Esan is one of the numerous
languages of the Kwa subdivision of the Niger-Congo language family, one of
Africa's largest subgroups. Unlike English, Esan is a tone language (like many
of its neighbouring settlements) not unlike Chinese. Dictionaries and grammar
texts of the Esan language are being produced, which may help the Esan
appreciate their written language. There is a large number of dialects, including Ẹkpoma, Ẹkpọn and Ohordua.
Most annual Esan Kings' Council meetings are largely conducted in English for
this reason.
Linguistic finding has shown
the word ‘gbe’ to have the highest number of usages in Esan, with up to 76 different
meanings in a normal dictionary. Names starting with the prefixes Ọsẹ; Ẹhi, Ẹhiz
or Ẹhis; and Okoh (for male), Ọmọn (for female) are the commonest in Esan: Ẹhizọkhae,
Ẹhizojie, Ẹhinọmẹn, Ẹhimanre, Ẹhizẹle, Ẹhimẹn, Ẹhikhayimẹntor, Ẹhikhayimẹnle, Ẹhijantor,
etc; Ọsẹmundiamẹn, Ọsẹmhẹngbe, etc; Okosun, Okojie, Okodugha, Okoemu, Okouromi,
Okougbo, Okoepkẹn, Okoror, Okouruwa, etc. To any Oko-, 'Ọm-' the suffix of the
name can be added to arrive of the female version e.g. Ọmosun, Ọmuromi, etc.
NOUNS
All Esan nouns begin with
vowel letters (i.e. a, e, ẹ, i, o, ọ, u):
aru, eko, ẹbho, itohan, ozẹ, ọrhia, uze, etc. Due to the influence of
neighbouring tongues and Western languages, especially English, there is the
tendency among Esan to pronounce many non-Esan nouns beginning with a consonant
letter. In the event of such within the boundary of Esan write-up, an
apostrophe may be employed before the first consonant letter both to Esanize and
ease the pronunciation. In speech however such apostrophe is often pronounced
as ‘i’ /i: /: ’bazaar, ’Jonah, ’labour, ’zoo, etc.
Each Esan noun ends in either
a vowel letter (e.g. ato, Ẹkpoma, uri, oya) or the
vowel-associated letter ‘n’: agbọn, eran, ẹnyẹn, itọn, isẹn,
etc. Exception to this rule is the writing of proper nouns where a name can end
in letter ‘r’ always after a letter ‘ọ’ to make it sound like ‘or’ in English
as well as the use of letter ‘h’ after a letter ‘o’ to make it sound as ‘oh’ in
English: Isibor, Oko'ror, Okoh, Okoọboh, etc.
In nouns, following the first
vowel letter is always a second consonant letter: ahoho, avan, ilo,
udia. For the expression of a feminine gender, the second consonant
letter following a vowel letter is doubled: ahhihi (=female ant), ọsshọ
(=female friend), ọrrhia (=female person), etc. This gender-sensitive
style is better understood by French speakers, who usually differentiate
genders – masculine, feminine, neuter. Exception to this rule has to do with
certain nouns that consist of vowel letters only e.g. 'oẹ' (leg, plural 'ae'), 'oo' (mother), 'uu' (death),
etc.
Pluralization in Esan is of two
forms, the first of which has to do with nouns that have original plural forms,
in which case the first letter is replaced/displaced by another letter:
Ọmọn (baby), Imọn (babies);
Ọmọle (man, male), Imọle (men, males);
Okpea (man), ikpea (men);
Okhuo (woman, female), Ikhuo
(women, females);
Ọshọ, ọmuọe (friend), ishọ, imuọe (friends);
Obhio (relation), ibhio
(relations);
Obhokhan (child), ibhokhan
(children);
Oghian (enemy), ighian
(enemies);
Usẹnbhokhan (boy), isẹnbhokhan
(boys);
Ọmamhẹn, ọmọhin (girl), imamhẹn, imọhin (girls);
Ọwanlẹn (elder, adult), iwanlẹn (elders, adults);
Ọrhia (person), erhia
(persons);
Ọbo (doctor), ebo
(doctors);
Ebo (English citizen), Ibo
(English citizens);
Obọ (arm), abọ (arms);
Oẹ (leg), ae (legs);
Use (nail), ise (nails);
Udo (stone), ido
(stones)
The second has to do, not with
the above which have original plural form but, with a large number of other
nouns which do not. In this case, a suffix (as the use of ’s’ in English) is
used by adding it to the noun in question, but without a change in
pronunciation. For example:
Uwaebe (school), uwaebeh
(schools);
Eran (stick), eranh
(sticks);
Emhin (something), emhinh
(some things)
Sentence Order
The use of Esan is open to three
orders or arrangements: (subject-verb-object (SVO), object-subject-verb (OSV),
and object-verb-subject (OVS)) to express themselves Okoh ’h gbi ele (SVO).
