Ibibio is included in the list. They are given elsewhere.
All the languag es classed under the heading of Mako are
the Bantu languages of the Cameroons. The Rev. H. Goldie
poi!lted out, "Moko, a name given in Sierra Leone to
all p eople coming from the region of the Calabar and
r Cameroon River" (36). Dr. Baikie wrote:- "Moko people
do n ot come to Efik, they are believed to be connected with
the Baion" (37). The Bayon or Baion are Bantu people.
From this conflicting evidence. which shows that the name
Moko was applied indifferently to Bantu an.d to Sud anic
people, it would seem impossible to decide that Moko was
a slave-trade name for the Ibibio.
What is clear is that in the early records, a people
from round about the territory at present occupied by the
Ibibio were called Moko, for they are mentioned in 1686
by Dapper. These sam e people were called 'Mocoes' in the
West Indies according to Adams' writing in 1823.
The issue can be d efinitely cleared up, however, by
examining the area in which the name first occurs: z·.e.

12 OLD CALABAR
by referring to the beginning~ .of t~e slave~trade in these
parts. Now the Andoni traditIOn IS that 111 these parts
they were the first people to trade in slaves ~vit~ Eur~peans
and that the trade was begun in the Andol1l River with the
Purtu<Yuese . The slaves which the Andoni sold to the
Portu:uese were obtained from the people whom the An~
(lonis b call to this day Mbogo, i.e. lbibio. Now just as
, P I I) ~ ,,0 oJ
in the word Mbakara (see page 60, art tIle 0 was
elided by the Europeans so that it is writen to-day as
Makara, so also the European elided the "b" in Mbogo and
the word was written Mogo, Moko, Moco. 0 of this later confusion, for he wrote: "Ibibio was the name
The Andoni history as given by themselves, IS t~lat
after a time the Portuguese disappeared and the Enghsh
arrived bringing a new kind of mannila. The shve port
was moved to Bonny from the Andoni River which was
too shallow for the larger BritiSh ships. With the change
of port was effected a change of brokers: . The middle-
men in slaves were no longer the Andolll but the mixed
agglomeration living round Culeba or Bonny.
The Andoni still brouCTht
/:>
Moko slaves, but had •to sub-
• (a foot-wide track meandering throu g h obtrusive vegetation)
mit to Bonny middlemen by whom they were In. tune
sted from the slave-trade and forced back to their old
~~rsL1its of fishing and salt-making. Their trade with the
Portug\l e' C is recorded by Dapper thus:- "J6?8. 011 the
e~ste rn s ide of this river [Bonny] about .two mdes [.Dutch)
f m its eastern point lies the river LOitombe, which the
;~rtugucse call Rio Santo Domingo. On ~ts east~rn ba.nk,
right on the point, there is rather a large Village, inhabited
by many traders, they go inland to buy slaves and then sell
them to the white men" (3 8) . . . "But they were not addictt';d to cannibalism and in
The Bonny middlemen speaking a language qUite
different from the Andoni called the Moko by another
nam. e . VI'Z . Kwa . This name persisted while
. that,
of the
Moko became forgotten. So that Moko IS correctly .t~e
first slave-trade name of the Ibibio and the.re, where It IS
fi ·rs t mentioned by Dapper in 1686 .
as referring to a people
. 1 hAd'
sold as slaves in and around Oknka, IS w lere t e n onl
would sell the 1bi bio or M bogo slaves. It is thus clear
that the contusion has arisen beca\ls~ the original broker~
HISTORICAL
in Ibibio slaves, the Andoni, were, when the port of call
was moved from Andoni to Bonny, ousted by the Bonny
middlemen, who gave the name Kwa, to the Ibibio, or
Moko. To increase the confusion, however, the name Kwa
Kwo, Quaw has been in the past, and still is to-day, given
to two distinct peoples. The Umani (the present Iboes of
Bonny) called, and still do call, the Ibibio, Kwa; on the
other hand the Efiks referred and still refer to the local
Bantu among whom they settled as Quaw. So that there
is nothing to show that in one place Kwa = Moko= Ibibio
and in another quite a different tribe.
Sir Harry Johnson, when consul in the Bights, was aware
attributed to the Kwo people who dwelt in the delta country
west of the Cross River. Apparently they were not near
akin to the Akwa Semi-Bantu who inhabited the former
Cross River and the Rio del Rey under the names of
Ekoi or Ejam. The Kwa people were related to the Efik
of Old Calabar and to the almost uncountable tribes of
the Western Cross River (39) .. , The Kwos were great
road-makers. Instead of the customary nar1'OW native path
the Kwos of Ibibio took pride, thirty, forty years ago, in
making broad smooth roads from village to village. These
they kept clean of weeds and bordered with fine shady
trees and neat hedges which enclosed plantations. Their
.,.' villages, however, were not So ordererly and neat as the
Ibo towns and the inhabitants were disgustingly dirty in
their manner of living. I was told, unlike their neigh-
bours to the north and east, they made a point of never
washing. .
disposition were good-tempered, placable and industrious.
In my day they displayed a curious predilection for acrobatic
performances. They ""ould walk on their hands, turn
double somersults and take high jumps" (40).
Jean Barbot mentions the Ibibio also under a name that
seems now to have died out. At Old Calabar in 1698 he
relates that among persons to whom payments were mad~
 OLD CALABAR
from the old ship, "Dragon," were :-" Seventeen copper
bars to William King Agbisherea. Seventeen copper bars to
Robi n King Agbisherea" (41). N ow the word Agbishcrea
seems, from its position, to suggest a territory and that the
word "of" or "in" has been omitted between it and the
word "King." Evidence will be given which identifies
Agbisherea with the land of the lbibio. A Mr. Grant who
was trading in Calabar at about the time that Captain Hugh
Crow was at Bonny remarks: "Nine or ten miles from Fish
Town, on the west of the estuary, is Parrots Island which is
entirely inhabited by parrots and monkeys. From this
island European ships frequently seC1,ue their firewood. To
the west of it on the main land is Hickery Cock Town, a
place of considerable importance whe re nearly a11 the palm-oil
expor ted from Calabar is manufactured" (42). Tile point to
notice is the mention of Hickery Cook Town so ea rly.
The Rev. Hugh Goldie 'lays, "ItU, old Ekrikok, a
small tribe on the east bank of the Cross River above
Ikorcfiong. Not to be confused with Itu a small tribe and
District near Enyong" (43).
It was at Itti that the first Native Court and Government
Station was erected in about 1896. The Station was moved
to its present site at Itu about 1901 to form a transport depot
to the Aro expedition.
The traveller Oldfield, in 1836, voyaged up the Cross
River to the town of Old Ecricock. Before reaching it he
halted at the town of Ekricok, from whkh Old Ekricock lay
upstream five hours' s team in g . Ekricok is the present Ikot
Offiong (44), and Old Elcricok is the old town of ltU (45)
situated on the east bank of the Cross River. This ltu
was probably an Mbiabo settlement; for Mbiabo with
Ikoneto, l kot Offiong and Mbiabo-edere were known to the
Europeans as Ekricok (46). The Rev. Hugh Goldie des-
cribes Ikoneto as the settlement of George Ekrikok, a village
of Mbiabo (47). It would thus seem that the migrating
Enyong were also known as Ekrikok.
At Ecricok, Oldfield records, "The king is named Tom
Ecrieok: he is an elderly man of dark yellow colour and has
l,
frequently be~n trading- with mast~rs of ships at Cal~I:;lClr, . , •
HISTORICAL 15
At the back of this town is a very fine and populous country
named Egbo Syra" (48). This country '''auld, from the
above description, be situated in the very heart of the
present Ibibio land. Thus, after 140 years since it was
first. mentioned, this nar'.1e Agbisherca slightly altered,
a-¥alll appears. C~nslll Beecroft in his first journey lip the
Cross R.I~:r descnbes ~he waterway After leaving Old
Calabar h.lver and turning north into the Cross River he
n:entio~s that shortly afterwards, "Passing a tolerab ly
Sized divergent on our left, running off as the pilot inform ed
us ~o Egbo Sairra, we came to anchor for the night" (49).
ThiS statem~nt was. made in 1841 and refers to the light
~ank of the Cross ,Rlv~r, probably in the neighbourhood of
.. tile present Adadla, z.e. to the land of the Ibibio whose
eastern boundary!s the Cross River . . In 1848 the Rev. J.
Clarke wrote: ,. Egboshary, spoken to the west of Efik"
(50). He also wrote: "A place called Aaru is near to the
Egbo Shary country: and at Aaru, the Ibos say their God
'Tshuku Obyama' resides" (5 I). The land of the
Ibibio lies immediately to the west of the Efiks. Dr.
Baikie in 1854 wrote, referring to a chief in Ibo land who
was there giving him information. "He told us there were
many people from Old Calabar living at Arc, and also
some whom he termed Ibibi, whom I believe to be from
the coun,try known to white traders as Egboshari, near the
Cross River, as the Efik name for that place is Ibibio" CS2).
He. also wrote of the Efiks as follows:-" The Efik are
emigrants, the land on which they are settled belonging to
the Kwa people, whom they style Abakpa, and to whom
th ey pay tribute. The Kwa people, are quite distinct and
speak a totally different language" (53).
Consul Hutchinson in 1856 wrote to the same effect
when he stated. "In fact, the natives of the chief Calaba;
to vns originally came fr.om Egbo hary country to ca rryon
the slave , trade, at ~he time that the inh abitab le country on
~he east Side of the fiver ,bel.ongec\ to the people of Qua" (54) .
fhe Rev. Hugh GoldIe In his dictionary says, "Ibibio
Eg~o Shary, a tribe lyilw to lhe west of [he Cross R iv .r. , :
It I!? the parent country of the CalClbat people" (55).
 OLD CALAllAJ{
\.v riling of the A n ang he likewise says, " Anang, a di s trict of
Egbo Serry . distant from Ca l", ba .. " (56). Now the Anang
form the wes tern clans of the Ibibio, and march with the 100
of the Owerr; Provin ce. In 181)6 the nati ve court a t l til ,
then 011 th e east bank of the Cross River, was referred to as
the court of E gbo Shary. It is thus evident that the Agbi-
s herca of J ea n Barbot wcre Ibibio and wcrc then settl ed
somewhere in the environs of th e present Calab" ... The
name E gbo S hary is not known among the Ibibio and SO;5
prabab!}' a foreign name for them. A plau sible derivat io n
for the term Agb is hcrca is that it is deri ved frolll th e two
wo rd s E gbo or more usually Ekpo, the name of a powerful
society amongst the I bib io to which only the well-to-do
free-burn we re admitted; and" Esiere" a term of sal uta-
ti on. In other word s th:tt Egbo Esicre was a p:lss-word
when the Egbo Societ}' was out and was thusa corn~ ct f",rm of
salu tation on meet ing in those da}'s, an Ibibio. i\'luch the
..
S.3mc process is at work at prese nt with the Ig-bo around
Aba whose form of salutat ion is Ndewo and by this term they
are often described by the Eumpca n and named, T he fact
emerges from thi s s tudy of the origins of th e l bibio that
they h:l.Vc been confusedly known fo r some cClllll rics onde r
the various n,lmcs of Ag bis herea, Egbo Sherry, Mo ko,
Kwa, Ibibio. The last is the name by which they call the
language which they s peak and il is by this name that they
are known to-day.
The word "lbibio " is, from its form, a composite word
formed from at least two roots. One suggestion for the origin
of the word is that it is a reduplica tion of the word Ibio =
small, short, a nd that" Ibibio " means th e sma ll or short
people, but they are not remarkable for shortness or s m all~
ness. They a re no sma ller or shorter than members of
surrou ndi ng tribes and it must be assumed that th is deriva-
tion is a rational isat ion a nd not a true derivation, A more
plaus ible one is based all the fact that the nam e I! Ibibio"
is used by the surrounding Igbo to describe these pecple .
I n other words" Ibibi o" seem s to be a fo reig n name for the
people who to-day, though not callin g themselves by that
name, yet admit they speak Ibi bio. On this suggestion it
•
HISTORICAL 17
a~pears that, like a ll names for foreigners , Ibibio 'm ust be a
• ni ckn ame, and as such nicknames always have a conte mp•
tuo.us c~ntent c./{, Bar~arian, Dai:0, Nigger, Boer, Frog-gie,
Clunk, It foll?~v.s that III resolving Ibibi o into its component
P~ ltS , recognltl?n 1ll~I S~ be accorded to this se nse of co ntempt.
1 he word readil y diVides up into" Ib ~ i· bio "where the
middle" i " ~s a connective vowel sound, an d tile word may
be resolved mto" Ibi . Ibio." Now Ibio will be shown to
come from a root meaning cou ntry bush H fore,," ,"I,'le
" l b'I " COmes , eithe r from a widely'spread
" root meanin • Ig
"people" or else from another root I! #:bo" meaning
,(s lave :" e.g, Igbo which mea ns a slave (57), I n other
words" Ibibio .. is either from "J bi·Obio" and me:!ns then
• "p~~ples of the bush " i.e. bus hmen ", Or it is from" Ig bo-
OhIO and means then "slaves of the bu sh" i.e. "bush slave"
Th:is latcl' ~eri"ation p~eserves the con tempt that chara~•
tenses the OIcknallles gl\'en by nations to each other The
~crm thus indicates the lowes t grade of slaves. . There
IS mo re to be said in favour of the dcri vation II Igbo. Obio"
for .th,?' term" Ibibio," than fo r its derivation from" Ibi ~
Oblo and preference is therefore given to the deri vation
from" 19bo-Obio". (see also p. 45).
The ,lbi~io have no trad ition Or legend of a migration.
They mall1tal.n that they ha~e a lw.ays been where thl~y are,
~ n d as there IS no special orien tatIO n of their dead at buria l
It follows that if they d id I~igrate, it mus t have occurred
I,?ng ago, so long ago that they have forgotten all about it
and about ~h.e direct ion whi,ther their dead go. However,
some authOrities, thou gh on what grounds it is not a' a ll cl a
Stu 1c tnat' t IIe I b'b'
I 10 emered upon the ir present domain e r,
about fift~en hundred yeMs ago only (58). What is more
probable IS tha t the Ibibio obta ined their present culture
1, 500 years ago.
,The land wh ich they occupy is composed of alluvial ' or
B~l1 l n sand . No ston,es, except for an occasional outcrop of a
th "n band. of qua rtzite a long the rig ht bank of th e Cross
Rlv~r, eXists thr~ughOllt, this . area. Slone implements,
• f~s?l~ned from tillS quartzite, have been discovered in the
V}~IIIHy of these outcrops as well ;\5 els,cwhere. The~f;

.I; OLb CALABAR
stone impleme nts are fo und where the surface s?i l has been
removed by rain e rosio n. If sea rched for In forest-dad
la nd they are found at a d epth of eig hteen to twenty-four
inches below the presen t humus. Some of these stone
impl ements a re partl y polis hed stone axes .. Eig l~ty years
ago stone a xes we re in use a mong the Bubl of I' crnando
Po (59).
T o-day the Ibibio know nothing abou t th e~e ~tones.
nor have they any traditions concernin g them. fhl s lack
of knowledge would be natural when it is realised that
they had been accustomed for very ma ny ~cars to the. usc
of iron which they obtained fro m neig hbouring' blacksm iths.
The Rev. H o pe Vladdel1 rcports, "Native iron ~ot f~ol1l
the Qua mountains , and rccl<oncd better than the English,
was forme rl y employed but has yielded the;» g r~ul\d to
its rival" (60) . Dapper mentions, "Dans la I rovmce de
Moco, on bat un e espcce de monie de fe r do nt chaque
d'epand e long" (61). It has been shown that Moco was
confusedly used at times for the Ibibio and for the Cameroon
Ba ntu but from the co ntext it is clea r that Da pper does
mean 'the Ibibio when he says Moco. T o-day the currency
of the Ibibio is the manilla introd uced q.mong them by
the Umani lbo. However, at the Long Juju , once the
main shrin e of the Ibibio, pieces of copper of a shape
simil ar to that described by Dapper can still be fo und;
whi le in an adjacent Igbo clan , there is to .be found in the
town of Obione an iron currency as deSCribed by Dapper.
This iron currency is, howeve r, only used now for makin g
religious a nd ceremon ia l purchases within the clan.
As the prese nt Ibibio, who, like the sto ne.a~e users
before the m are an agricutural people, a nd also like them
reside well ~vithin the rain-forest belt, it is quite feasible
that the stone-axe users were the ir direct ancestors.
T o-day th e primeval forest has given way .to . seco n~ ary
g rowth, a co ndition to be expected when It IS reahsed
that the population density exceeds three hund red to. ~he
sq ua re mile. This territory did not come under Bntlsh
administrative co ntrol until a year or two after the Aro
expedition of 1901. As a result, very little is known concern ..
•
i-IISTORICAL '9
ing the Ibibio. Major Leonard in 1906, thcn a t wo rk
on anthropolog ic.1.1 info rmation, wrote conce rnin g' them
"Passing over th e Akwa and the Ibibio, a wild a nd truculcn~
peoplc about whom nothin g is known and from who III it was
impossible to obtain any information, it is possibl e amo ng
the Bonny and Opobo people, the orig inal Ibani, to go
even fu rther back than in th e case of the Efik, to about
three or four hundred years" (6 2). Dr. Talbot, who was
for part of one tour a District Officer at E ket, gave the
first in fo rmation 6 n the Ibibio. As recently, however as
1928 the Ibibio are described in a History 01 Southern
N igeria as ca nnibals (63). Thoug h there is evid ence that
some of the clans were a t one time man-ea te rs it has not
been true of ,th.e tribe as ~ whole for centuries. R(:cclltly,
when the IblblO were bem g re-organ ised in to cla n-units
with clan-courts , the elders of the Ikono cla n \vere ap-
proached for their views a nd op in ions before th e move was
entered upon. An I kono elder leaped at the idea.. Part
of this clan the n sha red a court with the l kpe alan. The
old ma n said, " In th e present court, if we have a n argu -
m e n ~ with an I~pe, he turns on us and says 'S hut up,
or III eat you, and we have no adequate reply. We
are 110t man-eaters like the Ikpc. " The Ikono clan i:, 'nuch
larger and more powerful than the Ikpe. No cases of
cann ibalism have bee n recorded a mong th e I bibio s ince
• • 1 9~J , when one doubt.ful case ,vas reported, on hearsay
e Vld e n c~ on.ly, as occurring a ~1? T1 g the Anan g. The charge
of can Olba!Js m am ong the Iblhlo has more pictur.esque ness
in it than truth. On the other hand, of the Efi", Co nsu l
H utchi nson wrote in 1861. "During the year 18S9 h um an
flesh was exposed for sale, as butcher's meat, in the market
a t Duke taWil, Old Kalabar" (64).
Various small milita ry patrols were undertaken to bring
The Ibibio un der Adm inistrative control. Alter Opobo,
Eket was the first place ill Ibi bio territory to have a vice-
consul a lloted to it. The appointm ent took place about 1895.
European trade rs and the missionary, Mr. Bill, had a lready
started operatio ns there, the traders in abou t 18n and
Mr. Bill in 1888. As a result of the Aro expedit ion of
30 OLD CALABAR
1901 Ikot Ekpene, Itu, and Uyo stations were opened in
1903' but repeated skirmishes occurred before an ything like
administrative control was established. The following ex-
tract from the Ikot Ekpene assesement report, 1927, is
typical of what happened in the remaiflder of the Ibibio
territ()ry. _ Ikot U do, who refused to deltver theni up on the demand
"In Ig01 one of the columns of the Aroexpedition passed
close to the prese;)t II<0t Ekpene while pressing after the
Aros of Obinkita who were offering resistance to the passage
of the troops. On that expedition an Aro leader was hanged
at Huho which is about a mile from the present Ikot-
Ekpene station. The -site is now occupied by a budding
Roman Catholic school.
" I1eat Ekpene was opened in November 1905 by troops
sel1t from Calabar. These troops landed at Itu, and crossing
the Enyong Creek, marched up to Aro _where Capt.ain
Morrison (a naval officer) was stationed. He, as a travelling
commissio~er, took charge of the expedition which entered
the present district -from the north, via Aka and Nkwut,
and came on southwards to Ikot Ntwin, where - camp was
pitched till the beginning of 1904. Camp ..vas then mov ed
to the big square called Nwa ,Umo Otok in lkot Ekpene
native town, and finally settled down on the present site
in March 1904. Towards the end of 1904 the natives to
the south and west gave so much trouble that it was neces-
sary to use troops. The expedition under Major Trenchard
went down towards !tu as far as the Iyeri river and then
swung round westwards through the present Uyo district
which had not then come into existence, and went on to
Ukpum Anang near the present Abak, where:: Mr. Brooks
was left as a District Commissioner. Owing.to the pre-
valence of jiggers, Ukpum Anang was vacated for Aka,
near the present Uyo station. Uyo was finally selected as
being nearer water than Aka.
"After leavi ng Mr. Brooks at Ukpum, the patrol went
on to Inen and camped there, not far from ,U rua Nsebe,
where in 1924. three chiefs of the local Ikot Okoro native
court were hanged in public for organised' murder. From
Inen the patrol operated through th~ Af!ang ,area of the
htst6kICAL
?pobo District. a~d returned vi3. Ndiakata to Ikot Ekpene
IA I~?5, the DIstrIct 'of Abak ~ad not yr:t been created,
In Octo?er 1906 Mr. PartrIdge, with Dibue, the inter-
preter, an~ WIth a Court messenger 'was saved from death
by the actIOn of the late chief: Ekwere lkang of Mbiabong
of the towns of Ikot Etim, lkot Eminang, Ikot Udofia and
Mbat. An attempt to get to Bende Ofufa and then to Eriam
':v as frustrated by these towns turning out in force and block-
tng the roads. The friendly chief called out his people
recovered loads that had been taken and lead the party t~
Ikpe Ikot ~ku!1 where Chief Uka Inyang Ekpo provided
l"
a canoe WfllCh took Mr. Partridge and attendants down the
Enyong Ct:~e~ safety to Itu.
"A purtl'f,ve ,~xpedition was -necessary, as many other
to~ns ha.d thrown' In their lot with the malcontents. Troops
~trlved In March 1907 under Captain Mair and returned
In May to Ikot Ekpe?e. In June they started off again
under Mr. Frank Hives, (author of jiq'u and JusHce)
who reduced the . country to order by October.
fI In 19 8, .th~ Aba-lkdt Ekpene boundry towns got out
0
of hand and kIlled two court messengers. In November
troops were. sent to deal with the situ;1tlon and cleared
matters up 10 a ~on~h. There had been a previous patrol
a.long the Uyo DIstrict boundary in February, which lasted
ttll June.
fI In J~og, the area now known as Abak had to be dealt
•
With .. ReSIstance was immediately offered by the towns
of Abl~kpa an.d Manta, whereupon all the Afaha Obong
towns JOined In. Abak was reached after a fight, I't was
.
t h en occupIed and opened under Captain Duncan Ad . .
. Offi ' mlOIS-
tratlve cer. He was there some fOllr months and
r
re le-;.e
d be' .
y aptalO nlltl~ with a dttachment of troops.
was
. Troops had been contInuously stationed at Ikot Ekpenc
un.tll I?I~ when they were removed. After the influenza
epIdemIC In 19 19, the Bende Orufa area threw off govern-
ment control, and it was necessary to uSe troops to restore
order there Clnd also at Nkwut an d at Abakas l' T
. ~ . roops
remalOed at IIwt Ekpene until 19 2 1."
 OLD CALA BAR
•

