This article is based on my O-level academic knowledge in the Igbo language, my observations, and knowledge as a native speaker, my experience as an Igbo language tutor of five years who has helped learners sound better and make clear conversations.
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My expectations from Verb inflections in the dictionary was to see the different verb tenses in the Igbo language written in their most accurate forms as regards:
I found out that some of the verbs do not follow their natural patterns in terms of conjugation, tones, and vowel harmony.
NB: Each Igbo language verb is either passive or active and each category follows a unique conjugation pattern. Each Igbo language tense has a consistent tonal mark for all verbs. Except, sometimes, compound verbs.
Future perfect and Future perfect continuous tenses were added which I am unable to figure out the context in which they fit.
The word "Inflections" was used which I did not quickly realize was conjugations or tenses. Maybe just me. LOL
Due to the errors, the verbs do not really reflect their natural usage. This means that users will find it confusing especially people who wish to use tones to know how to pronounce verbs they have never heard before. Also, native speakers will find it difficult to pronounce the verbs since the vowel combinations don't feel natural.
Example: In this screenshot below, we can see that the imperative has the wrong vowel as it's prefix. Due to ọ (light vowel) in chọ, the prefix required to make the verb imperative is expected to be Ị (light vowel). So, we should have "Ịchọ ego" and not "Ichọ ego". This also happened to "echọla" which should be "achọla" and "na-echọ" which should be "na-achọ".
Also, I am not sure if tone marks were actually applied on these verbs. Maybe, they are all intended to be high tones? If so, then that is not correct for these tenses. They all should have unique tones.
Having to click and view the verbs in a different dialogue box, I wished there was a way to see everything in a place.
PASSIVE VERBS: Tenses: Infinitive(Ị́nọ̀), Command(nọ̀rọ́), Past(nọ̀rọ̀), Present(nọ̀), Continuous(nà-ánọ̀), Future(gà-ánọ̀).