Okoh imẹn ddaghe (OSV). Ena yẹ imẹn (OVS). SVO is commonest and most employed.
The use of OVS is restricted to a limited number of grammatical constructions.
Verbs
All Esan verbs start with consonant
letters and end in either vowel letter or the vowel associated letter ‘n’: bi,
dẹ, fan, hẹn, lolo, etc. In expressing the past, doubling of initial letter of
a verb takes place such that ‘bi’ changes to ‘bbi’ and ‘hẹn’ becomes ‘hhẹn’. A
verb can also begin with a diphthong: khian, gbe, bhanbhan. The formation of
past tense in this case is not different: kkhian, ggbe, etc. Some Esan dialect
such as Uzea makes use of ‘ah’ (or ’h) to show present participle (as in “He is
going home.”). Although this is absent in majority of Esan dialects, it is used
and placed before the main verb when writing: Ele ’h khọa = They’re having
bath.
Adjective
An Esan adjective, as does an
English adjective, modifies a noun or pronoun. That is, it gives more
information about a noun or pronoun and makes its meaning more specific. It can
appear before or after a noun. The only difference between Esan and English
adjectives is that like Japanese, some Esan adjectives are verb-like in that
they inflect to show tenses: Ele mhẹnmhin. = They are good. // Ele mmhẹnmhin. =
They were good. The doubling of the initial letter of the adjective 'mhẹnmhin
(good)' like verbs, clearly demonstrates this point. Esan adjectives are of two
distinct types: ‘word adjective’ and ‘phrasal adjective’.
Word Adjective
A word adjective is an adjective
consisting of a single word: esi, khọlọ, hu, jian, etc. This form of adjective
is subdivided into five types: pre-noun adjective, post-noun adjective, numeral
adjective, nounal adjective, and restricted adjective. A pre-noun adjective
appears only before the noun it modifies, provides information about the noun’s
size and/or quantity, and they start with a vowel letter: ukpomin, ekitui,
udede, ikwẹkwi, etc. These adjectives are not subject to the law of tenses and
do not take the suffix ‘mhin’. A post-noun adjective comes immediately after
the noun it modifies: khọlọ, khọriọn, fuọ, ba, to, han, lẹnlẹn, bhihi, hu,
khisin, khere, re(le) (far), re (deep), re (grown up), re (well attended), bue,
tan, etc. These adjectives are subject to the law of tenses such that they are
used to reflect time (e.g. “Okoh rẹ kkhọriọn.” = "Okoh is ugly.").
Except the adjective ‘khọriọn’,
all others can be used with the suffix ‘mhin’, and (‘ebe’ and ‘esi’ which are
also called noun adjectives) they all start with consonant letters. A numeral
adjective is one that can be used to answer such question as “how many?”: ọkpa,
eva, ea, igbe, etc. Because they are also nouns, they all start with vowel
letters. They are neither subject to the law of tenses nor can they be used
with the suffix ‘mhin’. A nounal or noun adjective is one that comes before a
noun and can easily be manipulated to become a noun in usage: esi, ebe. It can
neither be used with ‘mhin’ nor are they subject to tense law. A restricted
adjective is one that can only be used with a particular noun e.g. ‘bhibhi’ in
'ewewẹ bhibhi' (early morning).
Some adjectives that can be
placed under the word adjective are adjectives that are formed from the
doubling of a word adjective: fanọn-fanọn (unkempt; untidy), rughu-rughu or
ragha-ragha (disorderly), sankan-sankan (muddy and rough), yagha-yagha
(untidy), kpadi-kpadi (rough or even), ose-ose (beautiful). This system can
also be used thus: fanọn/2, yagha/2, kpadi/2, sankan/2, ose/2, etc.
Phrasal adjective.
A phrasal adjective is one that
consists of more than one word; it is made up of a phrase. More often than not,
an adjectival phrase usually contains either a noun + verb or an
adjective+preposition+noun which combine to perform the work of an adjective.
Some common examples are: rui ẹlo (blind), yi ehọ (deaf, rebellious), di ọmalẹn
(old, senile), di itọn a (wretched), bhọn ose (beautiful), fi ahiẹ a (serene),
fua amẹn (light-complexioned), ba bhi egbe (painful), mhẹn bhi egbe (body-friendly),
mhẹn bhi unu (sweet), mhẹn bhi ẹlo (beautiful or not offensive to sight), mhẹn
bhi ihue (not offensive to the nose), mhẹn bhi ehọ (not offensive to the ear),
khọ bhi unu (unpalatable; offensive), khọ bhi egbe (unbearable), etc.
Below are some Esan adjectives
and their meanings (and those that can be used with the suffix ‘mhin’ are
shown. The addition of the suffix 'mhin' to a word turns it from adjective to
noun just as the suffix 'ness' in English does.)