In 1927 towar d s th end

e of the year, as a r~sult of
. , ' . \.
'I'" fervou r such as receive s hle name of
a W av e of re IgIO
.
US,
I d' 't was necess ary to use t,lOOp S
Myalis m in the West tn ,lest'h1e 'area that lies betwee n Itu
11 the movem en In PART II
to que In Decem ber of 19 2 9 it was again necess ary to
and .u yo . .' .
call 111 the Mllltar~ to P .
ut down rioting and genera l un-
d t Ikot Ekpen e till the THE EFIK DIAL ECT
t 'fhese remalOed statlOn e a
res.
BEFOR E procee ding to deal with tl~e s~ructure of the
end of 1933· Ibibio
langua ge, it will be necess ary to examin e the Efik dialect ana
•
to expose its defects and short coming s. The initial con-
centrat ion of Europ ean enquir.ies among the Efik was not
intenti onally carried out at the expens e of the Ibibio, but
nevert heless the Ibibio has thereb y suffere d an eclipse . The
first missio naries to the Cross River were invited thither by
the Efik and these missio narie,s natura lly directe d their fir£t
studies to the Efik langua ge, with the result that the Efik
have benefit ed enorm ously and their langua ge has inevita bly
assum ed a positio n that is not justifie d either upon a popula -
tion or a linquis tic basis. Efik, as a result of the magnif icent
work done by the United Free Churc h of Scotla nd Missio n
in its efforts with the langua ge, has secure d a long
advant age over Ibibio. This advant age must con tinue until
a corres pondin g amoun t of work has been done among the
Ibibio, namely in the produc tion of a Dictio nary, Gra!nm ar
and a transla ton of the Bible. Other literatu re in this
vernac ular will then duly fol1ow.
t The known history of the Efik casts so import ant a
light over their dialect that it is necess ary to investi gate their
origin, and so gain a true perspe ctive of their place in the
Ibibio tribe. The immed iate origin of the Efik is fairly
recent but obscur e. They are not a clan but a mixtur e.
Some author ities mainta in that the presen t settlem en! is only
about ~ hundre d and fifty years old (i). But it has alread y
been shown that in 1686 there were Agbish erea (2) or Ibibio
settlem ents in the presen t vicin~ty. The idea that the town
of Calaba r is of so ,recent a da.te is probab ly due to a statem ent
of Captai n Ambro se Lace, master of one of the slave ships,
that when he first visited Calaba r in 1748 there were nQ
illQ<lbitqllt~ <\t Olg Town (3).
 alb cALABAit
The original stock, though it came from the Ibibio is
now so mixed and adulterated that the present Efik cannot
be said to be Ibibio, nor are they a clan in the same sense
that clans exist among tl1e Ibibio. The very name Efik is
a nickname and not a clan name. Concerning their origin,
Dr. Baikie wrote after his visit to Ca"labar in 1854, " On
~l1quiring about the place called Egbo- hari, this gcntlem<l;n
informed me that its Igbo ' name is Umenyi, while the
Efik call it Ibibio: From this place the Efik derive their
origin.' The n'ltive name for Duke Town is Atakpa. The
Efik are emigrants, the land on which they are settled
belonging to the Kwa people, whom they style Aqal~pa and
to whom t hey pay tribute" (4). The nam e Abakpa whh::h the
Efik (Tave to the Kwa suggests a probable relationship'
between them. The word may be divided into B~ = reside,
dwell j Akpa= first or river (according to tone) and so Abakpa
may mean the first inhabitants, the original dwellers or the
river dwellers. On the other hand Abakpa in the basin of
the Benue is a common name for the Jukun people, but it has
not yet been shown that the Kwa area branch of this tribe.
. Mr. Meek suggests a possible explanation for the use of
the term Kwa as applied indiscriminately to both the Ibibio
and the Akin (Ekoi). Commenting on the above suggestE:d
derivation of the word Abakpa he wtote. "The derivation
that Abakpa means the first inhabitants is improbable. The
first part of the word can hardly be anything but the plural
prefix. Akpa (or Akwa or K wa) appears to mean 'peopl!!'
in its primary sense, b~t having been adopted. as a tribal term
by some peoples who became, a hunting ground for slaves it
acquired in some groups the sense of slaves. In the Northern
Provinces the following forms oc<;:ur ~s tribal titles, Akpa,
Wapa, Akpa, Kwa-na, Abakpa, Abakwa." As, both the
Ibibio and the Ekoi were hunting grounds for slaves it seems
that the term Kwa waS applied to thet:n in contempt,
and meant and was used to mean, slaves, and'so its indis~
criminate use to describe the Bantu Ekoi and the Sudanic
Ibibio is explained. ' village here belongs to the Qua people, but as it is a port
Speaking of Abakpa the Rev. Hu~h Goldie wrote,
II Mr Edgerley, when Old Town was deserted (e.g. for farming
operations), found a field of labour in Abak pa , a Qua to";n
lying between Old and Duke Towns. Its inhabitants are of
the Ekoi tribe, to whom the land belonged on which these
two Efik town'> are built" (5). Consul Hutchinson in 1856
wrote as follows, "The Qua people were the original holders
of the Kalabar country and the present inhabitants of Dtike-
town, Oldtown, and Creektown are descendants of the Egbo
Shary or Ibibio tribe up the Cross River. The Krlla-b ar
authorities pay a yearly tribute to the Qua people for
permission to reside in their territory. . . . In the original
r settlement the Egbo Shary immigrants obtained only sites
for their towns and little more" (6). The Rev. Hugh Goldie
in 1890 wrote in his book, Ca1abar and tis Mis,rwn, as
follows "This compulsory migration seems to have occurred'
in the seventeenth, or more probably in the beginning of the
eighteenth century. They (the Efik) obtained land from the
Qua; the Okoyong and the Ibibio tribes on which to form
their settlements" (7). Again ur. Talbot working among
the Ekoi wrote in 1912 in his book, In tlte Slzadow of the Bush,
as foJ,lows: "The inhabitants of the big Kwa tOWIl, near
Calabar, claim to be the first Ekoi to have co me down from
the north, and were certainly there before the arrival of the
Efiks, as the latter people obtained from them permission to
mark out a site for their new settlements" (8).
In confirmation of this fact that thc Efik are bllt recp.t1t
interlopers, it may be pointed out that land on which the
Residency stands in Calabar is held by the Government on
a lease from the Qua Chiefs. Now the Residency is situated
well within the present township of Calabar.
That the Efik were definitely intruders and had not
occupied the hinterland of Calabar to any great extent is
shown by the following extract: In March r875 Captain
J. N. Walker went up the.Kwa River, going round James
Island to reach it. He wrote: "In the evening wc made
Qua landing which is but a few miles behind r5uke 'town,
Qverland, and took up our quarters for the night. The
for the Duke Town people in going to and coming from
their farms in Akpabuyo, a number of Calabar people are
 OLn CALABA R
always found in it" (9) This place, the R ev, J. K. Macgregor
suggests, was Esuk Ito just behind AldOl, some six miles
from the present Calabar and indicates to wha t a s mall
extent the E fi k had penetrated in to, or had gained co ntrol
over, the immediate hinterland which in ISiS was still in
the usc and possession of the Kwa.
The fo ll ow in g account su mmari ses fairly accurately all
that is known of the ori g in of the prescnt Efik. There is
reason to beli eve that a con side ra ble portion of a 5m a11lbibio
clan called Ebrutu o r Eburutu was t he earli est stock of the
Efik; for, when the missionaries settled in 1846 at Old
CaJabar am o ngst these people for the first time, it was found
that they called themselves not Efik, but Ebrutu or Eburutu
Efik (00).
Goldie, in his dictionary, reco rds, "Eburutu is sa,id to
be a man who lived III fo rmer times . to whom Calabar
and Ahyon arc said to belong. Hen ce the ph rase Efik
Eburutu" (II).
Even to-day there is sti ll rdefence to this eponymous
hero Ebru t u : for he is refe rred to in a collection of folklor e
songs publi shed in 1933 by one E. N, Amaku. Thus-"Anim
(nyan uyo Ayara-ekpe osinro uyo, uyo akan film. Yellow
Duke Etc ndito; Etc 'ndito- Efik kc Eburutu" (12).
T ranslation :- "Anim In yan, lhe voice of the Leopard
roo rs, the voice exceeds its equals. Ye llow
Du ke, fathe r of ch ildren; lather of Eflk-
children of Ebllrutu ."
The name occurs as th e h ead in g of o nc hymn;-
'I Nwure Iso!) Obio Ebu rutu"(13).
Trans lation:- "The ruin s of Eburutu town."
Con s ul Burton wrott! that "no one knew what Iburutu
mean s" ( 14). He, h ow cwc r, .. iso wrHte, "EI<pcnyong Ibri.
ta m, the name of a great juju or feli sh in the I bo cOilnt ry at
the unexplored place call ed Odt! or A 1'0, resorted to fo r ordeal
trial and various a bom inations by all the coast tribes between
the Niger and Old Calabar. Thence, it is said, the Calabar
people broug ht the Ekpc nyoll g- or mos t common object
of Efik wor!'>hip, v iz. a piece of the Ekolll tree fr eque lltly
surmounted by a human skull" (15) . Mr Part idge wrote
THE EFIK DIALECT '7
to the same eITect t hat the Efik t utelar deity, Ekpenyong,
came from Ibrit uOl ( 16), which is t he I bihio name for th e sile
• of the Lo ng Juju ( 17 ). The R ev. H ugh Goldie says of
Ibritam which wo rd he writes either as Ibiritum or Ibrutu m.
"The nam e of a g rcat j uju in lbo ; held to be the mot he r of
Ekpenyong Ibi ritam" ( 18). Of Ekpenyon g l ~ ritall.l he
w rites; "The Ekpenyon g of the Ca labar people IS saId by
some to have been broug ht from thence [i.e. Ekpen yong
Ibiritam"l ( 19) .
I t see ms then th at, when the Arc hired mercenaries
wrested this sacred oracle, the Long Juju. fro m the I bibio, th e
Eburutu were a clan of that name then driven oIT and who
had been in charge of th is oracle. T h is interpret atio n of
. ,
these facts g ives an explanation which accounts fo r tlw early
nam e of t he Efik being Eburulu, and in cidentally reveals their
origin.
The names by which these e mi g rant settlers were first
called by the surrou nd ing tribes are as follows :
tl An yon g by the Qua
Ben yong by the Okoyong
Mcnyong by the Uwet" (20).
The Qua to thi s day refer to the Efik as "ASU1) An yol)=
slaves of Enyon g. " Now the present EnyoJlg clan claim to
be rela ted to the Efik. T hey stale th at t hey and tlH~ Efik
have a com mon ancestor who had twO sons; one round ed the
Efik and the olher, the present Enyong; but it would. seem
,. from the above and from wha t is to fo llow that they are a ll of
on e Slack. The Enyon g to~c1ay call the lllsdves "Enyong
Ebrutu" and it would appear that the naOle "Ebrutu Efik"
given to them by the missionaries in 184c was short for
Enyon g Ebrutu Efik. The Enyong claim to have origiinated
from a town near Ikpa in the Uyo district, while part of the
present Efik a rc said to have come from Uruan who live
to·dayaround Ikpa.
H o weve r, the fact m ust not be ove rl ooked that thi s may
be on ly a rationalisation and that lkpa is really a refer~nce to
a people who wcre know n as Akpa, Abakpa, Kpek pa by the
K W:l, the Ibibioand the Igbo in which case thcyare probably
o ne wit h lhe JUkU ll . The original d cm or s h rine o f the
 OLb CALABAlz
Efik was called Ekpenyong which word readily splits into
';Ekpe" and "Enyong." "Ekpe" may come from the root
"Kpe" meaning to judg~, to decide, and that therefore this
.,
Ndem, Ekpenyong, or the Long Juju Ibritam, was the final
arbiter of the clan. The 'point to notice is the occurrence of
the root Enyong in the term.
Other points that support the contention that the Efik
and the Enyong ate really one people are, that both are
riverside people; both speak the same dialect; both lack the
following Ibibio societies and customs, viz, Idiong, Ekpo and
Inam; both have acquired land in comparatively recent times;
both have a tradition of dealing with the Amama Isim or
tailed people.
The Enyong assertion of their origin from around Ikpa '
may be due to a reflex migration northwards again towards
the clan's old site 'at Aro. Thus, after the initial exodus due
to the Aro invasion, it is most likely that the sites of Calabar
and Creek Town, already occupied by Ibibio, alias Agbisherea
settlements, couLl not accomodate the new exodus, in fact
there is a tradition of these people being hounded about, and
in consequence they wOllld settle where they could. As the
slave trade had cleared the river banks of all settlements,
these emigrants would find suitable unoccupied land along
the banks of the present Ikpa creek whence they would, after
a while, be ejected by the interior Ibibio. This Enyong clan
now inhabits the banks of the Enyong Creek, but according
to their own tradition, it is only recently that they migrated
thither, and th~n fought and dispossessed of their land, the
legendary Amama Isim, or tailed people.
The Enyong clan, like the Efik, exhibit great cultural
degradation. None has ever gone to consult Ibritam. Most
of their customs are broken down and it is doubtful whether
there is an Ndem or clan shrine for them all. Among the
Enyong a large number of nick-names instead of proper
names are found, as witness the names on foundation stones
of the Asang Church. These facts suggest that the present
people are the descendants of slaves who would thus auto-
matically be debarred from joining such societies, from
gaining titles, or from being called by proper names. The
THE EF IK DIALECt
Enyon g traditional his tory g oes back to one U d o Edim
Abitim Ebl'utu who lived at Idung E nyo ng near th e prest'nt
riverside town of Ikpa in th e Uyo district. While th e re, two
sons of th e found e r quarre ll ed: they went to the seashore
and s till q uarrell ed; s o they d ecided to separate. One
broth e r Ati m Ma Edim we nt south and his foll owe rs were
called I ku k A niefo a nd b ecam e the present Efik: [hose who
wcnt no rth were call ed Ebu ru. They se ~tled firs t at hu,
whi ch was already a trad ing beach when they arrived. T his
fa c t th at Itu was, wh e n th e En yo ng arri ved , already a trading
beach an d that they have no knowl ed g e or tradition of the
Aro WM th at w rested t h e L Oll g Juj u from th e I bi bio, s ugg ests
th at th e, p rese n t En yon g l!.brutu are part of the refl ex wave
of Eburu t u or E brutu slavcs who ca me no rth with th e M bi a bo
exodus. T hat E kpe nyon g, th e l'\de m of the E fi k , readily
separates into " e kpe" and lie n yo n g" and is can neeted with
Idion g and with lbri ta m (or lbrit um) the ho me of ldion g ,
and th at bo th Efi k a nd Enyo n g have ,a lso bee n call ed E brutu
is g ood evide nce for regard ing th e Efi k and the E n yon g a s
of the sa me cl a n. M a ny ot he r p oints of s imil a ri ty ex is t
between the m e.g. in the commo n cultura l d eg rada tion of
both p eopl es and in th e fac t th at both s peak Efik rather than
Ibibio.
Since writin v th e a bove re ma rks on th e ori o·in of th e
Efik, a n ln telli pen ce R e po rt on the town of Mbiabo on the
Cross Rive r has bee n mad e by Mr. Hardin g . Th e following
extract is releva nt to the ori g in o f the Efik. The head of the
town is s peak in g .
"The Mbiabos h e said, like other Efiks. came in olden
times from th e Arochulcu town of lbom. But since
all the Mbiabos 'came from one belly' their present
s even famili es a re on e peoplc distinct from all other
Ef1 ks. It was about n ine ge ne rati ons ago that the
M lli a bos left I bom, t h e reas on bein g that their
ma nners w e re not co rres ponding with those of the
oth er dw ell ers ill th e district."
Now I bom' W:lS a town fo und ed by th e E koi merce naries and
th e rea~o l1 g i ve n by th e M~) iabo for their exodus is a
 OLD CALAUA1{
.10
euphemism. Naturally their manners would not correspo'nd
with those of the invaders. The report continues: ' '
"They have no tradition of the wars at Arochuku
when Akuma and the Ekoi mercenaries invaded
the country to the discomfiture of the Ibibio inhabi-
tants. It is popularly held that this upheaval took
place six to seven generations ago. The fact that
the Mbiabos heard nothing of the fighting confirtns
the story of their exodus from Aro over 180 years
ago."
This ignorance is hardly a con,f irmation of their exodus prior
to the invasion. No body of people likes to admit defeat or
to state that they have not always been on the site of their
present land for fear lest other people claim the land. Again,
as the Mbiabo took slave women to wed from all over the
country, it is clear that no two women would have connected
knowledge of the original Aro raid and in a few generations
this history would be forgotten.
"It was p:-ob:tbly ovc; two hundred years back that
they sel off in their canoes down the Enyong Creek
and into the Cross river. At the site of the present
Mbiabo Edu some stopped and built their new
homes, whilst others paddled down to Calabar.
There for thrc'~ generations they remained, but
when that time had elapsed, for some unknown
reason, they again packed up their homes and
'1
again set off up the Cross River. They turned
upstream from Calabar, and landing at Ikoneto and
lkot Offiong founded the present towns and markets
by which they lived. This was five or six genera-
tions ago. At first at Ikot Offiong they paid rent
or gave 'dashes' to the Okus for the privilege of
living on the latter's land, but at Ikoneto, as
previously at Mbiabo town itself, the new settlers
found no established occupants and have therefore
always been- the primary owners."
Two possible explanations occur for the exodus of the
Mbiabo from Calabar. The first may be due to the fear of a
OlaSSJ.cre similar to that which occurred in 1767, and the
THE EFIK DIALECT jt
second reason may be due to the fact that being late a,r rivals
they could not obtain sufficient land for their requirements .
and not being numerous enough, could not maintain th9ir
position in the face of competition as local middlemen,
whcreasby mi gration they could achieve both objec;;ts. It
is worth while noticing that the word, Ikoneto is said to ;b e
Efik for "red sand" for which expression the IbilJio is "arall
ntan." It is not known in what language "Ikoneto" doe,s
mean "red-sand." The suggestion is \uade that the words
;
belona" b
either to an Akunakuna dialect or else to the Okqyong
language. . , .
. If the account of the Efik, namely, that they formed part
of the Ebrutu clan in charge of Ibritam, is correct, it follows
.. that, as the seizure of this oracle, the Long Juju, was
com paratively recent, estimated at less than two hundred
years ago, then the refugee Efik on settling again in their
present habitat of Calabar found small colonies of other
Ibibio or Agbisherea (21) clans already in possession. These
small settlements were disrupted fragments driven thither by
clan feuds and were swamped or absorbed into the larger
settlement of the Ebrutu clan, the whole agglomeration later
com ing to be known by the name of Efik or "the oppressors."
In support of the contention that the present Efik are an
amalgamation, native tradition has it that many years ago,
as a result of fights and inter-clan wars on the right bank
of the Cross River, which is roughly the eastern bOll ndary
r-
of the Ibibio race, factions were driven off. Thus, part of
the present Uruan clan below Itu was driven away and
attempted to settle on Beecroft Island or on one of the
adjacent ones. Enemies hound ed them from there and part
settled down at lkot Itunlco to found the prescnt Creelc
Town.
Another disruption among the Okobos arollnd the
't own of Ekeya in the Eket district led to the foundin ,g of
Obutong, now called Old Town. Again, a defeated section
of the Okus from near Ikat Offiong settled at the present
Adiabo which was known to the Europeans as the Guinea
Company. It is thus clear that the origins of the present
Efik are very mixed. Rev. Hugh Goldie wrote, "Calabal'
 OLD CALABAR
was said to be divid ed at fi rst i nto twelve p rovinces or clans,
thou g h some say seve n, b ut only four remain." (22) Thus,
th ere is evidence to s how th at at least five separate Ibibio
clans furnis hed th e forerunners of the present Efik.
Thvse settlements were well placed for trading with
th ~ s ! .i v~ sh ips . Ob uton g , being lower dow n th e river
th an C rewk f aw n, mo nopJlised the trade . This advantage
caused a larg e part of Creek Town to mi g rate. Ob ta ining
"from the Qua (a Ba nt u speaking people) la nd below Obutong
th ey made a settlem ent called by them Ata Akpa and by
the EurJpea ns, Ne w T own . In tense ri va lry e ns ued between
these two settleme nts. T o s uch a pitch did thi s animosity
rise, that eac h feared to ve ntu re out in sea rch of slaves, and
trade came alm ost to a standstill. T he impasse ended in "
1767 by a m J.ssacre of th e O buto ngs by the New T own
men throu g h an act of treac he ry wi th the assistance of
th e E uropean t rad in g s hips. Some fo ur hundred Obutong
men are said to have perished by s laughte r, by drownin g ,
or by being sold into s lavery (23 ). This massacre proba bly
g ave rise to the Mbiabo m igrati on mentioned above.
These victo rs, who li ke their v ictims were composed
of refugee fa milies, o utl aws a nd s la ves, became the exclusive
rlliddle men to the trading shi ps. T h rough these mid dlemen
passed a ll the inland trade in g un s, powde r and mercha ndise.
As a res ult th ~y waxed powerful a nd prosperous and played
th e bu lly and the tyra nt ove r th e s ur rou nd ing peoples. In
this way in qlJite recent times they acqu ired the name of
Efi k or "The opp ressors, " (fro m fi le = press). This name
is illus trated in a local p roverb. , . Efi k Ebrut u an a m idut,
id ut ana m, Efik atua k icon, " which libera ll y in te rpreted
means that th~ Eb:'utu Opp ressors m y do w ha t they like
with foreig ners, b ut if th e fore ig ners retaliate , the op pressors
wrin g their necks; t·.e. the Efiks are a ll-powerful (24).
It is p ..! r h a p~ o n the s tre ng th of thi s pro ve rb th at the Efik
have been regarded by many Europea ns as "the overlords
o f · the I bibio, oblivio us of the facts that the Ibibio were
free born m;! n own in g thei r o lV n land whe n th e • fi k were
j)ayin g tribute for squatters ' rights . Again, had the pos ition
of the Efi lc vis ce vis the Ibibio, bee n that of rulers, it is but
THE El·IK i::>IALECT
natural to expect to find a king or his equivalent among the
Efik or some such person who would be so regarded by the
Ibibio, yet if the word for king i.e. Edidem, is looked up
in Goldie's dictionary it is found defined as, :
HEdidem. n. A king, a monarch. one having absolute
power, a despot. A little superior to Abon but it ~s
not applied by the Calabar people to any of their
Chiefs, who have no such absolute power, except
over their households, as is implied in this title'" (25).
The Efik thus supply internal evidence that they were never
the overlords of the Ibibio.
The application of this word edidem ?y the ~fik to ~he
heads ot their houses as being monarchs gives an mterestmg
side light on Efik history. The word is not E~k or Ibi'?io
in origin. It comes from the Kwa word odtdem ~hlCh
means kingly: royal: and is given. by th~ K~~ as ~ title of
address to their royal line from which their dlvme k1l1gi the
ntoi comes.
In the latter part of the nineteenth century disputes
occurred between the Efik and the Kwa over the use of the
term edidem. The K wa declared that the Efik had no such
person: had no royal line and so were not e.l1titled t.o use
the word. The dispute ended in a court case 111 1902 111 the
Calabar Native Court. After that case, Native Court Rule
NO.4 of 1902, was drawn up under the direction of~. S. P.
O'Riordan, Acting District Commissioner and PreSident of
the COlI neil. .
The Rule dealt with the election and titles of certain
chiefs ~mong the Efik people and was to the effect that,
"the title of Edldem or King, and Tz'nyin or Father of all
and all prerogatives attached to the office thereof shall
end and are hereby abolished."
This rule was approved by Sir R. Moor, High Com~
missioner, on 2nd December 1902.
In 1819 Robertson remarks of the king of Calabar, "His
power is very confined, and .is only supported by the jealousy
which exists among the chiefs, who are frequently at open
hostilities and commit violent acts of cruelty on the vassals
of each other, who have the misfortune to fall into the hands
 r
OLD CALABAR
of their enemies" (26). On the same lines the Rev. Hope
~addet1 wrote, "Eyo frequently told me he was not king
10 our sense of the word and had no power, such as was
attributed to him by the white people in country affairs" (27).
' The very origin of the Efik, refugees from the main
stock, precludes the idea that they ever in the dim past
exercised any suzerainty over the lbibio. Although one of
the .Eyamba house in Calabar used to sign as "King of
all Black Men" (28), recorded incidents both before and after
his death, show that it was the idle boast of a braggart.
Thus, in 1836. Duke Ephraim and King Eyamba solicited
