This article defines the parts of speech available in the dictionary. This will help in the accurate classification of the words to be edited.
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Igbo is a dynamic language that has multiple parts of speech beyond the English language’s parts of speech. This table breaks down each part of speech present within the Igbo language alongside descriptions to explain the nature of each part of speech.
| Active Part of Speech | Alternative Label | Code Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominal | Noun | NNC | Act a subject or object of a sentence. It can also be, for a phrase, a descriptor for another noun |
| Name/Proper nominal | NNP | Name is what a person/place is uniquely called. Eg. Chiọma, Ezenwa, Naịjiria, Amerịka, etc. | |
| Object pronominal | OBJP | ||
| Subject pronominal | SUBP | A pronoun is a word you can use to replace a noun. Eg. M, Mụ, I, Ị, Gị, Anyị, etc. | |
| Adjectival nominal | normal modifier | ADJN | |
| Adverbial nominal | ADVN | An adverb describes how or the extent to which a verb is performed. Eg. nwayọnwayọ, Ikiike, Ọsịịsọ | |
| Suffixing dynamic verb | SDV | An active verb is a verb that is pure action. Can be stopped and started instantly. Grammatically, it has a clear present/ongoing action. Eg ‘gba’, ‘ri’, ‘ga’ etc can be in the clear present/ongoing form ‘na-agba’, ‘na-eri’, ‘ga-aga’. | |
| Non-Suffixing dynamic verb | NSDV | ||
| Classic stative verb | CLSV | ||
| Copular stative verb | COSV | ||
| Auxiliary verb | AUXV | ||
| Verbid | VRD | ||
| Inflectional prefix | IPRE | ||
| Inflectional suffix | ISUF | Explainable parts of a verb that an attached, especially at the beginning of a verb, to create a tense for the verb. They can occur in other contexts as an entirely different part of speech. Eg. I, Ị, O, Ọ, A, E, N, M, Na-, Ga-. | |
| Extensional suffix | ESUF | Suffixes attached at the end of a verb to add more meaning to the verbs. They also tend to retain their idea when on their own. Some of them stem from other verbs. Eg. -kwa, -rịrị, -ghị, -la, -kwu, -ju, -pụ, etc. | |
| Adjective | ADJ | An adjective describes a noun. It explains how a noun is. | |
| Conjunction | CJN | A conjunction joins or links two words or two sentences. Eg. Na(And,That), Maka, Ka(That). | |
| Demonstrative | DEM | A demonstrative word is a pointing word. It shows. Eg. A, Ahụ, Nke, ugbua | |
| Enclitic | ECLC | (kwà, nụ, tụ, etc.) | |
| Proclitic | PCLC | ||
| Ideophone | IDP | ||
| Interjection | INTJ | These are exclamative words. Eg. Ewoo! Okokokoo! Olooo! Chaị! Ee! Mba! | |
| Interrogative | WH | The typical question tags. Eg. Kedụ?, Ebee?, Olee?, Gịnị?, Ole?. | |
| Number | NUM | What any digit or group of digits is called. Otu, Abụọ, Atọ. | |
| Quantifier | QTF | A word that shows the amount of something. Niile, Ụfọdụ, Imeriime. | |
| Preposition | PREP | This is that word you mention before a location time or person. They cannot just exist on their own. A noun must come before them Eg. Na(In, On, At), mgbe/oge, elu, okpuru, Akụkụ. | |
| Propositional phrase | PREPP | ||
| Punctuations | PUNC | These are punctuation marks used in the Igbo language. |
| Machine Learning Part of Speech | Alternative Label | Code Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object nominal | OBJN | ||
| Inflectional Infix | IINF | ||
| Extensional Infix | EINF | ||
| Extensional Prefix | EPRE |
| Deprecated Part of Speech | Status | Code Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borrowed Term | BT | A word that is known to not be an Igbo word. Mostly does not follow the Igbo words formation pattern. | |
| Medial Verb | Equal to a classic stative verb | MV | A medial verb is a verb with two present tense concepts. One is inactive/stative, while the other is progressive/active. In their present inactive state, they are written like past tenses while in their present active state, they are written like the present tense of active verbs ie with the ‘na-’. Eg. the verbs ‘Ịma’ has both ‘mara’ and ‘na-ama’ as its present tenses eg. Ọ mara mma = It is beautiful and Ọ na-ama mma = It is getting beautiful. ‘Ịkarị’ has both ‘karịrị’ and ‘na-akarị’ as its present tenses eg. Ọ karịrị ụkwụ m = It is bigger than my feet and Ọ na-akarị ụkwụ m = It is getting bigger than my feet. ‘Inwe’ has both ‘nwere’ and ‘na-enwe’ as its present tenses eg O nwere isiowuwa = He has headache and Ọ na-enwe isiọwụwa = Is is having headache. |
| Nominal Modifier | Adjectival | NM | @Anonymous Terms that act similar to the English adjective and noun. They are described as nominal modifiers since they are technically nouns that provide details like adjectives. |
| Nominal | Noun | NNC | Act a subject or object of a sentence. It can also be, for a phrase, a descriptor for another noun |
| Passive Verb | Equal to a copular stative verb | PV | A passive verb is an action that tends to be mostly a situation/state. It is not performative. Its command is always spelled like past tense, though toned like a command while its present tense is always its root. Eg. ‘bụ’, ‘nọ’, ‘bi’ etc are conditions/states and their command forms are ‘bụ̀rụ́’, ‘nọ̀rọ́’, ‘bìrí’ while their present is ‘bụ’, ‘nọ’, ‘bi’, respectively. |
A Grammar of Contemporary Igbo
| Active Word Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| Standard | |
| Informal/Slang | |
| Loanword/Borrowed Term | |
| Deprecated Word Attribute | Description |
| Commonly Used |
Non-Standard (?)*