Ukpomin (little), ekitui (many; much),
Udede (big), ikwẹkwi
(tiny; trivial),
Khisin-mhin (small; diminutive),
Khere-mhin (small; little),
Hu-mhin (big; foamy),
Khuẹlẹ-mhin (slim),
Re-mhin (far; deep; well attended; grown up),
Dia-mhin (straight; appropriate),
Bhala-mhin (light-complexioned),
Bhia-mhin (large, spacious),
Riẹriẹ-mhin (smooth),
Rẹrẹ-mhin (restless),
Kpoloa (smooth),
Gọ-mhin (crooked)
Kpono-mhin (slippery),
Kwọn (slippery; slimy),
To-mhin (irritating),
Kpọ-mhin (widespread),
Khia-mhin (holy, righteous),
Fu-mhin (peaceful),
Bhiẹlẹ-mhin (lazy),
Fa-mhin (dirt-free, clean),
Lẹ-mhin (scarce),
Tua-mhin (quick),
Zaza-mhin (skilful),
Sun-mhin (slimy),
Kholo (spherical),
Hian-mhin (efficacious; alcoholic),
Nwun-mhin or mun-mhin
(sharp; alcoholic),
Khọlọ-mhin (bad; painful),
Sẹ-ẹ (ordinary),
Nọghọ-mhin (difficult),
Kpataki (real),
Lo-mhin (inexpensive; deep),
Khua-mhin (heavy; hot),
Tọnọ-mhin (itchy),
Luẹn (ripe),
Khekhea (sour),
Riala-mhin (bitter),
Fua-mhin (white),
Bhihi-mhin (black; dark-complexioned),
Kẹnkẹn-mhin (multicoloured),
Kọnkọn (fat),
Kaka-mhin (hard; serious),
Toto-mhin (serious; taut),
Ghan-mhin (costly),
Ghantoa (costly),
Wualan-mhin (wise),
Sọnọ-mhin (offensive),
Lẹkhẹ-mhin (soft),
Khẹrẹ-khẹrẹ (muddy),
Gban-a (expansive),
Tan-mhin (tall; elegant),
Guẹguẹ (ingratiating),
Mhẹn-mhin (good),
Lẹnlẹn-mhin (sweet),
Zeze-mhin (strong),
Wo-mhin (powerful; mature),
Bie (cooked or done),
Fe-mhin (wealthy);
Fanọn-fanọn (unkempt; untidy),
Rughu-rughu or ragha-ragha
(disorderly),
Sankan-sankan (muddy and rough),
Yagha-yagha (untidy);
Rui ẹlo (blind),
Yi ehọ (deaf, rebellious),
Di ọmalẹn (old, senile),
Di itọn a (wretched),
Bhọn ose (beautiful),
Fi ahiẹ a (serene),
Fua amẹn (light-complexioned),
Ba bhi egbe (painful),
Mhẹn bhi egbe (body-friendly),
Mhẹn bhi unu (sweet),
Mhẹn bhi ẹlo (beautiful or not offensive to sight),
Mhẹn bhi ihue (not offensive to the nose),
Mhẹn bhi ehọ (not offensive to the ear),
Khọ bhi unu (unpalatable; offensive),
Khọ bhi egbe (unbearable), etc.
Determiner
‘ọni’ in Esan
is equivalent to ‘the’ (as singular)
in English: ọni emhin = the thing
‘eni’ in Esan
is equivalent to ‘the’ (as plural)
in English: eni emhinh = the things
‘ni’ in Esan
is equivalent to ‘that’ in English:
emhin ni or ọni emhin ni
‘na’ in Esan
is equivalent to ‘this’ in English:
emhin na or ọni emhin na
In the determiner phrases below, the determiners are in
boldface:
‘ukpi’ (pl. ‘ikpi’) in Esan is equivalent to
the indefinite article ‘a’/‘an’ in English:
ukpi
ẹmhin = a thing
ikpi
emhinh = ... things
‘ọsoso’ (pl.
‘esoso’) in Esan is equivalent to ‘any’ in English:
emhin
ọsoso = any thing
emhinh
esoso any things
‘eso’
/ayso/ in Esan is equivalent to ‘some’ in English:
emhinh
eso = some things
‘ikpeta’ in Esan
is equivalent to ‘few’ in English:
ikpeta
emhinh = few things
‘nekirẹla’ in Esan
is equivalent to ‘whoever’/‘whichever’ in English:
emhin
nekirẹla = whatever thing
‘erebhe’ in Esan
is equivalent to ‘all’ in English:
emhin
erebhe = all things
‘eveva’ in Esan
is equivalent to ‘both’ in English:
Emhinh
eveva = both things
‘ekitui’ in Esan
is equivalent to ‘many’ in English:
ekitui
emhinh = many things
WPPRAISE
Editor-In-Chief/Publisher
WPPRAISE
Editor-In-Chief/Publisher