Messrs. B~ecroft and Oldfield to take them up the river
(the Cross River) in the Quorra steam-boat as far as the
town of Old Ecricok, and try to bring the natives of that"
place to some better understanding (29). The reason of
this application was that these people were raiding Calabar
canoes and making them pay toll. Again, in 1847 two
emissaries from Ibibio territory arrived in Calabar with a
challenge to war. The challenge was declined (30). In 1895
the Efik settlement at Itu was attacked by the Ibibio who
slew some forty Efik and drove off the rest. The Efik were
re-instated only by the aid of a trained, armed force under
vice-consul Galwey. In the 19th century the Efik have
always refrained from contests with the Ibibio, yet the
myth exists that the Efik were their overlords.
The Efik have come into prominence and publicity as
a result of the interest taken in them by Europeans. Thus,
in 1699 Jean Barbot took the trouble of recording a few
words of the Old Calabar language. Of the twenty odd
words that he has put down, only the following bear any
resemblance to words in use at the present time:
Yo give me as against No mi
Tata, bobop = speak " "Te, and Bup
Yang yong good and fair " "bfon-mfon (31).
Adams, writing of Old Calabar, remarks that, "Many of
the natives write English, an art first acquired by some
of the traders' sons who had visited England and which
they have had the sagacity to retain up to the present period.
They have established schools and school-masters. for the
THE EFIK DIALECT
purpose of instructing in this art the youth belonging to
I • families of consequence" (32). Robertson in 1819 points out
that, "As t\1e greater part of the male natives can read and
write English, the groundwork of civilisation is already
laid" (33). He then gives a small vocabulary of the Efik
language transcribed from a manuscript written by Eyo
Honesty, one of the chiefs of Old Calabar in the year 1812.
Most of the words are recognisable with those in current
use, e.g. .
Erboir, for Ebua = dog
Wang, for Nwan = woman
Erto, for Eto = stick
'Hecat, for Ikot = bush (34).
This good practice was maintained; for, Smith, writing of
Bon~y in 1851, remarks, "The Grand Duke Ephraim and
the principal chiefs of Old Calabar are acquainted with the
arts of reading and writing which they apply in their
business transactions" (35).
Then in 1846, on a petition from the local notables
asking for a Missionary (36), the present Church of Scotland
Mission in Calabar began. Actually the Baptist Missionaries
were first in the field. To the Efik the Baptist Missionaries
went in 1844 and resigned their stations at the request of the
Presbyterian Missionaries who came out in 1846, and with
their brethern, commenced missionary labours there (37).
A little later a second station was opened at Creektown where
the Rev. Hugh Goldie reduced to writing an Ibibio dialect,
that of Iboku (38), by translating the New Testament into it,
and by preparing a grammar and an excellent dictionary.
At Ikot Offiong was stationed Dr. Robb, who translated the
Old Testament into Efik. Goldie says of the Oku clan: "A
district in Egbo Sherry, hence some ~ay the name Iboku" (39).
This is an instance that Efik, is, if not the Iboku dialect of
Ibibio, at any rate a dialect of Ibibio. At Sierra Leone,
Koeller collected a small vocabulary which he could not
classify, and called it Anang. He mentions that he employed
an Anang and an lbibio man in collecting it (40). Owing
to the scholarship of Goldie, the Efiks enjoy a publicity
 6LD cAtAnAft
apd an importance that neitheJ their numbers nor thflir
d.i~ec,t w~rrP<Ois.
J,.I,llt865 Consul ,Burt()n .w.r9.tc, "The total number of the
E:fi.~ 9! Old C<ll.~bljlr people ~s lflid down at 60,000 but no
da.ta exist for.form~ljlg fl.\} e~.<l:ct copwutation" (41). Speaking
of ~he ~eRay 9f trib~s, p,e had previoLlsly wri~ten in 1863,
"I will il~stanGe in ~J;1e :pres~nt day ,the ~bongwe and the
F,:!i~, or Old q~I<\l;>ar r6lce,s. During the last hal~-cen1u,ry,
both have notably declined, and they are in a fair way to
become extinct, or ---t o he me.rged into other trib':!s, before
the year of grace J900" _~2). In 1894 Creel< Town Rnd Duke
Town, the Efi!(: s tron~holds, were estimated to contai n
between th,e.m only 15,000 persons (43). Talbot in his
Pef?ple~ of Sou.thern Nige.ria. giv.es the total num1;>er of Efik
ft . 2~,0')0 out of.9- total Ibibio pO'pula~ion of 9 60 ,3 11 (44).
Sjrlce ,then, il). the Calabar Provlllce, a census has been
taken, Cj:n assessment of ,the natives made and taxes collected.
The information so obtained shows that the Ibibio number
ab,o.u t 70'1,00q and of t.hese less than 30,000 are Efik. The
conclusion is that the Efik are dwindling away as Burton
suggested, but not at his rate.
. "Ibi~bio i~ the pl}rent language as the Rev. Hugh Goldie
pointed out in his dictionary (45). The Rev. Hope Waddell
said the sam.Y' "Origin : t1ly they (the Efik) dwelt in Ibibio
or ~he Egbo Shary country between the Niger and Calabar
rivers bordering on 'the great Ibo tribes" (+6). These two
assertions have,' by many people, been ignored, or else for-
(rotte n, Major B :.. verly, an intelligence ofticer, wrote in ]913.
~'The EIlk language is strict ly speaking a dialect of
Ibibio" (47). Dr. Talbot in TILe Peoples of Soutltem Nigena
has correctly stated the relative positio ns of the I bibio
Janguaoc and the Efik di alect. Thus, Mr. Thomas, who
has 'devoted much ti me to the s tudy of the Lbo a nd Edo
Ian (l'uages, classi!1cs Ibo and Ibibic~ togethe r as of one
stock called by him Ibo-Efik. Ibo-Ibibio would be better
as ;Eflk is only a'small branch of the latter (4.8). Again, in
~ralbot's tabulated lis't of languClges a nd their relationships,
Efik lSi propf,Jrly shown as a dialect of Ibibio. Sir Charles
1,.ucas w,roteto. the same effect "The Ibibio3 occupy the
THE EFJK DIALECT 37
right bank of the Cross River to Itu and the river Enyong,
including the districts of Eket, Uyo and Ileot Ekpene. An
offshoot of the Ibibios is the Efik .t ribe who occupy the
eft bank of the Cross River to beyond Itul ' (49).
Investigations into the Efik language show that this
dialect of Jbibio has become corrupt through three influences :
Firstly . As a direct result of the slaveMtrade the
language deterivruted because the Efik middlemen trading
in slaves took to their hare ms any fema le slave that pleased
thei r I LlSt. "Ki ng and all gentlemen keep plenty women;
that be good fashion" (50), was the recommendation of
Chief Boco Cobham to the Rev. Hope Waddell in 1846.
In about 1800 Mr Grant, who was living at Old Ca:labar,
recorded, "The Duke (Duke Ephraim) has above .20o'wives,
who reside each in a separate house- the whole surrounded
by a 'high mud wall, within which no one has access \~ithout
his special permission. That Duke hos several children,
but it does not appear that these chiefs in general show any
greater affection for thcir own offspring tl:an that which tl:cy
entertain for those of others (5 1). It (Ehk) largely consists
of a fusion of various tribal elements brought in by the s lave
trade (52)." A large numbel' of these slaves were lbo, with
Ekoi and Akunakuna contributing their quota. As the
children of the Efik men would be brought up by their
forei g n mothers so the purity of the ton g ue and the customs·
of the race would become seriously affected. The Rev, Hope
Waddell pointed out. "\Vh cn slave concubines have chilM
dren to their own master both mothers and children become
free" (53). Now the Efik did not enslave themselves, so
that it is obvious that the slave mothers were foreigners.
So seriously had miscegenation affected the Efik that
Daniels after visitin CT the coast remarked in his paper before
the Ethnological Sodety in 1846 as follows. "The natives
of Old alabar, although of Ibo extraction , prescnt some
physical deviations that se rve to distinguish them from the
other tribes of a similar derivation" (54), That he regarded
them as of Ibo extraction indicates the extent of the Ibo
influence among them at that time. A little later ir Harry
John ston was ilnpres~cd in a s imilar way, for he wro te,
 aLb cAtAJ~AR
"The natives of Old Calabar and the lower Cross River
belong to the Efik race in language and no doubt in origin
they are allied to the Ibos of the Niger delta. . . .
!he Efik people are now much mixed in blood' haying
Imported many slaves from the Cameroons" (55). The
Rev. Hugh Goldie remarked, "The Ibo people form a
large proportion of the inhabitants of Calabar being procured
as slaves~' (56). He also wrote, "By far the greater part
of the population is in a state of serfdom. . . . The
slaves greatly outnumber the freemen and have once and
~gain overawed the chiefs" (57). "The Ibibio people bought
Into the. country form a greater part of Calabar than any
other tf/be, the Ibo peoples ranking next in number" (58).
On the same lines Major Leonard wrote, "It has already
be~n seen that the Efik of Olp Calabar, although they
chpm descel,1t from the lbo, are most ~ndoubtedly derived
from the Ibibio" (59).
To such an extent had slaves already permeated Calabar
society when Captain John Ashley Hall, as chief mate of the
Neptune was slave-trading on the coast in 1772-1776 that he
remarked. "At Calabar and Del Rey the only people he
heard called slaves were the canoe boys: has always seen the
slaves treated there with great kindness and familiarity, so
much so as to be sometimes difficult to distinguish masters
from slaves" (60). The position was not much altered when
in 1855 the Rev. William Anderson wrote, "But there are
in fact no really free people in the country save the heads of
the Egbo grades, who are as it were the heads of the clans:
and even they are in bondage to one another. Those who
are callrd freeborn are only comparatively so. . . • .
The highest in the land must say of his privileges what
Claudius Lysias had to say of his, (Acts xxii. 28). With
a great sum obtained I this freedom. Not one of them can
say in this sense in which Paul uttered the language 'But I
was free-born.' (61)." To-day it is impossible to find an
Efik who has not in his veins some slave blood.
Again, Count de Cardi wrote of the Efiks as follows:
"The original inhabitants of the district now occupied by
the Old Calabar people were the Akpas l whom the Calabarese
THE EFIK DIALECt 39
drove out and to a great extent afterwards absorbed., This
immigration of the Calabarese is said to have taken plac;:e a
little over one hundred and fifty years ago. Originally
coming from the upper Ibibio district of the Cross River
they belong to the Efik race and speak that language though
nowadays, owing to numerous intermarriages with Cameroon
natives and the great number of slaves bought from the
Cameroon district, they are of very mixed blood" (62).
It is not generally realised what the meaning of a mixture
of stocks signifies in the purity of the stock. Two things
happen i the purity of the stock is rapidly adulterated and
the characteristics of the hybrids are composed only of t~e
factors common to the two racial traits; with the result that
.. the hybrid is generally less endowt;d than either of' tlJe
parent stocks. ,
.In a population in which two types intermingle and in
which both types occur with equal frequency Professor Franz
Boas calculated that in the fourth generation there would be
less than one person in ten thousand of pure desce~t (63). As
the Ig,bo slaves for several generations out numbered the
Efik and as there was free intercourse between the Efik slave
owners and their Igbo concubines it follows that the claim
by the Efik to be free born is without foundation. It is an
idle and illusory boast based on hope and ignorance.
The effect on the resulting stock may be Seen, from the
following argument. As a result of miscegenation between
two types, between the Efik and the Igbo, the offspring
will be. the result of the combination of genes common to
the chromosomes from the two parents. If this statement is
set forth in the style of a formula its significance becomes
more apparent.
If 'A' represents the Efik racial chromosome, its genes can be
roughly grouped as,
X = primitive and essential genes common to the
human species.
Y = ,genes common to the human species whose
habitat is the tropics.
Zm ::::I genes characteristic of the Efik tribal develop-
mente
 OLD CALAHAR
1£ 'B' represents the Igbo racial chromosome, its genes can
be roughly grouped as,
X primitive and essential genes common to the
human species.
Y genes common to the human species whose
habitat is the tropics.
Zll = genes characteristic of the Igbo tribal develop-
ment.
If now 'A' and 'B' unite and produce offspring 'e', then
owing to the method of chromosome division in the production
of a new individual, 'C' will be endowed with the factors
composed of the grour.;ings common to 'A' and 'B' i.e. of X
plus Y plus Z and not of X plus Y plus Z (111 + n). Now Z is
by hypothesis less than either Zm or Zn ; for the em' genes in
one Z have no corresponding on es to pair with in ZIl, and so
just disappear in e. Sim ilarly the "n' genes disappear
As a consequence the hybrid e must be d efi nitely infe rior to
either of his orig inal ancestors.
Mention was made in Part I of the confusion that exists
abO'ut the Ibibio tribe. Examples of this confusion have
been given, but the best instance of confusion worse con-
founded is that in the publication, The Oxf01d Survey oj
the British Empire. H ere the I bibio are cont rasted with
the Efik. The volume of Africa contains a section on Nigeria
written in 1914 by J. D. Falco ner, a Government official.
Speaking of the various native peoples he writes, "And there
are the Kwas and Ibibios between the Opobo and the Cross
River. As these are the southmost tribes in the country, so
they are also among the lowest in ty pc, the most degraded of
all being the I bibios and the fishin g folk who live a mongst
the creeks of the delta. It was these d ege nerate tribes who
first came into contact with th e European slavers a nd they
did not profit by th c interco urse. They early became the
middlem en of the slave and gin traffic, and afterwards of
the palm oil trade with the interior. With the opening up
of the hinterland their carrying trad e is generally dis-
appearin g . Their taste for liquor remains, with the result
that the preva le nt diseases of the delta al' greatly encouraged,
....
while the population has become ~tationary or is d ecreasing
THE EFIK DIALECT
in numbers. In internal organisation these tribcs hav e not
progressed further that the stage of simple Fathcr rule.
"The Negroes of the southern forests include the Efiks
and Ekois of the Cross River. The Ibos and Aros to th e east
of the Niger. etc. . .. Thesc' tribcs arc all pagan or fetish
worshippers, but of a s uperior type to the Ibibios and Niger
d elta tribes ... Th e Efiks of the Cross Rivcr have come much
in contact with Europeans, and have adoptl'd mallY Eu ro pc ~. n
customs and acquired a certain amount of European learning.
The secret societies Egbo and Idiong are Efik institutions
and combine a kind of free-masonry with trading and law
enforcing aims" (64)·
From the above it follows that the Ibibio, the pure stock,
did not profit by intercourse with Europeans. On the other
hand the Efik, their d ege nerates, are of "superior type to the
Ibibio" and by their contact with the European have so pro-
fited as to adopt European customs and a certain amount of
European learning. It is clear that this writer looks on the
Efik and the Ibibio as two distinct tribes. The Egbo and
Idiong are not Efik societies and never have bcen. Talbot
shows how the Efik acquired Egbo.
As a contrast to this laudatory acco unt of thc Efik may
be quoted the words of Ma cg rego r Laird, who, visiting Old
Calabar in 1833, reported in 1842 before a Parliamentary
com mittce. "The most uncivilised part of Africa cver I was
in was Old Calabar, where commerce has been go ing on for
the last three hundred years. The Calabar River has been
so long frequented by British vessels, that a description
of it would now be superfluous. I may remark that I was
much struck by thc extreme demoralisation and barbarism
of the inhabitants in comparison with the natives in the
interior" (65). Burton writing in 1863 held much the same
opinion. Speaking of cruelty he wrote: " As an instance,
take the Efik, or Old Calabarese . . For two hundrcd years
they have had intcrcourse with Europeans, who certainly
would not encourage these profitless horrors, yet no savages
could show such an extcnt of ferocity as the six thousand
,
wretchcd remnants of the race" (66).
A g lance at Clarke's Dialects of Africa indicates how
 OLD cAi.ABAR •
THE ltFIK btALHer 43
the Efik speech was affected by the slaves in their midst. Efik use the word "Ufok = House." Asa consequence
Clarke collected words from slaves. Now these would the Efik speak of themselves as members of such and such
remember the name of the land of their birth or that of a house, meaning that they were born in a house belonging
their slave-mothers, but would talk in the language of their to such and such a person. This statement does not imply
masters. Only in this way can be explained the perversions any necessary blood relationship.
and mixtures in the Efik words he collected from various For "Grandmother," the Efik say "Eka-eka = mother of
sources, i.e. a slave knowing he came from e.g. Akunakuna mother" whereas the Ibibio has "Ekam." In the same way,
but unable to speak his native tongue owing to the fact the words,
that though his mother could speak it, yet the language of U soburp = senior paternal male relatives,
his father, of his companions, the lingua franca of his daily Etebum = senior maternal male relatives,
life was Efik, would give Efik words and ascribe to them Eyaka = uterine brother or sister,
an Akunakuna origin. Eyeyen = child enjoying special privileges in its mother's
town though born in its father's town;
No, Langmig(l 1 3 5 7 8 9 10 -!r> are no longer heard among the Efik though in daily use
among tqe Ibibio. Again, the root of the word "-bum =
great," is 'Used, says the Rev. W. Norcross, by the Efik with
156 Efik Ket Ita Ition Waba Itieta Usuket Duub
two words only, viz. "In the language of the Etiks we find
165 Moko KaidSum Etta Ettaan Etoiba. Ettoiette Ossokeid Duup the term Abasi Ibom, that is, 'The Great God.' The
168 Moko Poh Ittaan Ittaan Samba Wama .Abu Duom immensity of this idea may be gathered to some extent from
169 Efik Kat Eta Ettae Teavah Teayta Eunan ket Doop Ajog the fact that the adjective here used 'ibom,' is used only once
172 Moko Ahoh Ala Utta Samba Tua Ubbu Duim again in the expression of one idea, namely, 'Inyang ibom,'
205 Otll.m Ket Etta Ettun Etoieba Ettainu Ettaitun Ejodu The great sea or ocean" (68). Among the Ibibio the use of
305 BskuIDum Ahoh Elalu Ettan Samba Guam Abua Diup
the word 'ubum' is common. Two instances of its use have
already been given in the blood relationship terms. Ikwa
New Calabar Ket Eta Etuen Etuebe Etneta Ananket Dop (67).
369
a
ubum, large ceremonial iron knife, and Uruabum, a day of
the week, are, further instances.
As a result of the cessation of the slave-trade this disinte- In another direction, changes that have introduced
grating influence is no longer at work, but its effects are irregularities in the formation, for instance, of nouns, may be
permanent. The absence of words in Efik that are in daily noticed here. Except for onomatopeaic words, e.g. "Kprak
use among the Ibibio has here a possible explanation. = a crackling sound,' the general rule is that Ibibio nouns
Thus, the terms used for blood relationships have, as would begin either with a vowel or else with "M" or "N." There
be expected, almost disappeared among the Efik. Among are a few exceptions but far fewer than in Efik.
the Ibibio each town or village is composed of a group or of Thus
several groups, at the head of which is the eldest member Efik Ibibio
in the group. In each group all the members are related by
blood. SlIch a group is called an Ekpuk, £.e. an extended Bion Hunger Abioi'i
family. Among the Efik, owing to the fact that a portion of Bia Yam Abia
their number are foreigners and so could not be related by But = Shame Obut
blood, the word Ekpuk has disappeared, and in its place the Fillm = Crocodile Afium or Efium.
 OLD CA Li~ 13A g
. Among- the few customs retained by the Efik the most
Important one has lost its Ibibio name and taken an Ibo
OI1C. ~l11ong the Ibibio a bride, as part of the preliminaries
to marnage, undergoes clitoridectomy and body cicatrisation.
Both these c ustoms are practised all101l <T the rbo surrOll ndillO"
th.e I~ibio, but all1~l1g .these Igbo no gr;at atten tion is paid t~
c~lt01"l.dec~0Il1Y which IS ?one shortly after birth. The body
clcatlilsatlOfI. however, IS, among the Tbo, th e important
matter and IS called "Mbubu, " and is performed on women
~s a preliminary t~ marriage (69)' Cicatrisation of th e body
IS no longer practised by the Efik but clitoridectomy is
performed as a . preliminary to marriage and as such is gi~cn,
and wrongly given, the name of "Mbobi," i.e. a modification
of the Ibo word "Mbubu," body cicatrisation. This misnomer
is probably due to the influence of the larae num ber of I b<Tbo
b
women slaves that comprised Efik society.
The most striking instance of Igbo inlluence on the
Efik is that found in the pride with whidl the Efik refer
to their town of Old Calabar as "Obio." Just as a Londoner
will refer to the gl eat metropolis as "Town" so also will an
Efik refer to Old Calabar as "Obio." He is unaware that it
is an I gbo word forced on to the Efik by Igbo slaves and that
it actually means "bush," or " bus h-people." But whereas
in Ibibio the word " ileat" may mea n, " house of : p~ople of:"
just "umu " does in I g bo or as "gidan" in Hausa, it may
a lso mea n "bush, country," and as such has as its opposite in
"I
Igbo. the word "obio."
That this statement is correct will be seen from the
following illustrations. In Igbo the word for bush bush
settlement, pla ntation, hamlet, village etc. is "ohia' ohio
ovm. . "N ow t he p h onemes represe nted by h, f, and v, 'readily,
change into that represented by the symbol "b" so that "obia"
or "obio" . is ~ natural and ~xpectcd variant. The Igbo in
the Aro ?I~trtct have much tnfluenced the Ibibio, especially
those IblblO on the banks of the Cross River. Amon o' the
Ututu cl~~ of Igbo .i~ this dis~rict are found the following
towns, OOlOnn e, ObloJoma, Oblakang, Obialoka, Obiag ulu.
Many of these towns are by th ir inhabirants stated to be
daughter settlements of Qther tQwns, t·.e. hamlets, villages
THE EFIK DIALECT '. 4S
or jJ1antation s ,~ttlements, either of towns or of persons, just
as "Ikot" is in i'J ibio . Obio in these examples may therefore
h~ tran s lated a s "hamlet of . . . " The Aro settlement of
Obiilkita pw\'icks another instan ce .ot the use of the term
"obio " a:5 a "b~tsh-settlement." This place is composed
mostly of Jbibio :jlaves belonging to the Aro and the name
Obinkita is a conte'nptuous term and really m ea ns "the hamlet
of dogs. " (An earlier name for this town was Ibibiunkita
and means "Ibib ;o dogs," Goldie says of this place, "A
name oflbibio, ot;]ers an Aro village" (70). B oth statements
are correct. Ibibiuilkita is the Aro village of Ibibio slaves).
lZogers Casement in 1894, as Consul for the Bights, marks on
hi s primati c co mpass traverse of this region, the present
town of Obinkita, as Abia Nkita.
A more conclusive instance is to be found in the name:
given to the place where the ghosts of the d ead are said to
reside. No matter where a man is born or from which tow n
he comes, when dead, his Ekpo or ghost goes to " Obio Ekpo"
whi ch is correctly interpreted as the "Country of the dead "
or the "land of the dead". Now country may be Savannah,
park land, or forest. Its m eaning will depend upon
the usual residence or the tribe. Among the Igbo and
the Ibibio their place of residence ' is in the forest and so
Obio" means for them "forest:" "bush" etc. and not
Town.
Calabar was at one time peopled largely with Igbo slaves
•
who, recalling to mind their own homes and their higher
culture would in ev itably refer to the slave settlement of
Calabar as " bush" -i.e. "obio." Calabar is known to the Ibibio
as Obio Efik, while Creektown is called Obio Oka. If now
the words Obio Efik and Obio Oko were placed among the
names of the Ututu villages already mentioned, they would
pass unnoticed as though they were of them. The equivalents
in Ibibio would be "Ile6t Efik, and lkot Oko" except that
"oko" merely mean s, "that, other." To say to a man of
Calaba r, "Moil lika ke ikCit" (1 am going to bus h, I am going
into the country) wh en speaking of Calabar, would ruffle
his feelings. Permit him to use a slave-word of foreign
extraction having the same meaning, and he is proudly

