The Ụtụtụ Ọma Controversy: Karịama Ehi M Ga-Agbanarị M, Ka M Gbubiri Ya Ọdụ Sie Ngwọngwọ!
Conference: The 23rd Annual International Conference of the Igbo Studies Association (ISA) (2026)
Presenter(s): Obiajụlụ Emejulu
Presentation Date: May 14, 2026 @ 18:47 PM
Abstract
As someone who has lived in the Igbo heartland continuously for the past three decades and who has been actively involved in the propagation of the Igbo language, this writer argues strongly that the controversy over the increasing use of “translated greetings” in Igbo language, such as “Ụtụtụ ọma,” “ehihie ọma,” “megbede ọma,” etc., is uncalled for. He advances the Igbo proverb in the title of this paper as well as the English proverb, “Half a loaf of bread is better than none” to buttress his argument that exchanging mutually intelligible greetings in non-standard Igbo language is far better and less sacrilegious than having more than seventy percent of educated and non-educated Igbo people of all ages exchanging greetings routinely in English language in urban, semi-urban and rural areas of Ala Igbo, and in foreign spaces in the presence of non-Igbo speakers who routinely greet in their languages. Based on his personal experiences and his reading of the signs of the times, he insists that both standard and non-standard forms should be allowed to thrive, so long as they encourage more Igbo speakers to exchange greetings in Igbo.
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