OLD CALAUAI\
content. No Ibibio will' quarrel with him for thus con~
tern ~tuously speaking of "Town."
The outside influence exerted over the Efik language
still continues. A book of Efik Folk-lore songs has been
recently written called, Ufo'll Uto 1M Eli/~, but the author,
E. N. Amaku, is not an Efik. but an Enyong from Okpo.
Othcr native languages have al so contributed their share
to the Efik vocabulary. Thu s, the use of the images called
Nabikim (71), by the Efik in the biennial purgation of the
town at the season of Ntuak Ndok is borrowed from the Bantu
Kwa; for the word Nabikim is a Kwa word. The use of the
esere bean as a trial by ordeal appears to be an importation
from the same Kwa; for its lise is not known in the greater
part of Ibibio land. The chnnns used by th e Efik to protect
themselves against black mag ic (!fat) are called by Kwa
names (Okpata and Nyom-Itim, Okpo Inon) (72). The Efik
culture is thus corrupt in m a ny directions.
With the old native customs in disuse th ere have also
lapsed all the terms that apply to them . In vain a search may
be made in Efik for,
Njama The name of a woman 's secret society.
O[on a candidate for m embership to a society.
N sok eyan the marriag c feast on the marriage of na
Adiaha, th e eldest daughter.
Uwok a woman who, though married, has not
the l)ko and is thus branded as on e who
has produced a child before wedlock. It
is a term of reproach.
Owok brass cast anklets worn by persons on
entering lnam ; also the name of the brass
anklet worn by the Mbobi , or fattened
brides.
Inam a rejuvenating ceremony and process
indulged in by persons who are a g eing.
With the old cllstoms gone, and with the loss of
the blood-relationship terms, a method has crept in among the
Efik of naming their children after the four names of their
eight day week. This practice is an Igbo one forced on the
Efik by Igbo slaves. Thus a 1Pa,le born on Ederi (a corrup-
4
TI-IE EFIK DIALECT 47
tion of the Ibibio Edet) is called Edet, while a female so born
is called Aret; a male born on Fion day is called Effiong and
a girl Affiong. A child born at night is called Okon if a
male, and Akun if a female. I-:lence one has names s uch as
Aret Okon (Edet night) which might be rendered as Miss
Saturday Night. The Efik also indul g e in nicknames, espe~
cially for their slaves where one finds persons named:
Ime patience.
Kutim Inua = don't kiss.
Onoyum = who wants.
Now, among the Ibibio, where traces are still fOllnd of a
society using age~grades, the names given to children are
not a mattel of caprice but convey a body of informaton that
immediately fixes the position of its bearer in the society.
The first-born son is called Akpan plus other names, the
younger sons, Udo plus other names. The first-born daughter
is called Adiaha plus other names; the younger daughters
Dwa plus other na mes. A child born when anyon e of the
immediate family, or a maternal or paternal relative is in Inam
for the first time receives the name Urn::> and so forth.
I bibio names are more than names; they are titles.
The same degradation process is at work in the arts and
crafts. The Efik to this day employ Igbo and others to do all
their agricultural work and any manual labour attached to
local arts and crafts. It is probably due to the extensive
use in the past of slave-labour that there is in the Efik dialect,
when compared with the parent language Ibibio, a paucity
of technical words.
In farming the following words,
Ubak = a measure of land planted with yams .
:)fUl] a piece of farming land.
Aw:)k a palm grove.
Nt::>r::>f::J growing cassava.
Dkpidut a variety of yam.
Ata Ikp::>l) a kind of coco yam.
do not exist in Efik. Under the name u bm w h ieh is an
I o·bo word for one variety of plantain, the Efik lum p the follow-
i~g varieties whose Ibibio names are g: iven h ere-mbrienY:)l),
::>rut osuk, akpakpak, and eba eba. For it variety of ba!li-wa
 OLD CALABAR
which the Ibibio call "mburu" the Efik have no word but
use "mburu" as a term for a ripe plantain. The Ibibio, in
addition to the above list ot names, have the following
names for varieties of banana, nda itiat iburtll), and eturuk,
none of which is used by the E111.. This instance is a
striking one of the paucity of words in the Efik language.
Again, the Ibibio native week cons ists of eight days with
eight different names, but the Efik have no word for a week
and employ the word "urua" which also means market, price,
cost, value. The parent language llses the word "odut" for
a week and keeps "urua" for market, cost, etc. Though a:1
eight day week exists among the Efik, there are names for
only fOllr days as amongst the Ibo; the remaining four are a
rep e ti tion of the other with the word" Ekpri" meani 11 g "1 ittle, "
placed in front, e.g. Edet and Ekpri Edet, wllereas the Ibibio
has eight distinct names for the eight days of his week (n).
If an Efik were suddenly asked: "\;Vhat day of the week is to
day?" he would in most cases reply that he did not know or
else suggest an English day of the week. Ask an Ibibio and
he will instantly tell what native clay of the week it is.
I n other walks of life the same pallcity of techn ical words
is apparent. The Efik have no word for mirror, and meet the
situation with the compound word, "ukut isu ,,,'secing face,"
whilst the parent tongue has the word "umJnJ". Por the
following lbibio words no equivalent Efik ones exist:
l\1falJ = a demijohn
Isiye = a native bag of woven raffia
lkpot = a native doctor's skin medicine bag
Udion = a native razor
Ediuk = a hearth stone
Assasi.! = a francolin
Dkune = a native made cloth
Iba = a piece of braid worn by widows while
mourntng.
Ise = a filter for palm wine
MbbJ = a sardine like fish dried and sold on a
small rack.
The preceding examples are not exhaustive and are only
an indication of an actual condition. Thus, in general it is
THE EFIK DIALECT" 4·9
p'rce ived that Efik is far poorer in its vocabulary than Ibibio.
The fate that ov rtook the original lan g uage at Bonny has
' bee n at work in Calabar. 1 he mother tongue was first
corrupted by the language of slaves and would thereafter be
displaced by that of the slaves. This displacement of tbe
parent tongue by the slaves' lan gu age ha s actually occurred
elsewhere. Northcote Thomas in hi s book Specimens of
Langllal/e from Southern Nige1'1'a wri tes in the preface, "I bo
is now spoken at Bonny and it appears to be the prevailing
language a t Opobo, but IjQ is the original tongue of both
places" (74). The Efik dialect like the IjQ was tending to
become another dialect of lbo.
Second c01-rwjJti71,g' t'11fluence. The next adverse influence
~fL;cti!lg the: put';ty , ol !lie Efil( dialect, already damaged.
by the slave trade, is that to-day it is the commercialhngua
franca along the banks of tl1e Cross Ri\'er. "It is the trading
language oLdl the marke ts up to the Aro country," (75), writes
the Rev. 'iV. J. \"lard in his book 171 and Around the ()ron '
Country. The dialectissuflering degradation in the mouths
of foreign native users. That this in fluenc e is fairly recent
and is still at work will be seen from the following extracts.
III 1842 Consul Beecroft in his journey of exploration up
the Cross River found that after passing Ikom, Efik was of
no use and there had to negotiate for a new interpreter (76).
The Rev. H. Goldie states that "the Efiks rroceed no further
up the (Cross) river than Bosun, nor would they be permitted
by the Bosun people who command the river in this
region" (77). This region is about twenty miles above Itu
or say, seventy miles above Calabar. Mr Luke ill his book,
Poineering in J}fary Stessor's Country, found when on the
Cross River in 1890 that Efik was useless be\'ond the town
of Ululemo (78) which is by water about 16.~ miles up river
from Calabar but only about half that di,;ta nce as the crow
flies. In 1884 Goldie exploring the Cross River found that
after Ileat Ana, Efik was of little use and he had to employ
an inter'preter (79).
The above quotations ~how that the En.k influence was
until very recently, conEnc:d to about fifty miles of the Cross
""I River only, and confirmation is gi\'l:n by al) Erik proverb

OLD CALAI3AR
'which runs "Asan os irn Itu ye Ukwa" = It reaches to Itl!
alld Ukwa, 'i.e. ,that it has reach ed the uttermost p a rts,
meaning that these two places b oth on th e Cros s River,
marked the boundari es of the known wo rld fo r the Efik , (80).
T o-day, under the protectio n of British rule, E fi k has
spread a g ood deal further up the Cross Rive r. Dr. Ivlan sfield
in his book, Ur,x){ild Dokumente, states that s mall-pox was
introduced 'into th e Osidinge ~!istri c t by Efik trad ers in
r893 (81), It is amu s ing to no te that so far w as Eflk fro m be-
coming ~ lingua franca that w hen ado pted by th e Oko yon g
tribe the lan g uage was reco rded as a dialect of Ell.lc (K2 ) ; yet
th e Okoyong have their own distin ct languag e of whi ch a
small voca bulary a nd some phrases w ere publis h ed by
Mi ss Am es. In Goldie's tim e the lan g uage s poken by the
Okoyofi \vas called Adadop (83).
The Rev. Hugh Goldie was w ell aware of the defective-
ness of Efik ; for in his grammar, when dealing with the verb,
he writes: Sec. 2. Inflection para. 3.
"The following is a paradigm of the Ibibio verb, which
dou btless presents to us the. o riginal fo rm of the Efik verb;
and it is interesting to note the change which it has
und ergone" (84). The defects from which the Efik to ngue
suffered as a result of thi s dialect becoming a comm e rcial
ling ua fran ca whereby words lost their precision of m ea ning
and purity of-dicti o n, and whereby the techni cal terminology
'of their religious ceremonies, rituals and beliefs b ecame
confused, un certain and degra ded, is reflected in the following
religious key words. ' or title of "ntinya" which word can be shown, though it is
Mbet = Disciples.
Obong = Lord. Udia Obong Communion, Mass,
The Lord's supper.
Ubong = ' Glory.
Ukpong = Soul.
to merition but four. If the word 'Mbet' is from the root 'bet'
to wait, to wait for, it can hardly mean "di sc iples". More
especially is this seen to be th e case when it is remembered
that the name "ebet" from this same root, is applied to a
small antelope which is considered to be extremely sluggish
and is therefore correctly called "ebel" or the sluggard. If
..,
•
TH E E]~IK DIALECT 5i
" Mbet" is from th e root 'be t' m ea ning 'ta bu ' , prohibited,
fo rbidden, th eh the word cannot m e'a n 'disci p les'. The p'lgan
o utlook in this root is di s played in the te rm 'lJkp::> -ibet'
m eaning' 'tl,ings ' for bidden,' used of foods that are ta bu to
ce rtain individual s ac('ordin~(to th e ir name s o r profess ions.
A bette r wo rd for 'd i sciples is 'mboil ' which will be shown to
m ea n 1'ho se \\rho are called. '
It would seem t hat the European has co ined two words
for ~ISt: in the Efik la ng ua ge , from the two to na l roots of'bet'.
Th e firs t \vo rd has alrea:,iy b ee n discu ssed und er the m ea rli:ig
idiscipies' .• The s econd word 'mbet' is used by the European
to mean " Ja\v. d ec ree, statute, ordinance, proclamation,"
whereas th e correct word is " iwuk" o r "is::> I) " . S eve ral Ibibio
have stated that the word 'mbet' meaning, a la w is dl1 e to the
European. One m a n 'explained the matter thlls.
" I was arrested by a cons table, I said, 'V h y, what have
I don e ?"
"You have broken the mbet, said the constable."
" 'Vhat, m e ? I exclaimed, what food have I eaten that IS
fo rbidde n, what fo rbidden thing h a ve I s wallow ed ? "
" You are a rrested [o r murd e r', said th e constable."
" O h, I s ee, for is::> l)'' (law of the bnd).
To unde rstand the significan ce of the re mainin g thre e
w o rd s and thei r s etting in 1 bibio re li g ion, it is necessa ry t o
realise that their cul t ure is based on sun-wo rs hip, III other
\';'o rds, th e lbibio h a,'e pers o ns 'of th e type kno w l1 a s " divine-
kings'," Su ch me n in their c ulture are d esi g na ted by th e ~ank
too long an argum e nt to be d eveloped here, to be composed of
the two roots 'utin ' = sun and 'ainya' ( Ibibio) en y in = eye.
Such a nam e to d e note the highest rank in a culture based on
sun-worship is in kee ping with beings whose ceremonies and
rituals to attain to this rank are th o se that charac te rise it
"divine-kin g ." This digress ion over "nlinya " is necessary
in order to unders tand th e terms "ubong" and "obong"
which are linkc'd to it. Th e root from which these two terms
. derive, a s will be shown when their si g nifican ce is expJained,
appears to be the word 'bong," meaning the sound of the
human voic:e thur"
 OLD CALABAR
~lbolJ IJlqD "'" a rioting, a · c1amour, a tumult, a dis~
turbance, much shouting and noise of
of the human voice.
B:>IJ akam To shout one's thanks, to pray.
B:lI) To shout at (a person).
Before a m a ll tak es up the title of "ntinya" he must have a
nit. The high-god s and his ancestors must call him to take
U.p the office. The call is made manifest in many ways.
The nun (the c:dl C:lnnot come to women) may dream that
h e h '~a rs himself called, or while awake he hears voices calling
him to tak~ up the post. The right of being thus called is
re~; tricted to what, for brevity, may be called' the royal
families. In confirmJ.tion of the call, disasters may ove rtake
th e m.ln if he is dilatory in responding, or else ''londers
may attend him in his goings out and his comings in.
This 'call' is ter med by the lbibio 'ubol)' and has been
described by some as 'the m yste l ious urge ' that forces a man
Up .Hl the p ~tth which by m ~ll1y c~remonial steps and much
ritll a l, culminates ill the coronation by the slring cap. This
cap is emblematic of the rank of "ntinya."
To be thus selected, to be thus called, makes a man
famous; his name is proclaimed abroad. I3y "bonging" (to
anglicise the Ibibio wore!) is his might and majesty
procb im ed around. From this sense, the word "ubong" has
obtainf'd the secondary or derived mea ning of "glory". But
"glory" does not mean to the Ibibio "light, effulgence,
brilliance," "And glory shone around ." It means, fame and
loud acclaim, just as glory originally meant "praise."
'Vhen once a man has received the call, "ubona)l he
proceeds to go throu g h the riwal and 'ceremony that leads "" to
the exalted rank of Ntinya. Such men as do proceed and
finish, are known collectively as "mbol]" (sin g u!~r, ":lbOlJ"),
i.e. ,the called, the chosen, the selected. It follows that
"mbol)" is nearer the Christian conception of discipl es than
the word ·'mbet." Jbol) has by custom of courtesy lost much
of its significance, just as the u~e of "sir" in English has, and
is applied to any man of imparlance, but it does not mean
"Lord" and "udia Obotlg," ('.vhere udia=food) for the
Lord's supper, or COmm\.lqioJ1! or mass, j~ really a tragedy.
'THE EFIK . DIALECT 53
The word. "ukpolJ" is related to the worship of the sun.
This term means in Ibibio.three things. Firstly, the human
animal.-affinity whose death causes its hum a n counterpart
also to die. Secondly, it means th e human shadow as cast
by the sun. The shadow of other things such as trees etc.
goes by a different name and is then best translated as,
shade. Thirdly it means the human vital-~park, the
biological life, the physical existen ce, the "bios." This
spark is derived from the sun and when an Ibibio dies, his
"ukpoIJ" returns to the sll.n. It may co me back to earth
to animate several people at once, but this " ukpolJ" is not
the individual as known to his fellows. His alter eo'o, ;:" his
immortal personality, that essence of him which survives
.. physical dea th, which is the man's self in the hereafter, and
which, returning in ghostly form, would be known to his
relatives and associates, is called "ekpo". This "ekpo"
never returns in the flesh. The soul, therefore, as the
surviving personality, is more nearly rendered by the word
"ekpo" than by the term "Ukp01J."
Agai n, serious mistakes have been made as a resul t of
confusing two ideas in the Efik word "Elm." Thi s word
has two roots. One means "mother" and the other is from
a root whi ch gives it the meaning of "great." As a co nse-
quence of this confusion, a numbe r of words in Goldie's
dictionary are wrongly -interpreted. It is necesary to clear
up the distinctions in the use of this word "eka." Thus
among th e Ibibio, "iko = trouble," but "elm iko" cloes not
mean "the mother of trouble" but' 'a great trouble"; so also
"ndik=fear" but "eka ndik" does not mean "the mother
of fear" but "a great fear, a terror." In the same way' 'eka
abut" do es not mean "the mother of the hills" but "a large
hil!." Another good illustration occours in the expression
"e~a inyang." The root "Nya" meaning "\vater" and
hence "a large river, lake, or the sea" is widely spread in
Africa, as witness, lake Victoria Nyanza, lake Nyansa. In
Ibibio, "I nyang" means "a large river, " and the sea is called
"Inyang Abasi" or "the water (river) of God." Another
Ibibio expression for the sea is "Eka Inyang" which does
not mean "the Mother of Springs," but "The great water."
 QLD CALABAR THE EFIK DIALECT • 55

This same root "eka" occurs in the following words, "akamba It is conceivable that, had investi gatio ns into the
meaning and use of these five words been co nducted among
owo =an important person; akwa awo=a great man: akan::::
the Ibibio, instead of among the Efik, these present errors
superiority, greatness." This last word gives the reot from
of use and translation would not have been made.
which "eka = great" is derived.
TH I RD L Y' The last influence that is playing havoc with
. There is a Sudanic root which appears in the Igbo verb
"eka," and in its Ibibi.o form as "kan"; this root mean.s ,to the langu~ is due to the presence of the European. This,
excel. to surpass, to exceed, to be sup rior to, to be greate r influence is acting concurrently in two ways,
than, to be great" dr. ekp ri = to be small. The most flagrant (a) by introducing English into Efik.
misuse of this term "eka" occurs in the expression "Eka (b) by modifying the pronunciation of Efik.
Abasi" which means literally "The Great God. the main God. (a) \Vith the introduction of electrk light, water-works,
the chief God. God Almighty" but has been translated as "the motor transport, and so forth, the acquisition of Eno'lish
mether of God" to the amazement and resigned acceptance , ords is proceeding rapidly. As examp les of English
of the I bibio . . On this erroneous translation, backed by words introduced into the EJik dialect. the following list is
present European prac~ice and precept, the idea is being given:
circulated among the Ibibio that there is a Mother of Gael. Amik for
Thus Talbot writes- Ankisi
"In that ancient tribe, the Ibibio, there are trac~s of Ansin "
an old belief in a great goddess, Eka Abasi, . Abranken "
Mother of God: by Her OWI1 might, she bore Babru "
Bhibe "
Abasi Obuma, the Thunderer, who later, like the "
Sumerian Tammu7., became her spouse and the Bin
Bensin
"
"lIpremc .deity in their Olympus" (R5).
What has happened is that the" Eka" in "Eka Abasi " Bitrasi "
Edisi "
became confused with "Eka"meaning. "mother" and to~day "
"Eka Abasi" is reg arded as God in·femal e form. As a foil Etombit
Kiap "
to this concept, the term "Ete Aba,si" or "God the father" "
was invented. So that to-day ';E~a Abasi" and "Ete Abasi j , Kumin
are not regarded by the Ibibio as the mother and father of Moto "
"
God (Abasi) but as "God, the mother" and "God, the
father" (86). It can be seen, however, that, originally, it
was not so, and that Eka Abasi .was "God Almighty." As
such he had many "Godlings," or god-messengers, i.e.
heralds, uncleI' him. Among such heralds may be mentioned,
"A basi .c dem elm" or "the herald on tl,le mother's side:"
"A basi edem Ete", or "the herald on the father's side ;"
"A basi ada usung" or "the keeper of the way (of li fe)" :
"Abasi Obot," or "the herald of creation":· "Abasi Obllma ,"
or "the herald of the thunder i" lightning is called
,. Ekepkep ." >. .
' .-..
 56 OLD CALABA IZ il-IE EFIK biALECi'~ 57
corruption of Native names Cobham, I fancy, The House System and alI that went with it, has, and
was a mispronounced and misspelled name, and Asibon .,. had no counterpart iIi the indigenous native social organi-
was rendered Archibong by the traders" (87). The corrupt sation. Among the Ibibio, the parent stock of the Efik,
form of Nsa (Henshaw), of Orole (Duke) and of EffiolIl Goldie wrote concerning slavery. "Singular to say, there
(Ephraim) were in use before 1800, for these are mentioned is no slavery amongst them, any stranger bought as a sla.ve
in the IVlemoirs of Captain Hugh Crnw (88). These names being ae!0t'ted into the family purchasing him; but this
are to-day the proud possession of the so-called free L)()rI1 privilege would appear to be something merely nominal, for
Efiks; thus they sell, not only strangers, but each other, on the merest
the Eyamba ekpu1c has become the Iron Ibr hO'lse pretexts" (89). Though they sold human beings thf~y die!
" Orok "" " "Duke house. not keep them as slaves and the status of slavery appears
" N'sa "" ,. ,,11enshaw house never to have existed among the Ibibio.
"Akabom "" " "Cobham hOllse The House System \Va~ a direct product of, and response
" Effiom " Ephraim house to, the European slave tracle. This fact is overlooked by the
'J Oleun
" " " " Hogan house Secretary, Southern .Provinces in his Annexure to the Report
" " " " Archibong house on the Aba Commission of Enquiry, where the term
" Asi bo]) "" "
and so on. Among these names, that of Effiom has a "House Rule" is described as originating from the results
suspiciously Igbo sound. of co-operative tradiQg.
This anglicising of native nilmes, coupled with the loss The following extract gives a brief summary of a I-louse
of names current among the Ibibio, and the use of the four prior to the HOllse Rule Ordinance.
days of the week as personal names, which is an 19bo "In particular, it (The Repeal of the House Rule
practice, has received an impetus and an encouragement Ordinance) put an ene! to House Rule, a unique
from the missions. On being baptised into the Church, organisation which had grown up on the coastal
many assume Christian names. As a consequnce, sllch belt and which was in its Ol'igin a co-operati"e
combinations of names, given below, are now found: trading concern, cOlltroliing the trade between the
Elijah Henshaw III, interior and the European firms. The House Rule
Emanuel Archibong, Ordinance was repealed, owing to the protection it
Willidm Duke. afforded to the restrictions ofliberty, held to approxi-
whereas Akpan U nn mate to slave-dealing transactions, by which the
Dd::> IdiolJ Ntuk Idem house recruiteJ its members and extended its
Akpan Akpakpan business; but the Repeal dealt a severe blow to the
are found as current Ibibio names. authority of the holden, of Houses" (90).
The use of the term "House" (i.e. Ufok) among the S0 far as the "Houses" of Calabar and of Gpobo are
Efik, throws an interesting light upon the origins and concerned, they were definitely slave institutions and slave
growth of Efik families. The term "House", as usee! among strongholds, whose origin lay in the slave trade, and not in
the Efik, and along the coast genera lly, is a Europea n term any scheme of co-operative trading.
and a descriptive one at that. "The House Sys te m" or The statement that the "I-louse System" and "Rule"
"House Rule" though not as old as, e.g. the "I-I Oll se of grew up on the coastal belt is by no means the full picture.
Rimon", has each the same origin, Both were based upon, The "House System" is found only where European slave
and supported by, slavery. markets existed, and this fact gives the clue to the foundation
 OLD CALABAR
and structure of a "House". Thus, at Creek Town, which
was an early European slave-trading centre, and again at
Calabar, Houses are found, but beyond the water westward,
all the right bank of the Cross River when ce the people of
Creek Town and of Calabar originated, no "Houses" are
found, for no slave markets were establi shed there. At
Opobo Houses exist, but on the mainland, ea~t of Opobo
among the Ibibio, or north among the Ogoni, [w "Housf:cs"
are found, for no slave markets were established among
these peoples. At Bonny, where one of the largest
Eur;'pean slave markets existed, "Houses" flourished, but,
among the surrounding Andoni, on whose land Bonny was
established, there are no "Houses", for these people did not
. in recent times have slave markets for the European slave-
trade. In this wise, originated the "Houses" of the coastal
belt.
An interesting geographical feature comes to the fore,
if the sites of these "House settl ements" are examined.
AlI the sites are in the nature of potential, if not actual,
islands. Both Bonny and Opobo are definitely islands.
Calabar and Creek Town are on peninsulas, with the fourth
side bounded by dense and formerly, trackless primeval
forest. H ence a slave, once located on these two settlements,
found it difficult to escape. The prison-like nature of these
settlements now becomes apparent, and is enhanced by an
examination of the layout of such a "House ," It was that
of thc old slave barracoon or prison - a large rectangular
squarc, enclosed by high walls, with but a single entrance,
and that entrance always guarded. The gate-house or
entrance as a first essential was supplied with a' room for
the guard. Inside this square, and lining the walls, were
the cells or rooms in which the slaves were kept or stored
until a slave vessel arrived. With but slight modifications,
the present "Houses", or compounds of such "Houses", are
so built. As instances of such edifices, may be mentioned
the present dwellings of Adam Ephraim Duke of CaJabar,
and of the Jaja House at Opobo.
It is clear that the authority of the Head of a House was
not based on Native law and custom, but on the principle
.'
I
59
that 'might is riggt'. Native law and custom vanished.
Marriage ceremonies and rites ceased to be performed
between the sexes. who were just mated off at the whim of
the Head of the House.
These "Houses" were called into existence by the trade
of the Europeans, and any sllccesful native trader built his
own "House." That the Europeans should also end the
iniquitous reign of the Houses, and destroy their terror by
the repeal of the House Rule Ordinance, may be regarded
as an adjustment in the sphere of equity, and can afford no
occasion for regret. .
This "House Rul e system" had begun to crack and
break up long before the Native House Rule Ordinance No.
15 of 1914 put an end to it, for the Rev. H. Goldie twenty
years earlier, wrote. "The state of society, now changing,
is patriarchal. The power of the head of a family is in
this system absolute, in all things civil and sacred. He
officiates as priest. presenting the worship of the household
to Ekpo, the spirit of their ancestors" (91).
(b) The modiflcation in the pronunciation of Efik is
due to the European who, as a rule, finds great difficulty
in dealing with con;wnant sounds not found in Europe All
advanced work in local schools is under European s upervi-
sian; a great deal of preaching and religious instruction is
conducted by Europeans. The native instinctively imitates
the faulty pronunciation, a~ an inferior will always follow
his superior. The resul t has been to create a local intelli.
gensia that is adopting the European pronunciation as
being correct, an accomplishment that distinguishes them
from their "bush" brothers. Thus, in those sounds which
the European finds difficult to reproduce, and so employs a
substitute, the Efik is foIlowing European practice. The
compound implosive "kp", unknown in Europe, creates a
difficulty which few surmount, and in its place a "p" is
substituted. This process has gone so far in the word
"ekpime-a bottle" that it is generaIly heard as "epime."
The word "kpukpru-all" is . pronounced by the average
European as something nearer "prupru." In fact, (92)
when Efik was first reduced to writing, this word was written
 60 OLD cALABAit
as "pupru". (See also page 307. Goldie's Dictionary,
under, absolute). Later, when it was discovered that no
words began with a "p," it was then written as "kpupru"
and finally as "kpukpru", the pronunciation found among
the Ibibio. Again, the old Efik word "kpebe-to teach" is
to-day shortened into "kpep" with a probable rise in tone.
The European influence on the language is resulting in
the labia-velar consonants being softened into "p" and "b."
Another sound that is carelessly used is the "mb"
sound, especially is this laxity discernible in the word for
"rulers," and by implication, "European." From the root
"kara-to rule, to be master of, to encircle," is derived a
noun whose plural would appear to be formed on Bantu
lines by the addition of "mb," and rulers are therefore called
"mbakara", as the Ibibio still says. The European elides
the lib" and says "makara" and the Efik follow,,> suit.
A form of this word, which retains the "bl! but where
the initial "m" and an "a" have been dropped, still survives
in the West Indies, which were peopled with the slav('s
from the Cross river, t".e. the Moko or Agbishcrea. There,
Europeans are to this day called .. Bukra," and any slave
who played the bully and the tyrant, and gave himself airs
was called a "Bukra nigger" i.e. a native who behaved as
though he were, too, "Mbakara, or ruler, or whiteman."
As a matter of passing interest, two more Ibibiu words
have persisted, and are used to-da.y in the States and West
Indies. One of the words is "Obeah," which is a corruption
of the I bibio word "Abia," as . meaning an "expert," or one
skilled in something. As it ' is" usually an "Abia Ibok"
. (one skilled in medicine) that is called in for illness,
and as illness is usually ascribed to magic, the word "Abia"
has eome to be used by itself for one practising mag-ie,
and in this sense is thus used across the Atlantic. The
other word is "Offay" for a white or light skinned person.
This word is the lbibio "Afia'" which means the same
thing. Of these three words, Bukra and Obeah appear III
the great Oxford Dictionary.
Though the European clips and elides the sounds in
some words, he attempts to even up matters 'byaugmenting
THE EFIK DIALECf 61
the number of syllables in others. This augmentation is
due to the faulty orthography employed in writing Efik
rather than to any difficulties of pronunciation, and occurs
when the plain vO\yels e, <1, 0, aSSLlme, as it were, an initial
"w" sound. These sounds call be adequately represented
by writing a "w" before the vowel. I n the Efik language,
as written to-day, th e prt:sel1ce of a "u" before another vowel
is an attempt to inl1ucnce that vowel into being sounded as
though a "\v" preceedtd it. The unfortunate European
notes that Goldie wrote, "In the spelling of syllables and
words, there are no silent letters, npr are letters employed in
any way redundantly," (93) and accordingly treats this "u"
as a separ:tte vowel. He therefore sounds it where it docs
not exist. Thus of "Ibuo~-head," and of "ebua-dog," the
European makes three syllables where the Ibibio and mllny
Efik make only two. The European would get nearer to the
correct pronunciation, if the words were written "ibwot"
and "ebwa". In fact, chief Eyo Honesty, when he compiled
n. small vocabulary in 1812 of the Efik language, wrote the
word for dog as "erboir" (94) which is nearer the correct
pronunciation than "cbua". Goldie in his dictionary gives
this variant ebwa. The word "okure - it finishes", is to-day,
by most Efik, pronounced as written, but so pronounced, it
means a backyard. Among the Ibibio, the correct pronun-
ciation is retained, and is represented by writing the word
as "okwere."
Although traces of the use of a pictographic script have
been recorded along the banks of the Cross river, and though
such a script is known by a few Ibibio, no form of writing
exists among them to-day. The word "nsibidi" is used
when reference is made to this pictographic script; yet the
word is almost unknown to the great majority of the Ibibio
and would appear to be a rationalisation of the Aro-Chuku
word "nsigidi," which means, as far as I can discover, a
secret sig:l. In Efik, the word is derived from the root
"sibi, to cut." Specimens of this (lnsibidi" may be seen
in appendix "G" of Talbot's book, "In the Shadow of the
Bush" (95).
Of the Ibibio language, Sir Harry Johnston wrote.
 OLD CALABAR
"The Ibibio dialects are spoken 011 the opposite or west side
of the Cross River estuary, up to the Kwa~Ibo river" (96 ).
This statement is not the whole truth. The Kwa~Ibo river,
for about sixty miles before it reaches the sea, runs through
the heart of the Ibibio speaking people, whose boundary in
the west is the I mo river, and on the east, the Cross River.
. Robertson, writing in r8r9, gave a more accurate
description of the boundaries of the Ibibio territory. "The
kingdom of Qua is bounded on the west by that branch of
the Banee river called Saint Anthony, on the south by the
Atlantic .Ocean, on the east by Rio del Rey, and on the
north by Acricok Old Calabar is the principal
to\... n" (9i). These boundaries of the Kwa, alias Ibibio,
as given by Robertson, actually include the Andoni tribe
who are closely akin to the Ibibio, and would, it seems, be
the original stock from which the Ibibio, by a superimposed
Bantu invasion, have developed.
The Efik dialect has now been discussed, and attention
must be focussed on lbibio as the parent language of the
Efik, while, at the same time, it must be recollected that
Andoni is probably the parent language of the Ibibio, and
that both are Sudanic in origin. The Sudanic origin of the
Ibibio will be clearly shown in this next section.
.' .
PART III
LINGUISTICS .
THE earliest attempt to classify the Ibibio language was
made in r854 by Dr. Baikie, who wrute, "All the coast
dialects from One to Old Kalabar, are, either directly or
indirectly, connected with Igbo, which later Dr. Latham
informs me is certainly related to the Kafir class" (1). In
other word.~ Ibibio is here ranked as Bantu. which is a
recent name for peoples who were earlier described as Kafir.
The next attempt at classifying Ibibio was made by Sir
Harry Johnston who coined a special and rather unfortunate
term, Semi-Bantu, for the Ibibio and other languages. It
will be shown that even this classification is faulty. The
Rev. Hugh Goldie had also made tentative suggestions as
to the philological affinities of Efik. He drew attention to
the similarity between Etik and the Semitic languages
(2), and also to its similarity with the Syrio-Arabic (3) and
the Hebrew languages (4). On such analogies Miss
';Verner has a few comments to make. "The truth is-at
any rate until quite recently- the classics h::J.ve been the
only subject taught in OUI' schools and universities which
provided a thorough grounding in the principles of compa-
rative philology. Neither Latin nor Greek will, by itself,
throw any li ght on the structure of, say, Zulu or Ganda-
nor, for that matter (except for its greater approximation in
some points, to primitive characteristics,) will Hebrew" (5).
As yet, since it is not agreed into which of two large
groups the Ibibio language falls, it is hoped that the
information herein contained will decide the issue finally.
To show the uncertainty held over the origin of the
Ibibio language, the following OPl11l0flS should be
compared. Sir Harry Johnston classifies Ibibio as Semi-
Bantu (6). N orthcote Thomas c1assififs it with Igbo as
Sudanic (7). Miss ';Verner in her book, "Tile Language
 OLD CALABAR
Families of Afn'ca (192$, ") calls Ibibio, in the middle of
the book, Sudan ian (8) and in the appendex, Semi-Bantu (9).
Talbot writes. "JMbio Group: The most important of
aU the Semi-Bantu languages, from the point of view of the
number of the people speaking it, is Ibibio. As stated
previously, Mr. N. W. Thomas classifies it with Ibo as
Sudanic, but Johnston's attribution of it to the Semi-Bantu
group would appear to be more correct" (10).
An impression is gained that the term Semi-Bantu is
applied to languages of Sudanic origin showing Bantu
infhlence, as witness Miss "Verner's method of classifying
Ibibio and Mr. N. W. Thomas's criticism which is, ('If,
\.tlld\!l· Semi-Bantu, are included both $udaniQ tongues
influenced by Bantu, Sudanic tongues influenced by Semi ...
Bantu, Bantu tongues degraded by association with
non-prefix languages, and Sem.i-Bantu proper, that must
be of ancient origin, the advantage of this grouping
is not , obvious; at any rate, a good deal of subdivision
is necessary" (I I).
As Sir Harry Johnston coined the term Semi-Bantu,
([2) it would be as well to ascertain what he meant by it.
It is not quite clear what he means by Bantu or Semi-Bantu,
for he says, "So far as linguistic evidence goes, the ancestors
of the Bantu dwelt in some region like the Bahr-al-Ghazal,
not far from the Mountain Nile on the east, from Kordofan
on the north, or the Benue and Chad basins on the west" (I.1).
This opinion was expressed in 1913. Later on, he
wrote, "AlI,we have any right to surmise is, that the Bantu
and Semi-Bantu languages were created by the impact on
the Negroes of the central Sudan of a Mediterranean race
speaking a language which preceeded the advance of the
Aryan, Hamitic, or Semitic tongues" (14)'
He next states that, "There are, however, many families
of Sudanic languages which seem to have inherited Bantu
or Semi-Bantu traits, though they lie outside the limitations
and definitions of both families" (IS). Why they should
lie outside the definitions of Bantu or Semi-Bantu when he
states that both Bantu and Semi-Bantu are of Sudanic
origin, and that these Sudanic languages have inherited
LtN'Guis'hcs
,Bantu traits, is not clear. It is quite clear that his interests
were centred upon the group of Afric.an lanCTuages called
Bantu. Hence a language that showed some Bantu
characteristics, but cou·ld not be classed as a pure Bantu
language, was called by him, ·Semi-Bantu. In view of the
fact that Bantu itself is admittedly of Sudanic origin, the
so-called Semi-Bantu language would be more appropriately
called, Semi-Sudanic (16).
This statement implies pre-Hamitic origin for Ba'ntu.
However, A. C. Hadden has a different opinion. He
writes: "The B'lntu speaking peoples are a mixture of
Negroes with Hamites, and, in places, with other aboriginal
peoples (17), ...... " ... A lJranch of the Negro stock blended
with proto-Hamites in what is now Uganda and British
East Africa, giving rise to the Bantu-speaking peoples,
with some admixture of l\'e CT rillo or Bushman elements"(18),
Deniker has an origin for the Bantu, different from
either of these two. He writes: "The Negro populations
driven back towards the south were oblj<Ted to inte rmingle
with the Neg-rillo pygmlcs, the Ethiopean, and Hottcntot-
Bushmen, and gave birth to the Negro tribes composing
today the great linguistic family called Bantu." (19). )f the
origin of the Bantu is still in cloubt, it is little wonder that
confusion exists when the term Semi-Bantu is employed.
To return to Mr. Talbot and his remarks about the
Ibibio. With this language, he groups Mboli, Ogoni and
. ~ndoni, thus, "The inclusion of Mboli and, to a less
~xtent, that of Ogoni, languages spoken by two very
isolated and distinctive tribes on the Western bordcrs, as
within the Ibibio stock, is proposed only tentatively, and
the former is chiefly included because of its kinship with
'Ogoni" (20).
Now the
, Oiloni is divided into four clans or baroups ,
~
known by the respective names of: Kana, Gokana, Tie
and Mboli. The Kana and Tie have one commoll dialect.
and the Gokana anti 1\'l boli have another common dialect.
In other words, there are two dialects of Ogoni. There is
no resemblance whatever between the Ogoni and Iblbio
langllages other than that they both appear to belong to the
Sudan ian family. ~
 )

OLD CALAi3AR LtNGUISTics

Mr. Talbot continues: "The connection of Ibibio with in both Andoni and Ibibio, are called Ugut (A), and
these aberrant sections is shown in Table NO.5. Ukut (I).
It is my belief that the Andoni were the original stock
TABLE NO.5.
from which the Ibibio tribe was derived, and the suggestion
The Ibibio Language. Its connection with certain sections. is here put forward, that the present Ibibio language is the
result of a Bantu invasion of Andoni territory, in fairly
Language Dialects Branch I Of the' . Olosely Moderately recent times, and that the Andoni men on the mainland
same stock connected connected. were killed off, and their women taken as the wives of the
Bantu invaders, whose culture is in general patrilineal. In
Ibibio - Andoni Ogoni - Mboli the creeks and on the delta islands, part of the original
(proper) Andoni race escaped the effects of the Bantu raiders, and
Kwa persist there today as the direct descendants of the original
Andoni, and so has preserved the matrilineal features. In
Mboli - Ogoni - - Ibibio other words, it is here suggested that the Ibibio language
is Sudanic at base, with a Bantu invasion influence
Andoni - Ibibio Ogoni superimposed.
This view was adumbrated by Sir Harry Johnston; for
Ogoni - Mboli Andoni he wrote: "Moreover, it is not suggested that the Semi~
Bantu was the first human speech to colonise West Africa .;
Ibibio
it must have been preceded by innumerable other forms of
.......................... Ibeno was probably Andoni originally, human utterance through thousands and thousands of years,
but has now adopted a large number of words from the and Some of these pre-Bantu types of speech probably still
adjacent Eket and Aka Ibibio" (21). This table contains survive. Such may be the monosyllabic languages of
a number of errors. There is no dialect of Ibibio called Southern Nigeria and Dahome. Evidently these once
Kwa. Kwa is the Umani (Bunny) name for the Ibibio, just extended over a wider area, and have greatly affected the
as ~1bogo is the name the Andoni give to them. Mboli is types of Bantu and Semi-Bantu found at present in the
a division of Ogoni. Ibeno is the name of an Andoni town, Northwest Cameroons, the Cross River, and in Togo~
and the Andoni call themselves Obulum or Obudum, and land" (22). Corroborative evidence that the present Ibibio
their language, Use Obulo. culture is the result of the impact of two cultures is to
The Andoni and the Ibibio in Eket share a tradition be found in the fact that the Ibibio possess an eight ' day
that they are brothers, and, in confirmation of this assertion, week, i.e. an amalgamation of two four day weeks.
it may be pointed out that a large number of words in the There is evidence, which is too long to reproduce here,
two languages are almost identical. However, while the that the Ibibio culture has signs of a dual grouping. One
Andoni are matrilineal, with matrilineal relationship terms, of the characteristics of a culture displaying a dual grouping
the Ibibio are patrilineal. Among the Ibibio are curious is the religious significance of the number four, which is
customs which can be explained only on the assumption usually associated with four quarter gods. I n the N dzi
that, originally, the Ibibio were matrilineal in culture; thus legend of the Igbo, four mysterious beings, sent by Tshuku,
the term 'eyeyen' in Ibibio, and the rights of such a person gave their names to four markets in the original town, and
are also found among the Andoni. Relations by marriage thus arose the four-day week of the Igbo. The Beni also
 )

OLb CALAi3AR LINGUISTICS .

have a four··day week and so have ' the Yoruba, among Ukom = plantain Ken here
whom each of these four days is named after, or dedicated • Iwuk = a proclamation Dwan woman
to, four great Orisha. The existence then of an eight day Ub::>k = hand I nUl) sal t
week among the Ibibio points to the amalgamation of two Mbubi = dirty Kpukpru = all.
cultures in one people. Continuing in this way, it is found that tne number of
If the suggestion of Sir Harry Johnston is true, that, Bantu words for male activities is high. Again, the
in Ibibio, for instance, one has a Bantu invasion implanted genitive case is formed on Bantu lines, (24) e.g. "ubI. inuen
on either a pre-Bantu (the so-called Ur-Bantu speech) (23) =house (of) bird = nest, itam Akpan = hat (of) Akpan.",
or on a Sudanic, then there should still be discoverable and not, as in the marc g e neral Sudanic usage, in the form
traces of this invasion in the language spoken to-day. That "inuen uf::>k or bird's hous::!". In many Bantu verbs, the
is to say, that, as in English, one can detect the words passive and the neuter passive are formed by the suffixes
brought in with the Norman Conquest, e.g. mutton for "-wa", and' '-eka", respecti vel y. The nell ter passive deno'tes
sheep, veal for calf, sovereign, throne, homage, so one a state or capacity for undergoing action, e.g. Swahili,
ought to be able to sort out the Bantu words from the "vunjika = to be broken" (25). In Ibibio, it is difficult to
non-Bantu. distinguish such suffixes, and it may be said that the 50-
If the assumption is accepted, that there was a Bantu called passive is formed by a suffix which is a tone vowel to
invasion wherein the local women ,vere adopted by the the verb root, thus:
invaders, and in this-wise produced the present Ibibio, then BUl) to break across, to snap.
the Bantu words that would tend to survive would be stich BUl):) = to be broken across, etc.
words as form the stock vocabulary of males, e.g. most of Eta ekabtu) = the stick broke.
the hunting, fighting, fishing, marrying and paternal Eta ekabUl)J == the stick is found broken, i.e. is in a
relationship terms j while the words dealing wilh the work broken state, $·.e. is broken.
and activities of women would show a higher proportion of Other verbs showing a passive form are given herewith:
non-Bantu roots. On testing this theory it is found that BJp = to tie B::>bJ , = to be tied
. the following sets of Ibibio words fall into Bantu and non- Buk = to collect Bokho = to be collected
Bantu categories: Fut = to fold Furo to be folded
Siak = to split Siagha = to be split
BANTU NON-BANTU
Yet = to wash Yere to wash oneself, to be washed.
Iyak fish MmOl] water
The meaning and idiom in Ibibio are better appreciated,
Inyal) = sea (great water) Edi pig
if these verbs are described as impersonal verbs. A typical
Tal) speak Ifia fire-wood
example is the verb: Esiek = it lengthens, it stretches.
Utim anvil AbiOl) hunger
This verb, and others like it, cannot be used actively.
Isu face Eyen = child
Bantu has reversi ve verbs, e.g. Swahili, I 'funga = to tie",
Ete father Eti good
and "fungua = to untie" (26). So in Ibibio, most verbs can
Utiga = a bow Mbiet weeds
be made reversive by the use of the tone vowel of the verb
Sian to know Eka mother
added to the end of the verb, and by lengthening at the
Mono to see Ekebe box.
same time the last consonant of the verb. This process
Eta tree Udi grave, tomb
seems to be but a form of the negative formation, where the
Ndiza == dried sliced Di = come negation implies an action wbich is .th~ reverse of the
plantain Ikwa "'" knife
 )

OLD CALABAR .LINGUISTICS . 71

posItIve action. This formation is perhaps analogous to Ita =3
the use in English of the negative prefix "un~", thus: ... •
Inat) = 4
Tern = put on the fire. Temme = take off from the fire. Itiun = 5
Biom = carry. Biommo= put down (things carried). Itiokiet 6
Yara=clothe,cover,don. Yadda = unclothe, doff. Itiaba 7
Kup =cover. Kubo =uncover. I tieta 8.
Buk =bury. Bukho = exhume. This "i" prefix probably means "they, indefinite".
Da '= stand. Dagha = go away. There is no gender: when it is necessary to express a
In Efik, verbs are made reversive by the uniform sex distinction, recourse is had to a different word:
addition of the suffix "~re" to the end of the verb. This
process is analogous to the formation of the negative in -Akpan
MALE FEMALE
eldest son. Adiaha eldest daughter.
Efik by the uniform addition of the suffix "-ke" to the end Nte or Ite father. Eka mother. '
01 the verb. Though Ibibio cannot be called an agglutina- Eren = male. Dwan female.
ting language, and so be classed with the Bantu, yet, on the In domestic cattle etc, the gender distincti'o n is made
other hand, it is not essentially a monosyllabic language, by the use of the two terms:
and so cannot, on these grounds, be classed with the ayara to cover
Sudanic. So far, the evidence suggests that Ibibio inclines uman to bear
towards the Bantu group rather than to the non-Bantu. On thus:
continuing the investigation, it is seen that the following Ayara enal) = bull
features found in Ibibio are common to both Bantu and Uman " = cow
Sudanic tongues, and the issue is no further advanced. Ayara erot) = ram
There is, generally speaking, in Ibibio no distinction Uman " - ewe.
made between singular and plural nouns, and the common- Adjectives, as a rule, in Ibibio; precede the nouns they
est instances of the plural appear to be formed on' Bantu qualify, e.g. "afia owo = white man, anyan eyup = tall
lines: palm". When the noun is plural and is qualified by an
Singular Plural adjective the plural-forming suffix "m", or "n" is added to
Nte or Ite father. Mete. the adjective, and the singular form of the noun is used :.
Ibet law. Mbet. Mfia owo whitemen
Ubak part. Mbak. Nnyan eyup = tall palms.
Another method of disti nguishing a singular from a Corresponding to the furmation of adjectives in English
plural form, is by the use of the prefix "i" as in : by the addition to nouns of the suffix "-less", is the forma-
Ayara male (animal). Iyara or Nyara. tion in Ibibio of adjectives from nouns by the pr~fix
Eren male (human). !reno "anana = less, etc" :
Ofn slave. Ifn. Ananub::>k handless, i.e. helpless, poor.
Esen guest. Isen. Ananeto treeless.
Abia practioner. Ibia. Ananifi::>k senseless, ignorant.
It would seem that the prefix "i" is a plural index oL A shortened form is often used, e.g. anaub::>k, anaeto.
the same nature as that found in the following numerals: In Ibibio, personal pronouns, either as subject or as
Iba ;: : ; 2 object to the verb, are prefixed to the root of the verb. This
 )

OLD CALABAR LINGUISTICS 73

statement is whollv true of the nominative case. For the indicates the positive, as against 'Ii''', the negative, form.
objective case, th; statement is true only of the first and In Ibibio the first and second person singular pronouns
second person singular. The discovery that the Ibibio have an objective form, namely :-
usage of an objective form for the first and second person mien = me,
singular of the personal pronout), differs from Efik practice, fien = thou.
is due to Dr. Jd,a \\Tard. An interesting use of the possessive case in the personal
The objective form of the pronoun is "m, n, or I)", for pronoun occurs in, "aNte ;)d;)k l)kerCl) = My father weaves
the first person singular and "e" for the plural, u o" or "u" baskets. "
for the second person singular, and "i" for the second In B:wtu langLlages, all syllables end in a vowel" and,
person plural, while this is true of a large number of Ibibio words, yet
EXAMPLES,
there are a good numb:!r that end in consonants. Thus:
Itam -- hat IVlmOlJ = water
Ebwa Ndum The dog bites ME. Unam meat Duop ten
Ebwa Udum The dog bites YOU. ErOl) sheep Eben = a fruit
Ebwa edum ENYE The dog bites HIM. Ikit = tortoise Mbak - fear.
Enye aMma He likes ME. The test which really determines the position of Ibibio
Enye ama ada nt;)r;)r;) aN sok He brought ME cassava. in the family of languages is found' when the fundamental
Dwam Help ME. word ' of the language, namely the verb, is examined.
Enye itatJaa iNn;) He does not tell ME. vVesterman has shown that most Sudanic languages have, '
Ukot enye aNn;) Where is the palm-wine for ME? for the verb, the following characteristics:
MUkpeye I beseech YOU. (I) The aorist tense, which expresses the present or the
Enye Un;) IJgwet? Did he giV'e YOU abook? past, shows the verb in its simplest form.
Mma Okoot ' I called YOU. (2) The pt'ogressive tense, which expresses an action
Mma I)Jwot Enye I called HIM. that is now being' done, is usually formed with the
Mma Okot I saw YOU. assistance of a verb meaning "to be".
Mma IJkot ENYE I saw HIM. (3) The tense expressing the habitual meaning "I am
Enye akanam utom aNn;) He worked for ME. wont to do" is formed with the help of a verb mean-
DkUnam nse? What did J do to YOU (sing.)? ing "to stay".
Dklnam nse \Vhat did I do to YOU (plur.)? (4) The perfect tense is formed with the help of a
UkEnam nse? What did you (sing.) do to us? verb meaning "to end, to finish".
Dkenam ENYE nse? What did I do to HIM? (5) The future is almost invariably formed with the help
AkEnam nse? \\That did he do to US ? of a verb meaning' 'to go".
AkUnam nse? What did he do to YOU? (6) Certain languages have a special form for the plural
AkaNnam nse? What did he do to ME ? of the verb.
Akanam enye nse? What did he do to him? (7) The negative should be expressed with the aid of
The verb "-n;)" which 'means" "to give", is also used in the verb.
the place of the proposition "for" in English. It, neverthe- (8) ' Properly speaking, there is no passive: the third
less, , retains its verbal character as can be seen in the person plural of the active, often with an indefinite
eXlmples given, namely, "aNn;), and iNno". The "a" pronoun instead of the ordinary form, takes ,its pla~e;
 )

74 OLD CALABAR LINGUISTICS 75

thus in lbo, 'I am struck' is expressed by "etibum, (4) The perfect tense in Ibibio is formed with the auxi-
the pronoun being "0" instead of "fa", and the liary "ma", thuf:: "ama abat = he has counted", or "he
literal meaning "They beat me" (27), or better still finished: he cot:meu" where "rna = finish, end".
"me beaten". (5) The first tuture, as Goldie calls it, (30) is, in Ibibio,
The Ibibio verb examined under these heads readily formed with the auxiliary "ya", e.g. "ayaka = he will g o".
reveals its Sudanic ancestry. It is often sounded as "aya(Sa". It is evident, however,
(I) The form ot the verb in the aorist, "anam", may that "ya", or '"Jan to which "IS" is phonetically akin, is
mean "he does" or "he did". hut a variant of "ka" or "ga" = to go".
(2) The progressive tense is expressed by the use of
the word "MOl)" which, however, does not mean (6) Ibibio has many verbs that take a plurar form thus :-
"to be", thus: "MOl) anam = he is agoing" Akpa he dies ekpalJa they die.
There is, however, a form of the Ibibio verb in which the Adaka he goes away edalJa they go away
use of a verb meaning "to be" occurs. Thus, in the tense, In:> he gives en:>l]:> they give
which Goldie calls the second future (28), the verb appears , Efege he runs efelJe they run
as "edinam" j he also remarks that, according to good usage, "" ! Enyie he has enyieJ)e they have
it could as well be written "ebinam". This fact is an indica- ' Ekwere he finishes ekwelJe they finish
tion that this tense, the second future, is formed with a verb Ata he talks etal)a they talk
meaning "to be". The reason that the verb appears in two Asak he laughs esagha they laugh
variations is, that, in Efik "du = to be", and, in Ibibio, Edep he buys edeme they buy
"ba = to be", and in this way the two forms "edinam" or Jd:> he marries ed:>i they marry
"ebinam" are accounted for, depending on whether the Efik Eben he talks ebeen they take
dialect is used, or the parent tongue, Ibibio. In verbs which do not have plural fot:m the plural is
(3) The Ibibio verb, in the form of "Isibre mi = we used indicated in one of two ways:
to play here", or "we were accustomed to play here", ((,) either by a change in tone or more commonly, by
or "we were wunt to play here" is formed by the (b) a lengthening of the tone vowel of the verb as in
use of the verb "se", which in Goldie's Dictionary eben and ebeen.
is given under the meaning "5" as "to wait, to The use of the plural form of the verb is not the simple
see" (29), i.e. to stay. matter as appears in the above table i.e. that when the
Efik, though using this form of the habitual tense, also subject is plural the verb takes the plural form.
employs the auxiliary "kam" to effect the same purpose, Investigations indicate that the plural form of the verb
but then the root of the main verb is duplicated thus: was conditioned and occasioned by the direct object.
If the direct object were plural the verb took the plural
Nyin isidu k' Ikot Ekpene } Efik = We used to live
form. This feature is clearly shown in (he verb
Nyin ikam idudu k' Ikot Ekpene at Ikot Ekpene.
dep buy.
Nyin isiba m' Ikot Ekpene Ibibio he buys a fowl enye edep unen
fowls enye edeme unen
Elqe esika k' ubk-l)gwet " " buy a fowl
They m:> edep unen
Efik = He used to go
Enye akam akaka k' ubk-l)gwet to school. fowls - m:> edeme un en .
}
Ibibio Thus, though " the " subject is plural in 'they huy a fowl' yet
Enye esieka k' ubk-l)gwet

----------------------------------------------------------~-----,~------------------------------------~~~~,

OLD CALABAR
the plural form of the verb is not used because the d irect
object is singular.
The explanation for the use of the plural form wi th a
pl ural subject in intransitive verbs is that origina lly these
verbs took a plural cognate object, which h~s now fallc n
out of use. Thus:
coye asak ( nsaghc understood) = he laughs (a la ugh)
m:> esagha (nsaghe) = they laugh ( laughs)
The fact that in transitilive verbs it is the direct object
which determines whether the p lural fo rm of the ve rb is to
be used or not is clearly shown in the fo llowing sentences :_
•
LINCUISTICS 77
lion of a negati ve particle to th e root o f th e verb" T~lis
particle wou ld see m to have consisted of a velar frlcat Lve
plus the tone vowe l of the vcr~ ,ro~t. There is ~hus great
s im ilarity between 19oo and Iblb L? L~ lh,c fonn:L(lon of, the
ne b.at",ve', for in 19bo a velar fricat ive IS used, but WIth a
, ' "fi f
cons tant vowel sound : i,e. in Igbo, the re IS a sacrl ce 0
vowel harmony, and so the vowel sound of the negative
particle remain s unaltered ?y t~le, tOI~e vowel o f the verb,
As will be seen later, thi S sllllllaflty between the two
Ian O'uages was to be expected,
b H ere aO"ain is a nother instance of the innuencc of the

h e gives a woman a mani lla = ::H n awa t)wan okpogho I<Tbo slave :peech over the Elik d ia lect, The negati ve in
he gives a woman manillas = ;)1101):)" " ~~lk fo llows I .... bo practice, In general , the Elik negative
" H the women a manilla = :)11:> iban okpogho is formed by :"the add ition of the s unix "I<e'\ where "k"
" " " " manill as = ::m ::I1)3 iban " replaces in Igbo the velar fricative and "e" is t~l e constant
The cognate object may also be replaced by the idea of vowel sou nd, In Ibi bio, all the personal prefixeg m the nega-
much: or many times. Thus, if a man were to g ive a nother ti ve with the exception of the fu st person sin gu lar, beco me
enough tumbo to make him drunk, the senten ce wou ld run uniformly "i". This characteristic is best seen in monosyllab ic
enye ::In::lI)::I owo ukot = he gave the man tumbo (much : verbs end ing in a vowel, thus: -
or many tim es : or many drinks AMA = he loves IM A1SA = he loves not
of tumbo). EI3E = he passes I1lEISI, = he passes not
enye ::In::l owo ukot :: he gave the man tu mbo (once: :):-J:) = he gives I:-.I:)g:) = he gives not
or one drink of it). EK P I = he cuts IKl'l lSE = he c uts not
The ru le fo r the use of th e p lural form of the verb is that OKI'U = he fails IKPUlSU = he fails not,
where th e verb is intransitive the p lural form is used if the In dissyllabi c verbs, the negative particl e is unirormly "ke",
subject is plural: where the verb is transitive the plural
form is used where the direct object is plural. Thus :-
Omano h e sees clearly; lmon oke he dots not
(7) Goldie in his grammar states that " lbibio forms its set': clearly,
negative by adding a vowel to the verb correspondi ng to its h e shares out Idemeke he does not
Edeme
tone vowe l, as 'adm, it is ripe', neg ative ' idara, it is not ripe, share out,
'on yoii, he returns', 'inyono, he docs 1I0t return', 'anam, he In verbs endin g in a consonant, th e negative is formed
does', 'ina ma , he does not" (3 1).
b y repea tinO' the tone vowel much lengthened, afte r the root.
d \ \""
This assertio n is only a sma ll p:1.rt of the way in whic h b \"
This lengthenin g of lhe tone vowc IS ue to t 1: e 1510n
Ibi bio forms its negative, Wh il e in Elik there are a number of the velar fricative, whi ch, h ow evcr~ may somctlllles be
of irre gu l a~ formations of the negative in certain verbs, e,g, b be fore the fin al ,'owel c.g.
Ilea r d as,a "augh
, b rc'Llhinrr
.
'n::l "" g ive, 'kut = see' ; these ve,rbs, in l bi bio, form the an am =- he does inam aa =- h e does not
negative regularly, okom "" he greets ikomoo = he g reets not
The negative in lbibio is formed regu larly by the addi- akit '"' h~ sees ikitte "'" he sees not
 LINGUISTICS

atalJ he speaks italJaa = he speaks not Owo ek' :>k:>n:> itama aya edat = the man who knows how to
:>b:>p he ties ib:>p:>:> = he ties not. jump will be taken.
Attention ~ust be paid to these points, because a Owo ek' edin:>gh:> itama ididataa = the man who does not
dependent sentence in Ibibio is not shown ; as in Efik, by the know how to jump will
addition of the suffix "de" to the verb in the dependent not be taken.
clause, but by the repetition of the tone vowel of the depen- In the negative, the root of the verb is often repeated after
dent verb at the end of the verb. It woitld thus seem, in the negative form of the verb, to give emphasis.
Ibibio, that a negative verb in a depend e nt sentence would Ntal)aa-talJ I do not speak.
offer difficulties. The difficulty is avoided by prefixing Enyin Inamaa-nam we did not ·do it.
immediately to the verb in the dependent sentence the Isinne-sin he did not put it in.
particle "di-" ("-me-", in Efik) and using the verb in the It is the verb that is influenced: it is the verb that
negative form, thus: shows the negation. The point to observe is, that the
Utom eelJken:>:> am:>, am:> ema enam = the work which I negative is expressed with the aid of the verb.
gave them, they (8) Whereas "the passive is, in all Bantu languages,
have done. formed by means of the suffix-wa" (32), among the
Utom eel)kedin:>:> am:>, am:> ema en am = the work which I 5udanic languages, there is, properly speaking, no passive,
did not give them, and Ibibio is no exception. "I am beaten" is in Ibibio
they have done. "emia mien" which literally means "they beat me" or
Dwed ee!)kitte ado amfo = the book which I see i~ yours. "me beaten". "He is killed" is "ewut enye" i.e. they killed
Dwed eendikitte ado amfo = the book which I do not see is him, or him killed. The ancient Egyptian, Hausa, and
yours. Somali languages do not employ a passive at all. 'I am
Nam dalJa nam = do as I do. 'struck', has to be explained by 'they strike me (33). In
Nam dal)a ndinama = doasIdon·tdo. further support of the Sudanian origin of the Ibibio
Owo etop am:> esime nyin, ama adi mkp:)\) = the man whose language, it must be noticed that Miss Werner points out:
fame reaches us, "The sound 'gb' (or in its "voic~less form 'kp') is very
came yesterday. characteristic of the Sudan ian language" (34). Now Ibibio
Owo etop am:> edisime nyin, ama adi mkp:>l) = the man whose has a very large number of words with the sound "kp" in
fame does not them.
reach us, came If the suggestion made earlier that the Ibibio language
yesterday. is the result of a Bantu invasion upon a Sudanic-speaking
Owo ek' edie aya :>b:> ebut = the man who comes will receive people, then it would follow that the conjugations, etc. of
a goat. the verbs would retain their Sudanic form and aspect,
Owo ek' edidiCSe aya :>b:> ebut = the man who does not come though Bantu roots would be assimilated. The reason for
will receive a goat. the verbs retaining tht'ir Sudanic declension forms would
Etok eyen ek' efe(5e :>nplJ eya amia = the boy who runs away be due to the fact that d.e mothers of the rising generation,
will be whipped. being Sudanic-speaking women, would impose their system
Etok eyen ek' edifecseke iny:>!) eya emia = the boy who does of dealing with verb idioms upon the language introduced
not run away will by their husbands and used by their offspring.
4
be whipped. At this point, it is instructive to make a comparison
 )

.
80 OLb CALAbAk LlNGUISTICS 81

with a definitely Sudanic language Clnd for this purpose that B~dQ to remain bet wait
of the Shilluk of the Egyptian Sudan is selected, as being Mar~ to lo\'e mma love
one of the most remvte, geographically considered, from Ba to be ba be, live
the Ibibio, and therefore unlikely eyer to have had any vViilQ-nwid bird Inuen bird
direct influence upon it. The Shilluk language, in addition Edi how die how?
to conforming with the thirteen tabulated items under the he, etc.
heading "For Sudanic" in the following column, shares with
Ibibio the following features:
.. . En, <Sen
F~rQ
G!!nQ
he, etc
flee
honour
enye
fe~e: w::>r::l.
kpun::>
flee: go away
honour
(a) both are tone languages, NwotQ to show wot show
(b) the prohibitive tense of the verb is formed in both TtlgQ to open tek loosen
languages by prefixing "Im-" to the verb stem, e.,f. Wail-nIn eye enym eye
Ku-ket do not go (Shill uk). W~no to smoke ~WOlJ smoke
Ku-ka ,,(Ibibio) tobacco. tobacco.
Ku-bi do not come (Shill uk) (35). VlorQ to sing kW::l sing
Ku-di " (Ibibio). Yarg to skim off yaada doff, peel off
(c) The similarity, in the two languages, of the words Me which eml which
which exhihit a similarity of root stems is sufficiently Ano what? aOie who?
numerous to impress the observer, and is a plea for the K~n place, here ken here
longish list that follows: Bi k~n come here di ken come here
SHILLUK. IBIBIO. Nln name enyil) name
I)U()go to get up daghada stand up
Ka go Ka go
Bwoko frighten Bak fcar wb~ daylight eyo daylight
Ramo to weigh domo to weigh,
DlJra opcnplacc Urua market, t'.e. open place
Oko measure
Ga this that: ko = there.
lick dai lick Wue yes W::l yes
.pogo
B~ not baba not
DWQ<Jo suckle wop suckle
write wet I)gwet write a note Anun gonorrhoea (36). CUCU:l gleet
Gwet
work ::lk::> work (any persistent discharge).
Gogo
sleep nna lie down On summarising the evidence in tabular form for classi-
Neni
Chwoti call kut call fying lbibio as either Bantu or Sudanic in fundamental
Kodo fasten kop fasten origin, the tabulation works out as follows:-
Dego enter duk enter FOR BANTU NEUTRAL FOR SUDANIC.
E b~da ka he is there enyeoduko he is there (I) A number of (I) Words end in (I) Not an aggluti-
.pJ,!ki tomorrow tuki early morning
Bantu roots vowels or nating language
B!!nQ to lack, buene to be poor
consonants
to have not.
(2) Formation of (2) No distinction (2) Formation of
An~kQ ghost ekbo ghost
~I
reversive verbs between singular aorist tense.
Anon quarrel enlln dispute
1 and plura,! noun~,
B~PQ to ask for bip ask, question.
 )

8? OLD · CALABAR LINGUISTICS

(3) No means of (3) Formation of There yet remains to consider the definition of Semi-
distinguishing progressive ~ '4 Bantu as being descriptive of lbibio. Mr. Thomas laid
gender. tense. down the following features as characterising a Semi-Bantu
(4) Genitive case (4) Formation of language.
construction. tense denoting "A Semi-Bantu language
habit or custom. (I) belongs to the Sudanic sub-family:
(5) A tone (5) Formation of the (2) classifies its nouns by means of pronomial affixes, after
language. perfect tense. the manner of the Bantu languages:
(6) Formation of the (3)- shows the concord between noun and verb or adjective,
future tense. by the use of the same pronomial affix:
(7) Presence of (4) and has a vocabulary derived originally from roots
. pI ural forms for typical of the old or new Semi-Bantu groups" (37).
verbs. Of the above characteristics essential for a Semi-Bantu
(8) Negative formed language, Ibibio exhibits that of number one, but that is
with aid of verb. merely because Ibibio is Sudanic in origin. Features, No.
(9) The use of the 2 and3 are not found in Ibibio. Some of the Ibibio roots
sound' " kp" in are Bantu or Semi-Bantu in origin, but this feature, owing
many words. to recent research, is likely to be of little moment in deter-
(10) Formation of mining the position of a language. The recent researches
passive voice. of Madame Hornberger tend to show .a common origin for
(I I) Monosyllabic both Sudanic and Bantu roots, and the term Semi-Bantu is
basis of the then 'Iikely to have little meaning.
language. It would seem, on the evidence thus produced, that the
(12) Similarity of language group into which lbibio naturally falls is definitely
many Ibibio roots Sudan ie, and that the term Semi-Bantu, to describe the
withShillukroots. Ibibio language, may, for the future, be abandoned.
(13) The existence of Several points in the language call for remark. Thus,
duplex stems as the idea of motion is contained in the word "ke", and, after
seen in the names all verbs of motion, it is necessary to use this preposition,
for animals (vide this word, that gives the idea of motion. Thus, "sin = to
page 86). put" : but to put a thing into a box one says "sin IJkp3 k'
On the above evidence, it appears that Ibibio is basi- ekebe". Again with the verb "ka=go" to say "Go inlo the
cally Sudanic in origin, and so was correctly classed by house" is "Ka k'ubJi": and so on.
the Government Anthropologist, Mr. N. W. Thomas, with It would seem that "ke" is here really a form of the ,verb
Ibo as Sudaoic. That Ibibio shows .distinct signs of Bantu "ka = to go".
influence or Bantu invasion, is also clear from the tabulated The Ibibio is extremely log-ical and precise in his lan-
evidence. It would appear that the present Andoni language guage and these features are clearly reflected in the further
was the origina,l Sudanic language which suffered a Bantu use, that he makes of this idea of "motion to-wards," that is
impact, and gave rise to the present Ibibio, f~und in the use of "ke, "a variant of ka = go.
 )

OLD CALABAR
.
lINGUiSTICS

Thus, in English the statement, "I am going t,o buy
eggs," or "I am going to lunch," leaves the hearer in doubt
as to whether tha speaker is about to buy eggs that are
immediately in front of him: or is determined to buy eggs,
come what may, or is on the way, i.e. actually moving
to-ward the eggs, to buy them. All this uncertainty and
ambiguity does not exist with the Ibibio.
"Dka ideme I)kwa unen" leaves the hearer ill no doubt
that the speaker is 011 the way, i.e. moving to-wards the
eggs i.e. going (ka) to buy eggs. "Nsuk ndeme I)kwa
unen", means that the speaker is in the act of buying the
eggs i.e. is goil)g to buy the ~ggs, and is perhaps best
translated by "I want to buy eggs".
"Mbo ndeme l)kwa unen" means, I say I am buying
eggs: while "Mbo ndideme t)kwa unen," means, I will buy
eggs, I am determined to buy eggs; whereas, I shall buy
eggs, is translated by "Nyademe IJkwa unen."
I am buying eggs, is, in Efik, expressed by "Mmon
ndeme nsen unen." The form "ndideme" should be noticed.
Ndi - is a form of the future which is always used in subor-
dinate clauses. The "ndi-" form cannot be used by itself.
This idea of motion towards, centralised in the particle
'Ike," is found in the genitive case of the personal pronouns
in Efik wh~n not used attributively, i.e. in the independent
genitive: thus :-
EFIK. IBIBIO
Okimo mine Ammi
=
Eke nyin = ours Ennyin
thine Amfo
Okuo
yours Andafo
Ekembufo
Ekemo theirs Amm:>
The corresponding attributive forms are:-
Mi mv Mi
Fu = thy Fo
Esie = his Jm:>
The use of the independent genitive form would arise only
in conversation, and most often in disputes. Thus, the ex-
pressed idea "whose thing is this?" is answered by "to
me-i.e. Qkimo-it goes to me; it is mine, mine."
It is quite possible that a form of "ke" may come from
a Sudanic root, meaning "place," and so would be a locative
particle meaning "to be at, or in, a place".
On the other hand, in Swahili, "kw-" as a prefix indicates
motion towards (.1~).
Thomas, writing of verbs which now function almost
only as prepositions, says,
"Some of the verbs which serve in this capacity have
been mistaken for prepositions; thus, in Efik, Goldie
names the word ke a particle, but \\1 esterman.
to whom lowe a good deal of the present infor-
mation, shows clearly that it is a local verb meaning
to be in place" (39).
"Ke" is also used as a conjunction, and then causes
the verb it introduces to lengthen the tone vowel in Ibibio,
but, in Efik, to add the sufIix "-de", to show that the intro-
duced sentence is in a subordinate position. "Ke," when
thus used, would appear to be a cut down form of "ed.ieke-
if," and hence would introduce a subordinato:! or conditional
clause e.g. "K' afu amaa (1) or amade (E) "adia", nyeka=
you finishing to eat (or when, or if,) you finish eating,
I will go.
1\lost nouns beginning with the vowel '0' do not appear
to come from verb roots, thus:
Owo man
Onim shark
Odo name of a bird
Obuk flesh
Oku priest, guardian
Odu whisper, secret
Obio town
abo day of the week
Obu shrimp
\Vhereas most of those beginning with :>, do;
\Vhile Ibibio does not appear to have any noun classes,
so characteristic of many Dantu languages, yet it can l?e
noticed that by far the greater number of names for animals
begin either with "e" or "i". This "e" or "i" prefix is
all that is left of a Sudanic root meaning «animal," and is
 OLD CALABAi~ UNGUISTICS
•

thus an in,s tance of the occurrence of duplex stems in the Isana lemur
Sudanic languages, to which feature Mr. N. \V. Thomas .... Isantim = hippopotamus
has drawn attention. Mr. Meek gives instances of this in Itu manatee
the Jukun language, which is eminently Sudanic. Iyun sititunga
"There is a feature, however, in Jukun which suggests
The formation of nouns from verb roots by 'the prefixes
an elementary form 'of class prefixes. This feature is the use
"eri-, andi- (plural mend i) and mbu-" also calls for comment.
of duplex stems. Thus wi is a common prefix word for the
"Eri-" is really a form of "edi", which consists bf the
animal class. Elephant is 'lV1':..llyi, buffalo is w(/z", antelope
impersonal pronomial prefix "e" plus the verb "di-come'' '.
is wi-twsi and so on. tVi by itself means animal'" (40)'
The 7V/' of the Jukun and the ear t' of the lbibio imply a com- Such nouns denote a state or condition, thus :-
mon onglO. The following is a list of Ibibio words showing TJlp begin Erit::)!p a b eginning
this feature which also extends to and includes fish. B::!p tie Erib:Jp a tying
Kpi cut Erikpi a cut
ANIMALS. FISH. Fe,ese = run Erife<se a race
Antelope Ebai Sat choose Erisat a choice
Ebed
porcupine Ebedel)e Nya!)a save Erinyal)a salvation.
Ebio!)
Ebok monkey Edel) These nouns may be analysed thus:
Ebut = goat Edidim Erit::!!)::! it comes, or happens, to begin a beginning
Ewa dog Etebek Erikpi = it comes, or happens, to cut = a cut
Edi pig Etuet Erisat = it comes, or happens, to choose = a choice.
Editim bush-cow Ekene The prefixes "andi-" (sing.) and "mendi-" (plur.) can
Eden grampus Ekwe be split up into "an-ndi" and "me-ndi" where "an-" is all
Edol) sheep Enafa th 'lt remains' of the third person pronoun singular, "enye",
Edup antelupe Ibat and "me-", is all that remains of the third person plural
Efe flying squirrel I bitian "mo", plus "ndi" the infinitive form of the verb "di-come."
Ekara ant-bear lbu Such nouns express agent, doer, actor, as would be expected
Ekpe leopard Idafa from the fact that the definite personal pronouns are used in
Ekpu rat Imin the singular and plural.
EmialJ fruit-bat Itu obo Nya!)a =savej AndinyalJa = one comes to save = saviour.
Ena!) cattle Nyene = havej Andinyene = one comes to have = owner.
Enin elephant Kpeme = protectj Andi kpeme = one comes to protect,
Eso antelope = protector.
lba lesser crocodile Such nouns may take a case, or govern an object, i.e,
Idiok chimpanzee are verbal nouns. Thus "andinyal)a fi = your Saviour" not
Ikiko civet cat "andinyal)a fo."
Ikit tortoise The prefix "mbu-" in the formation of nouns from verbs
ikpok = ape denotes "that which, i.e.- cause". Thus:-
Ine cane rat Be<Se = employ. Mbube<se=that which employs, business.
Isonsi - whale Biam = be filthy. Mbubiam = that which is filthy, nastiness,
 )
oLb cAtAbAR
Bik = deceive, feign. Mbubik = that "dlich deceives,
hypocrisy.
Mek = select, choose. 1...1bumek that which selects,
greedi ness.
Another peculiarity noticeable in Ibibio, and in other
African languages, is the lack of words that express, not so
much abstract ideas, as generalisations, i.e. generic terms.
Thus, in Ibibio, there is no word for colollr. Objects have
specific' colours. Again, though there are generic terms,
such as unam = animal, inuen = bird, eta = tree, yet
there is no generic term for monkey, though there are
specific and distinct names for each v;lriety of monkey.
This Same feature, is found o\'er the \Yord banana; there is
no word for banana, b'Jt each variety has its own special
name. Ag~in, though each of the many varieties of yam
has its own name, yet there appears to be a generic name
for yam in Efik e.g. bia. In Ibibio, udia is used generically
for yam, but it is also the term for food, and, as the yam is
the staple diet, it seems probable that originall y there was no
generic name for yam.
PART IV
PHONETICS.
BF.FORE dealing with the tones that exio;t in the Ibibio
language, it is necessary to say a few ~ords about its general
phonetic features; Ibi~io words do nO.t invariably, as do
words in so many Bantu languages, end in vowels. On
the other hand, a characteristic of Ibibio is that, where there '
,. ~
are polysyllabic words, the syllables, except the final ones,
have a preference for ending on vowels and not on conso- ',
nants. . This feature was not sufficiently stressed when .
Goldie's Dictionary was being prepared, and, as a conse- ,;
quence, there are found,
bek-ke instead of be-khe employ
ak-pa " " a ' -kpa river
Ok-po " " 0 -kpo bone.
It must not be thought that this feature was entirely
ov~rlooked by that ex~elIent scholar i for it was not j thus
he .has,
O·di-oii-o ::::0 acquaintances
V-du-ut == seeds
A-bi·a-i-di-oii ::::I sorcerer.
Where in a language th~ vowels play so important a
part, as they do in a tone language, such a feature was
jneyi~able. It is suggested that the drum languages,. apart
fro,m d.rum codes which are no more a' language than morse
is, are restricted to the tone languages. By listening to ' J
messages being sent bY' mea ns of a large wooden gong, flOt
drum, among the Igbo, it appeared that it was the relation
of ,t one to tone that formed the basis of the message, and
that tone is the secret of these languages, appeared concl.usive
when natives could converse by whistling. Such an
impromptu command as, "Bring me a fowl's feather to eleHn
my pipe", ~vas whistled, ?-nd cQrrectlyacte,d upon by the
recipient. The man who gave'the" command was a non- ..
 )
bLb CAtABAR.
smoker and was unknown to the two Igbo boys. The two
tongues of the gong are of different pitch and are called
male and female respectively. The low tone is the male
side and is placed furthest from the drummer.
Rattray. in his analysis of the drum language of the
Ashanti, goes further, and states that the stretched drum
skin is, by skilful manipulation, made to vibrate in the
manner at the diaphram of a telephone, but it would seem
that tone delivery is' probably the essential key to the
messages (I).
It is now necessary to discuss the phonetic side of the
Ibibio language i it is found that the Rev. H. Goldie in his
Dictionary was at times aware that words, written in the
same way i.e. true homographs varied their meanings
when their pronunciations varied. Thus, the word "akpa"
occurs therein with a large flumber of meanings which are .
distinguished as follows :-
Akpa (Ris. inf.) = a river
Akpa (Fat. inf.) = first (2).
where it is presumed that the . words Ris. info
stand for Rising inflection, and Fa!. info for Falling
inflection. For no reference is found in the Dictionary to
the meaning of these terms. Actually, the first word is a
high toned word and the s e con~ ?as its first v~we~ lo~, ~nd
second high i.e. it is a low-tone-ns,tng word. This dlscnnun a-
tion is displayed throughout the Dictionary. The word
"sin" is differentiated in the same way.
Sin (Ris." inf.) i=;insei·t
Sin ( Fa\. inf.) = refuse (3)·
Here "insert" is a h'ig h-toned verb, while "refuse" is a.
low.tone and the descriptions are true i on the other hand he
writes
Ikot (Fa!. inf.) "" people
Ikot (Ris. inf.) ::::. bush (4)·
Y et both words are identical, are true homologues j
both are high..tone words.
Ikun,(Fa\. inf.) t= seed of calabash
Ikun (Ris. in f.) = a musical instrument (5). The first
Worci is a high-tC'ne.f~lling word, and the second a IOVl~tone... . .
..
PHONEtICS 91
risi~g word, so that Goldie was correct again here. It will
be' nl)ticed, in the dictionary, that, among the words begin-
ning with the letter "e", there occurs only one, viz. "edon"
(6) in which this distinction of "ris. inf." and" fal. inf." is
made and is correctly described. There are, of course,
many other words beginning with "e" which are either
high-falling or low-rising but are not so indicated by Goldie.
On the whole, the number of words so treated by Goldie is
small. On the other hand, a stress sign or accent is used,
but these are misleading, for the stress may be altered, and
yet the tone remain the same.
The Rev. J. Luke in his book "Pioneering in Mary
SLessor's Country" published in 1929, states that, "the lan-
..,.... ... guage of the bookless native is accent and 'only accent" (7) .
This statement is, of course, wrong, but there is here an
indication that, in the language, there is something that
differentiates it from a European language for instance. This
difference lies in the fact that Ibibio is a tone language, and
na't~rallYJ the dialeCt. Efik, follows suit.
This failure in the past, to recognise that this language
and its Efik dialect are tone languages, has led to barbarous
liberties being taken when hymns to fit European tunes
I were composed in the local vernacular. In English, the
sound of the word determines its sense, so it matters not, in
singing, whether the tone of the word alters. In Ibibio, the
tone of the word fixes its meaning i consequently, when an
Ibibio sings his own songs, he sings the words in the same
relative tones as he would, were he speaking, otherwise the
sense would not be retained.
Thus, if a high-tone is necessary for the sense of a word,
its meaning is completely lost or altered if it is sung on a
falling note. This difficulty does not appear to have been
appreciated, with the result that, as most hymns have set
tunes for all the verses, the native words cannot be made
to fit the order of the notes without violating the tones of the
words, and so destroying their sense. A study of native
singing will show that the tune varies from verse to verse
to suit the tones of the words employed. An untrained Ibibio
on hearing Ibibio word~ sung to an English hymn tune
 OLD CALABAR PHO:\ETICS 93

does not understand what is being sung. In English the one writes the word as follows:

~
words are chosen to fit the tune: in tone languages it is first he dies in heritance
essential that the tune should fit the tones of the words.
The truth of the above remarks was succinctly put in AKPA
- 1 -
19 21 by a Yoruba writing on the Yoruba language, which - ~ (
is also a tone language. "In Yoruba, vowels are of greater
importance than consonants, and tones than vowels: hence
-
A few other examples are given.
the peculiarity of the language, that musical sounds can be -
employed to convey a correct idea of words in speech" (8). ( ·1 -
Rattray discussing the tones in the Ashanti language
came to the same conclusion. " ........... it would appear that InJ Thief we give
when we set a libretto in Ashanti to a European score we - ..-
must jumble the whole sense of the words and render them
either meaningless or ridiculous. I have been informed by -
Africans that this is really the case, and that when children .- -
sing songs in schools in their own language set to our - - -
music, what they sing is unintelligible to the outsider, and Iba Two Monitor lizard Native Braid
is often to the singers themselves ridiculous" (9)·
As musical sounds can convey a correct idea of words

r
in speech, it follows that, to alter the musicalsolll1ds (tones),
will result in altering the meaning of the words in speech.
For singing in Ibibio, it is necessary to reverse Lewis Mi Me; My I Here
Carrol's advice, and say instead, 'Take care of the sounds,
and the sense will take care of itself.' So far as investigations
have gone, it appears that there are five tones In the 1
1
.-
language. They are:
a high level;
a middle level;
a low level;
Mbak
I -
I carve
I
I am afraid

- - -
a high or middle falling;
a low rising. - -
The use of these tones is essential to enable anyone to
Power strength A hole
speak or hear the language with clarity and understanding. Odudu
The word "akpa", already alluded to, ranges through three
tones, and its meaning alters accordingly. Using the - -
following notation for high, middle, low, tones in that order, - -
Argument A fish-drying
Utal) fr i~me
--
- k '
 )
. 94 OLD CALABAR
In lbibio, high~tone words are always uttered quickly
and crisply. Thus "ntibe", a pot full of little holes used at
the shrine of an "okuku" and before an "1Jgwomo", is short,
high and sharp; so also is "isobo" a crab. Mr. Thomas,
in h,is investigations, into the tones of the Igbo language,
came to the same conclusion, for he wrote: "High tones
appear to be always short" (10).
The use of tones in the grammatical <Jtructure of the
Ibibio language is still under investigation, but the
following points have been noticed. The genitive case is
indicated by a fall in the final tone of the noun possessed.
There also appears to be a difference in tone between the
first person singular and the first person plural of a verb.
The tendency is for the verb in the plural to be on a lower
tone than when in the singular. A start has already been
made towards compiling an Ibibio dictionary, showing the
tones of the words and the alteration in meaning with the
alteration of tone. in this task, Miss Shearman of the
Methodist Mission, Ikot Ekpene, has rendered great assisN
tance and already some 1500 words have been tonally
recorded. A few specimen pages of the work are attached.
At the first examination of the sounds that compose the
Ibibio language, it was thought that the consonants went in
pairs, t·.e. that there were the ordinary consonants ('b, d, f,
k, etc." and then that there were doubles which could be
represented by adding a "w" to each of the consonants.
This peculiarity suggested that there were in Ibibiu, conso-
nants with a secondary articulation. It was, however,
pointed out that this "w" sound was associated with certain
vowel sounds, viz. £', a, ::I, and not with any others. That
this explanation was correct, is shown in a local dialect,
where the "w" sound is retained with the vowel, on the
consonant being dropped before such vowels. Thus, instead
oIsaying "ibwot" and "ebwa" for 'head' and 'dog' res-
pectively, the dialectical forms are "iwut" and "ewa", and
soon. Again, when one suddenly calls an Ibibio, he does
not respond with a sound of the nature of the English "Eh?"
but says something like "W::I ".
This apparent influence of a vowel seemed at first to
REFERENCES' 95
. indicate that a fricative bilabial, "f" sound existed, 'but, as
this sound occured only in three or four wOI'ds, and then in
conjunction with the vowel "0" and with no other, it is
evident that this fricative bilabial does not exist. The
words where this influence is detected, are,
!foa (better written as Ifw::I) == excreta
FuOl) ( " " "Fw:)l) =0 emit a scent
Fuok ( " " ,, ' Fw:)k) = nudge.
As already shown, an attempt to notice this effect has
lead to the writing of the letter "u" before vowels in Efik.
The result is that Europeans hopelessly mispronounce such
words, for they not only introduce a vowel sound not present
in t.he .. ll'ative language, but .simultaneously alter the rhythm
I
of the word, making two syllables where the natives proN
I "
nounce only one. .All such words should be written with ·
the . "u" replaced by a "w".
Dr. Ward when toning the words in Goldie's dictionary
often disregards the presence of "u" before another vowel,
i. e. she treats it as though it. were a consonant, and &,ives
it no tone index, thus,
, Eduek [ ' . ]
Eduat [".]
Ibibio is peculiar in that it has no "l",v", or "z", sounds .
.Goldie also added that there was no sou nd in Efik repre N
sented by the symbol "j" (II) in English. While this
assertfon may be true for Efik, it is not true for Ibibio, as
will be shown further on. Another peculiarity in I bibio
is that no word begins with either a "p" or an "r", and while
many words end in "p" none ends in "r".
Although Ibibio may, at a first glance, appear to be
poor in consonants, it makes up for these non-existent ones
by others, notably by the implosive "kp":and by a nasalised
"I)".
As a general feature, the final consonant in a word in
the Ibibio language is ended abruptly. There is no aspira-
tion or' breathing after. a final b, d, k, p, t, even the
consonants "m"·and: "n" are· more· abrupt than in English.
The first consonant that calls for attention is "d".
Then; is a meQia,l "d" foul1Q iQ"th~ J'Qots of V!,!fPS, as in "dia
 )
. 94 OLD CALABAR
In lbibio, high ..tone words are always uttered quickly
and crisply. Thus "ntibe", a pot full of little holes used at
the shrine of an "okuku" and before an "lJgwomo", is short,
high and sharp; so also is "isobo" a crab. Mr. Thomas,
in h,is investigations, into the tones of the Igbo language,
came to the same conclusion, for he wrote: "High tones
appear to be always short" (10).
The use of tones in the grammatical ')tructure of the
Ibibio language is still under investigation, but the
following points have been noticed. The genitive case is
indicated by a fall in the final tone of the noun possessed.
There also appears to be a difference in tone between the
first person singular and the first person plural of a verb.
The tendency is for the verb in the plural to be on a lower
tone than when in the singular. A start has already been
made towards compiling an Ibibio dictionary, showing the
tones of the words and the alteration in meaning with the
alteration of tone. In this task, Miss Shearman of the
Methodist Mission, Ikot Ekpene, has rendered great assis-
tance and already some 1500 words have been tonally
recorded. A few specimen pages of the work are attached.
At the first examination of the sounds that compose the
Ibibio language, it was thought that the consonants went in
pairs, t·.e. that there were the ordinary consonants I'b, d, f,
k, etc." and then that there were doubles which could be
represented by adding a "w" to each of the consonants.
This peculiarity suggested that there were in Ibibiu, conso-
nants with a secondary articulation. It was, howev'e r,
pointed outthat this "w" sound was associated with certain
vowel sounds, viz. £, a, ~, and not with any others. That
r this explanation was correct, is shown in a local dialect,
where the "w" sound is retained with the vowel, on the
consonant being dropped before such vowels. Thus, instead
of saying "ibwot" and "ebwa" for 'head' and 'dog' res-
pectively, the dialectical forms are "iwut" and "ewa", and
so on. Again, when one suddenly calls an lbibio, he does
not respond with a sound of the nature of the English "E h?"
but says something like "W~ ".
This apparent influence of a vowel seemed at first to
REFERENCES • 95
, indicate that a fricative bilabial, "f" sound existed, 'but, as
this sound occured only in three or four words, and then in
conjunction with the vowel ,,~" ar.d with no other, it is
evident that this fricative bilabial does not exist. The
words where this influence is detected, are,
Hoa (better,written as IfW3) ==: excreta
Fuo!) ( " " "FW3!)) = emit a scent
Fuok ( " " "Fw3k):::; nudge.
As already shown, an attempt to notice this effect has
lead to the writing of the letter "il" before vowels in Efik.
The result is that Europeans hopelessly mispronounce such
words, for they not only introduce a vowel sound not present
in the native language, but ,simultaneously alter the rhythm
of the word, making two syllables where the natives pro-
nounce ,only one. ' All such words should be written with ,
the ."u" replaced by a "w".
Dr. Ward when toning the words in Goldie's dictionary
often disrega.rds the presence of II u " before another vowel,
i. e. she treats it as though it. were a consonant, and gives
it no tone index, thus,
. Eduek [ ' . ]
Eduat [ •. ]
Ibibio is peculiar in that it has no "l",v", or liZ", sounds.
Goldie also added that there was no sound in Efik repre-
sented by the symbol "j" (I I) in English. While this
asserti'on may be true for Efik, it is not true for Ibibio, as
will be shown further on. Another peculiarity in Ibibio
is that no word begins with either a "p" or an "r", and while
many words end in "p" none ends in "r".
Although Ibibio may, at a first glance, appear to be
poor in consonants, it makes up for these non-existent ones
by others, notably by the implosive "kp" and by a nasalised
"!)".
As a general feature, the final consonant in a word in
the Ibibio language is ended abruptly. There is no aspira-
tion or' breathing after a final' b, d, k, p, t, even the
consonants "m'" and' "n" are· more-abrupt than in English.
The first consonant that calls for attention is "d".
Then~ is a meclia.1 "d" founei irHh(! roots of v~rps, as in "dia
 )
OLD CALABAR
--.:eat", . "damo·-measure", d£m£--.:.divide", tfdu-,-exist",
"da~take". I n the nouns formed from such words, the medial
lid" is retained, e.g. "udia-food", "nd:>m:>" - surveying",
"udeme-a share"; This medial "d" is also retained before
an initial "n", where there is no verb root to refer it to" as
in "ndok == a sore"; and in "ndisa == yam sticks". In
other positions, this lid" sound gives way to a one tap "r",
as in "aran for adan = palm oil", or in "erol] for edoI) = a
sheep", or in "Aret for Adet == a woman's name", but it is
"edet = teeth, and "ud:>-younger son," it may however
be "ado, for oro = this."
The consonant "t", exists when it occurs as an initial
consonant, as in "tal]-speak", "tem - boil", "tim - beat",
"timme - return"; "tutu - until", and is retained in all
words formed from such roots. This I It" sound also occurs
in the middle of wordswhich do not appear to have any
roots as verbs, as in "itam - hat'" lIetiCSi - the okre", Hata
sixty," I'eto-tree," Hnte or ite-father." When the lit"
occurs as a final consonant, with no vowel beginning the
h sp:lces, when m;lking the "b" sound, are greater than when
next word, then it is sometimes aspirated, as in "bet-
h
wait, tat - tie". However, when the next word begins
with a vowel the practice is to follow the example of the
London bus-conductor with his "Swiss Carrige" for "Swiss
. Cottage", and one notices the changing of the "t" into a
. one tap "r" as in "tat owo - tie man", which is' said as
though it were "tarawo"; the word "ikot". which means
among other things "bush", has an aspirated "t" when
used alone, but the "t" sound changes into a one tap "r"
in I'Kot Ana", Ikot Ekpene, Ikot Ed:>I), Ikot IdioI), and
Ikot Ub:>".
In addition to the one tap ('r", there is also the rolled
"r", as in "mbri - a mat", "ebre - a kind of yam", "bere"
to hurl down," "kwere-finish," "tre-stop," "b:>r:>-
answer," "fr:>-jump". Goldie, in his Grammar, remarked,
Ir' commences no word in the language (Efik), and it may
be questioned whether it is ever employed, "except as a
substitute for 'd' and 't' and therefore, whether it has a
,proper claim to a place in the alphabet" (12). It is clear,
PH6NETICS 97
from such words as (lfr;), m bri," etc. that the 'r' here can-
not be a substitute for 'd' or It' in Ibibio, and therefore has
a claim to a place in the Ibibio alphabet.
There is considerable uncertainty whether the letter
"p" or "b" best represents the spoken sound. Hope
\i\Taddell remarked concerning Efik, that "b" and "p" are
c3nfollnded" (13). This difficulty is most apparent when
the middle tone is used. The word to imitate is "kpebe,"
. and from it, naturally and logically, comes the word "kpep,
teach, cause to imitate". In this last word, the final lip" is
very near an occlusive "b". When the other two tones are
used, there is more certainty. Hence, speaking generally,
there is a preference for the "p" phoneme to be used on the
high tone, and the "b" on the low. It is quite possible that
the organs of speech, when in the position to say "p",
produce a sound of higher pitch, and so of higher tone, than
When in the p;)sition to say "b". This difference would
appear to be a fundamental distinction between the two
sounds, and is probably due to the fact that resonating
making the "p" .. It should be noticed that, in Ibibio, the
"p" is an occlusive and not an explosive one, and this fact
makes it difficult at times to decide whether a 'fp" or a lib"
best represents the sound. "p" in Ibi-bio tends to become
explosive when a word ending in (lp" is followed by another
word beginning with a vowel, e.g. "dep" and "dep unen".
In this same way, "k" is an occlusive: thus in "mfiok - I
know", "k" is occlusive: if it is made explosive, the sound
approaches the negative form - Ilmfiokke".
Whether the "y" or the "f' best represent the spoken
sound, depends upon the nature of the following vowel.
Thus, in "oyum - he is willing", the "y" is suitable, but
in "nyem - I search for", or in "nyama - a woman's
secret society", the sound is much nearer the "j". It seemS
that, before high vowels, the sound is that of the fricative
"j", and before other vowels, it is that of the semi-vowel "y".
The "n" sounds of the I bibio language appear to be
three in number. There is the ordinary "n" sound, as in
"men ~ lift": then there is the palatal nasal consonant l as
 OLD CALABAlt
in the French word "montagne". This sound occures in the
Ibibio word for "he, she, it", which is written "enye".
It would be more accurately written as "enych". The third
sound is a velar nasal conso nant, the English "ng" as in
"song". Thus. the Ibibio word for land is "isong". A
special letter has to b<! provid ed for this sound, because of
the difficulty the European would experience when this
sound oct ured before a vowel with a '(w" in front. Thus,
one could write "n gwo ng - swear", but the result would
be that persons would pronounce the "gw" as in the English
girl's name " Gwen" ; so the sign " I)" is used, and the
Ibibio word is written "I)W01)". Origina\ly the practice was
to write "ngw" - as in ngwan - a woman ('4).
It is interesting to observe that the syllabic "n" occurs
in the first person . aorist. The R ev. Hugh Goldie was
'PHONETICS
! can perceive, the sound is produced as follows. The
larynx is moved upwards, the back of the tongue is
retracted until it tOlIches the soft palate, as in the position
fo r "k" , t h~ tong~~ 'IS hollowed, but, Instead
. of being
~~ved forward as a whole when makin!5 the "k" sound,
It IS drawn downwads as th e larynx is drawn downwards.
The lips are in the p )sition for "p". To make the sound,
the larynx and the tongue, touching the soft palate. are
s~ddenly drawn downwards and the "p" sound is made
Simultaneously with the lips.
There appear to be tlVO velar fricatives, one of which
marks the negative in verbs, this one is softer than the
other and can be indicated by the sign "gh" (~). Two exam-
ples are given herewith, "en:>=he gives" and "in:>o-h(<s):>
. "
= h e gives not • '(1)~ut = I see" and "l)kutgh (0):> = I see
b

aware of this, and indicated it by a comma at the top of the not". The other velarfricative is the Arabic (, and is found
inital "'n" ; thus "'nam - I do" (15). It would much in such words as "nukha = bend" or "utikha = a bow", and
facilitate the learning of Ibibio if this sign were dropped, can be represented by the ~ign "g.", thus "nug.o and utig.a".
and th~ "n" doubled, as was done by Goldie's colleague However, as both (S and ~' belong to the same phoneme the
Waddell, who wrote "nnam - I do" (16). the sign "IS" could do the work of both. '
In verbs whose root begins with "we", but not with In some parts, a dialectical "J" is found, and, instead
lI ye "; a weak intrusive plosive appears. Thus: "wet - to of saying "nsio-nsio, different", "nJio-nJio", is said. That
paint" but "I paint" is "l)gwet". While, "yom - I want," this dialectical "f" must have formerly extended over a
gives: "njom - I want". Where, however, the root of the wider a.rea, is shown by the fact that those persons whose
verb begins with "1)W" or "ny", no intrusive plosive appears names In Efik are written as "Esien" call themselves as
in the conjugation: thus, "I)wana" gives "nI)wana.- 1 fight" though it were written "EJien", because "esien" means an
not "I)gwana" and "nyam" gives /I nnyam - I sell" not outer yard or court. In Goldie's Dictionary, there occurs
,'njam". the word "eshl;m" (18) as a variant of "esien", showing that
The "m." sound occurs in two forms; there is the he had met this sound which is common among the Igbo.
ordinary sound as in "men - lift", and then there is the The consond.nts found to occur in Ibibio are tabulated
syllabic "m" which occurs in the first person singular of herewith:
certain ten ses, and is showll by the same sign as fvr the l~ilabial Labio- lJ~n l ai ar Post Palatal Laryn-
rlental. Alveolar. .-\h-eolar Velnf
syllabic "n" viz. "'m" e./{. "'ma nd:> - I have married", }<;xplosive
geal.
p. b. d. t. 1(. g.
whic!'! would be better written as "mma nndo", as Waddell
Implosive -
did ([7). Til is syllabic "111" occurS in a few other words, kp.
e.g. "mm ol)~water," and in ' "mmum - I groan". NagaI Ill .
- -n. - -
y.
The most difficult '>ound for the European to master is
Rolled r.
the implosive "kp". Most fail to do so correctly. The
aitllculty occutsin the management of the larynx. As fara~ Fricative f. s. (15) gh. h.
5t!tl1i-vOWel w. y. j.
too aLb cALABAit PHONETICS 101

Now attention must be focussed on the vowel system. long vowel replaces either a lost letter or a syllable and
The Ibibio vowel system is not easy to analyse, because gives as instances,:-
some form of vowel harmony is found. This harmony affects omokup (Efik) = he has heard.
the vowels in certain verbal particles which harn:onise with ookup (Ibibio) = he has heard.
the tone vowel of the verb. This harmonising is clearly obbk (Efik) = the midrib of the Raphia palm.
shown in the third person aorist of the verb; thus: :>bok (Ibibio) = the midrib of the Raphia palm.
ikpi = he cuts aba = he lives It is perhaps of interest to notice here, a peculiarity
~yip = he steals :>b:> he speaks n the small vocabulary made by chief Eyo Honesty in
Qbe = he passes by obu it rots. 1812. Words beginnina with either IIi" or "u-" , are
• b
From the above, it would appear that only the following Wrttten aspirated, -i.e. with an "h" in front. Six examples
vowels are found in the root forms of words of each are given herewith:
kpi = cut . Hittam for ltam == hat.
be == passes by e lfecat II Ikot = bush
ba = live . a lfekong II IkalJ = gun.
b:> == speak :> lfenung "Inu!) = salt.
bu = rot u lfflY<\Ql- •I I ya\( &;! fish.
I t will be noticed that these roo ts do not end in "a", wh ich lfequo Ikwo 100 /long.
is a characteristic of Bantu verbs. The vowel "0" occurs
in certain words, e.g'. "owo = man", "oku=priest"j it is
... II

lfeubok "Ub:>k "" hand.

also found in the augment of some verbs as "obu = it rots",
lfueyol1 " Uyo . ~ bread.
"odu = he exists", and "okit= he sees". This "0" is pro-
bably a derived sound from the tone vowel "u". Huepar " Ukpa <=; redwood.
Each of the vowels thus found may occur in an open lfuewong " U!)wo1) "" tobacco.
or in a closed syllable. In some instances, the accoustic Huefok " U6k ::: house.
differences between the open and the closed form is con- Hueneck (19)" Unek = dance.
siderable. The most disturbing element in the vowel harmony This aspiration was probably an attempt to emphasize the
system is a vowel whose accoustic quality rather resembles fact that these vowels were long vowels. The words are
that of the Encrlish vowel in "bird". It occurs as a third ?ot pr?nounced with an aspirate ~s written. \Vords beginn-
person, singular, particle before verbs whose roots contain Ing with the other vowels are, with few exceptions, written
the vowel "e", and, in some cases, tile vowel " i ", e.g. unaspirated. This peculiarity may have been a personal
in "abe==passes by", and in "ayip=he steals". - characteristic of his own words and speech.
Dr. Ida Ward ~as pointed out that long vowels are found The actual number of vowel sounds heard in use among
independently of those occurring as a sign of the negative, the Ibibio is shown herewith diagramatically: .
e.g. .- 1 u
8*
:~
i
nam = do,
naam = be drunk, •7 0
lwt =:i look,
6*
*2
koot ell call.
She also makes the suggestion thatt in many instat\cesj a *
5
• •4
::\

toz OI.. D CALABAR
Iyip . blood
2 l'sit heart
3 Akpa first
4 Ka go
5 fyip he steals
6 Kwo sing
7 Owo man
8 Ub:lk hand.
For orthographic purposes, it is suggested that, for
Ibibio vowels the following six letters will s'lffice: i. 8 (e),
a, 0, :l, u. The matter is under investigation. Before drawing
up for Ibibio, a set of letters that wi!l serve to represent
in a written fo rm the sounds of the spo~en language, it will
be advisable to see what has been done :with the Efik dialect • .
The alphabet for it, as selected by the Rev. H. Goldie, is as
follows: a, a, b, d, e, e, f, g, h, i, I, k, m, n, il, 0, 0,
p, q, r, s, t, u, ii, w, y,
in all, twenty-six signs. Six of these letters are distinguished
by diacritical marks. There remains yet one more diacritical
mark, a comma at the top of an "m" or "n" to indicate its
syllabic qualities. In all, eight phonemes depend for their
characterisation upon diacritical marks. Tbus, to write the
Efik language with this alphabet, twenty eight distinct
symbols are employed (20).
It is axiOinatic that diacritical marks have nothing to
recommend them. Goldie himself was oppo~ed to their use,
for, in I867, he laid it down that, in an ideal orthographic
system, there should be among other things, "no diacritical
marks, thereby facilitating the writing and reading of the
language (21). He also said, "It would perhaps be well to
adopt a different character for each distinct sou nd of the
vowel, adapting thus the phonetic system to the requirements
of the language" (22).
He, however, adopted the alphabet given above, and, '
remarking upon its imperfections, gave, as his excuse for
using it, th~ following reasons: "The proposal now offered
is Hable to the objection of making the Efik orthography
peculiar but, as we have seen, no common system prevails
Oil the coast, and tbe adoption of a peculia.r system will be
.
'PHONETICS
an inconvenience only to the few philologists who make
researches in African languages. Our language is not
cultivated by any but the age nts of the M ission of the Uliited
Presbyte rian Church of Scotla nd, nor, from its restricted
territory, is it ever likely to be cultivated out of that Mission"
(23). Today, ho\VeVf~r, things have altered, and among the ·
Ibibio, where the Church of SCQtland Miss ion is actively
carrying on work, there are at least three other important
missions also employed. At a recent language conference,
it was decided to adopt, where practicable, the phonetic
script recommend ed by the Institute of African languages
and Cultures, and the dream of Goldie, that at last a
uniform orthographic system should prevail 011 the coast,
seems likely to be fulfilled.
'Vhen we turn to the pamphlet, PracHcal Orthography
of African Languages, to select an alphabet for lbibio,
the following appears to meet present requirements:
(8) (~)
a, b, d, e, f, gh, h, i, j, Ie, m, n, I), ny, 0, :>, p, kp, r,
5, t, u, w. y.
In all, twenty-four letters and of these, three (ny, gh and kp),
are di a g-raphs composed of two signs already in use in the·'
alphabet, so that the number of signs Sufficient to write
the language is reduced to twenty-two letters, as a g ainst the
Efik twenty-eight, and no diacritical marks are used. In
writing the language economy of effort and ease of cali-
graphy are thereby secured.
To conclude, lbibio is a graphic, virile tongue, and
the question arises, . what is the future of the Efik dialect.
In 1846 the prevalent idea was that the Efik were dying out.
Daniels, in his address to the Ethnological Society, said,
"The women of Old Calabar have smaller families than
those in the interior of Africa" (24), Speaking generally
of the physiq ue of the average Efik. the Rev. W. Anderson
wrote, in 1875, " Not more than a hundred men in Henshaw
Town would have been admissible (physically) into an
English reg iment. But probably, on the other hand, not
a thousand out of the three thousand would have satisfied
a British Army Surgeon" (25). The opinion of medical
 OLD CALABAR PHONETICS I 0;;

officers: who have been in contact with the Efik for many perversity continues to speak Ibibio despite the fact that it
years, is of the same tenor, vzz. that they are dying out. has been decided that Efik is the dialect that shall be his
To-day the EHk are not numerous enough to work their standard speech and his classic authority. Apart from the
own farms, but employ others to do so. main inaccuracy that Efik is already fixed as the language for
Two quotations from the Rev. E. Smith's "Sknne oj the whole of Ibibio, two others are apparent. Efik is not a
a peopl~'s Soul," have a direct bearing on the situation. language, but a dialect of lbibio, and not a pure one at that.
"Eve'ry language is a temple in which the soul of the people Secondly, the Efik are not a tribe, not even a clan, but a
who speak, it is enshrined" (26), and the other is, ('Some mixture of many races of freeborn and of slaves. Dr. Robb,
authorities believe that a million, others five millions, would writing of a visit into the Ibibio country, remarks: "Had
con'ititute the minimum unit for a vernacular literature" (27). we Christian men of the tribe, even of Efik, to place in tht:
Yet in Vol. II. NO.4 of the quarterly "A/dca," it is recom- larger villages, they would find plenty of homeborn children
mended that Efik, the dialect of about 30,000 persons of growing up to manhood, a population living on the spot the
a mixed descent, be forced on some 650,000 pure lbibio. whole year lOund from year to year, speaking a language
The recommendation to destroy the shrine of a people's which, being no more different from Efik than Scotch is
soul is done in words that suggest it is with their full from English, they could easily read in our books as children
consent and approval. Thus, "To use Ibibio side by side in . Scotland learn to read the English Bible. No new
with Efik would mean raising an artificial barrier, where there translation is needed for Ibibio" (31).
is now unity, and it would meet with opposition from both Dr. Robb's argument is quite wrong It is Efik that
the Efik and the Ibibio people" (28). Not a single Ibibio stands to Ibibio as Scotch does to English. No one would
was consulted. dream offorcing Scotch upon the British. Again, Dr. Robb
Had such an one been asked, his answer would have spoke from only a passing acquaintance with Ibibio. In .
been that of the native whose reply is recorded in this same addition to dijferences in grammatical construction, the
article, viz. "A native pastor, in Benin, when asked about • following list of Ibibio words with their Efik equivalents
the advisibility of using Yoruba. replied, 'We prefer our will give an idea of the dissimilarity between the two dialects:
language' but the use of Yoruba in schools did not seem En glish. Ibibio. Efik.
imp)ssible to him" (29), and one may add, any more than ,--
the teaching of English would have been. The unity, that All Ofut Kpukpru
is blandly stated to exist, takes on a different aspect, when Climb Diun D:>k
it is realised that Ibibio, and not Efik, is the medium by Delay Kpene Bigi
which over thirty thousand lawsuits are determined annually. Stand aside K:>b B:>k
Another assumption is found in a brochure called, The Sweep Kw:>k Kp:>ri
Negro, where, on page 57, with reference to the work of Pour out Kupo Koi
the Rev. A. Robb, we find, "His greatest works are his Yesterday Edem usen Mkp:)t)
translation of the Old Testament and of the Pilgrim's Prog- A big man Ekandik owo Akamba owo
ress into Efik, and the testimony of their permanent worth An adolescent girl Jb:> Ikpa Dka Iferi
is that they have fixed the Efik language as the standard Calabash Ikp:>k Iko
for the whole Ibibio people of which the Efik tribe is one Nine Anal)kiet Osukiet
section" (30). Needless to say, the inarticulate Ibibio has not Shut a door Kuk K:>bi
been cOQsulted in the matter. He, however, with an invincible To be haughty Kuk S~rl,
roo OLD CALABAR PHONETICS

At the lan.guage conference held in Calabar the motion to
impose the Efik dialect on the Ibibio race was carried by
only two votes and then, only because' two members refrained
from voting. The verdict of those who have had practical
experience in the use of Efik in Ibibio territory may (32),
with some illumination, be quoted here. T he Rev. \N. J.
Wa.r d, writing in 191 I on language and religion remarked,
"A · begin ner finds the difference between book-Efik and
spoken-Efik very puzzling, and frequent'ly comes to ~ricf.
It is possible to speak book-Efik and find the congregation
has understood ab.Jut half the address (33)". Again the
Rev. J. Lul<:e, describing an address given in Efik to bush-
people, after the services of an interpreter had been secured,
wrote: "Porteous rose and gave them a paragraph in
perfectly classic Efik-how I wished I could speak the
language as he spoke it-a nd then came an awkward pause.
I asked the interpreter why he did not get going? He jumped
off his seat, and much aggrieved, appealed to the audience,
'did I not say that I could interpret this white man's Efik?'
'Well, why should he speak to me in En,g-lz'sh P' Poor
Porteous had failed. I gave him all the comfort I could"
by pointing out that our audience knew only bush Efik,
not the book kind" (34).
In view of the exp~riet1ce of the above two missionaries,
the next extract from the j,)urnal "Ajrt.'c(J" is not without a
touch of pJ.th~tic humour. " rhe lattt~r (Ibibio) are so familiar,
and so satisfied with Etlk as tileir literary language, that
they have come to look upon theirown dialect as amedium
for familiar 0[';.11 lise only" (35). As a set off to this amazing
since 1906, become so familiar with Efik as to regard it as
their literary langua~e.
It will not be out of place to close with an instance
of the classical appeal that the Efik has to the illiterate I bi bio.
The Revd. J. K. Macgregor, in his book The Negro writes:
41Everywhere in Negro Africa the people believe in God,
the Supreme ............... Amongst the Efiks, he is Ete nyin
Abasi, our Father God" (37). This statement may be correct
for the vocabulary-lacking Efik: it is quite untrue for the
Ibibio. Ete nyin Abasi is a correct transliteration for the
Christian e~pression, God our Father, but it is not a correct
translation. This term "Etenyin" was used by the local
Calabar chiefs as a description of rank. The use of this word,
and of "Edidem", as terms of rank among the Efik was
prohibited in. Gazette I df 31. I. <;>3 under the Native Courts
Proclamation 1901. Abasi as has been shown, is the name
giVf~n to the many messengers of God.
There is. of course, no need to quarrel with the Efik, if he,
through ignorance, chooses the name of a messenger to
represent the Supreme Being, but why state, therefore, that
Efik is the literary language of Ibibio.?
Specimens of words from the Ibibio Dictionary.
UBEr
I ( a door.

assurance, it is well to bear in mind that l'vlajor Leonard, - -

who, in I9')5, wa') carrying outanthropJlogical investigations "') -
in this part of the Delta, wrote as follows: "Passing over - - - - --
the Akwa and the Ibibio, a wild and truculent people about A black
EBRE a kind of yam. he plays. a dance he hugs
sl"!ake.
wh:Jm nothing is known, and from whom it was impossible
to obtain any information, it is possible, arilOng the Bonny
and Opob:J people - the original Ibani - to go back even
-
- -
farther th'1I1 in the case of the Efik, to about three or four
hUI1:1red y~ar,," (36). Tilis quotation considerably diminishes to be thick. to count. to be dirty.
the valu!! of the a,ss,\rance tha.t the illitera,te Ibibio havef B.u
J08 OlD CALABAk t09

- - -
"" -- -

AFIA
a trap. white. UltUK
pity. string.
I
:
- - - -
-
- - - - - -
ADA
a room. a friend. a barren woman. he stands, ORUK I a drinking horn. type, sort. species.

- ')
I,
( -
I
f
ADA
.- f , we give.
a thief
.- 1
! IBA -
r- ~

,
'I
- , - - -
a palm-wine - - -
pot. the heart. they close up. little. Native braid.
ESIT two the lesser Crocodile

I-a bOX'- the :~i-;;a.

OKPOlSO '-_ _ _ _-'-_ _ _ _ _ _ _......._ _ _ _ _ _.....

- - -
'I
- -
a yam stack. we look. palm-wine strainer.
bE

~
- ')
- - - -
a red tree-ant. I ask. a bleb.
MBUP

YOMO
- -
conceive . .
1- -

I make a noise.
 REFERENCES til

(22) BAIKIE, DR. W. n. lVi.tl'l'ative of an Exploring Voyage., p.438.

I~ondon, 1856.
(23) DAPPER A DJSC1'iption 0/ the Coast.~ of Africet. p. 315. 1686.
(~ -1,) Or,ARlo;, REV. J. Dietlects of Africa. London, 1849.
(25) nA!~I3<)'r, .J. A D llSC"zilt/OIl (!lthe COctsts of South Guinea. 1699.
REF ERE S'CES P AUT 1 (26) BAIKIE, DR. IV. B. Narrative of (t'~ Explorinrj V(Jyage., p. 438.
LOTliloll, 185lt
(1) HERODOTUS. ilfelpomene. xlii.
(27) DAPpglt. A Dascl'llllion of tk8 Con.~ts oj A/rica., p. 316. 1686.
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(3) LOlld ,HI, 1830

TALBO'f, P. A. Tlw Peoples of Southern Nigm·ia.
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(8) HIGUIIA~I, C. S. s. l'he L,~ !7Vard I:;land~ 1660-1688. L ondon. (31) KI:fGSLrcY, MAny IVest Afi'icnn Studies- Appendix 1., p. 4,98.
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",'
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London, 1856. ( .j,:)) GOLDIE, REV. H. Ibid.
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p. 240. Londonl 1926, Va!. vii. London. 1837.
 OLD cAi.. ABAlt
(.9) BEECROFT Journal of the Royal Geo[Jmphical Society.
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(50) CLARKE, REV. J. j)·ialects qf Africa. London. 1840. ...
(51) CLARKE, REV ,r. Ibid.
(52) BAIKIE, DR. W. B. Narrativ~ of an Exploring VO)lage.
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(53) BAIKrF:, DR. W. B. Ibid. p. 350.
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(56) GOLDm, HEV. H. Ibid p. 355.
(57)
(3) ABiUDGMENT OF THE MINUTES OF EVIDENCE llEFoim A COMMITTE~
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p. Ml. London 1856. .
W.A DDELL, REV. HOPE Twenty-nine Years ill. the "Vest Indies
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(11) " ., "" " ,,58 " "
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( 15)
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(20) - Ditto - p. 356
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(22 ) GOLDIII:, REV. H., Efik Dictionary. p. 356. Edinburgh. 1874.
·(23) ABRIDGEMENT OF THE MINUTES OF EVIDENCE m:FoRE A COMMl'l'TgE
OF THE WHOLE HOUSE. (R~fel'e'we to Slave J"rade) CAPT. JOJlN
HALL. H., 207. London. 17tHJ.
(~4) GOLDIE, R~Y. H' I B'jik Dic/iollal·i/. p. 357. Edinburgh. 1874.
 II4 OLD CALABAR P,HONETICS
(25) GOLDIE, REv. H., Efilc lJiotlonary. p. 61. Edinburgh. 18 4. (154) DAN-IELS. Journal oj the Ethnological Socioty, Vol. 1·2,
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(43) The C~ntury Diotionary, , Vol. ix, p. 203. p. 100. London. 1924.
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(46) WADDELL, H.EV. H:, 1'1l.I1lllty-lline yems etc., p. 399. (U9) BASDEN, REV, G. 1'., Among the lbos of NigM·ia. p. 182.
London 1863. London. 1921.
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