The truth in Igbo cosmology

[Pastor Bros]

The truth in Igbo cosmology By Mazi Ikechukwu
Thursday, January 4, 2007

PROPER concepts in Igbo epistemology have to be defined operationally in order to be valid. The Igbos see non-operationally defined concepts as lacking meaning. The exact expression used is “ihe na-enweghi isi na odu anaghi ekwe nghota”. An ill-defined concept lacks head and tail and is therefore difficult to grasp. Such ill-defined concepts are, therefore, called “Unyo” or shadow. Unyo or shadowy concepts are inadmissible subjects of discourse among classical Igbo. This epistemological restriction makes operational conception of fundamental ideas among the traditional Igbo a functional necessity of life.


One who was fond of shadowy concepts or unyo among the classical Igbo was seen as and called an unrealistic person, ”Onye unyo”, a fool and is ignored. If he kept on, he would be ordered out “Kwuru unyo fuo”. Go away, talking shadows! The concepts of “Truth” and “Falsehood” are examples of operationally conceived ideas in the Igbo mind with physical models, which the classical Igbo easily recognised in the environment. The Igbo word for truth is ezi. Ezi means correct, ordered, positive, proper, array, rectitude, genuine, upright or valid. So, it is usually employed as a validative adjective. And so, when Ezi is employed to qualify okwu, which is the Igbo word for word or statement in the generation of compound words, eziokwu stands for valid, positive, or genuine, truthful statement.

Ezi comes from the root word “zi”. From this root, Igbo language generated words like “izi”, which means to show or to direct. Other words generated from this root word are: Onyeozi, directed-one, messenger. Ikuzi, to straighten or to beat into shape. Imezi, to rectify or to do right. Idizi, to recover or to become right. Ikozi, to explain correctly or to teach. Igbazi, to straighten or to shoot straight. Ikazi, to treat (an issue) correctly. Ihazi, to arrange or to organise. Ikpazi, to seek understanding. Idozi, to order or to arrange. Odozi, good-doer. Idazi, to fall into place. Igozi, to bless or to wish right. Iduzi to read aright or to guide. Ichizi, to rule aright. Ikwazi, to amend or to arrange properly. Inozi, to stay correctly or to align. Ziziriri, perfectly straight. And uzi, a tree; tallest and straightest tree of Igboland. Ziziriri turns out to originate from the description of the Uzi tree. And the Uzi tree is the physical Igbo picture of whatever is upright or rectitude. Uzi is the “Tree of truth”. Truth is pictured as a physical organisation symbolised by the Uzi tree. Truth is order! Truth is a world ordering thought; truth orders the world.

There is a fowl called Ayaghara by the Igbos. This fowl is employed by medicine men in the preparation of any medicine that is aimed at causing chaos. A chaotic world is to the Igbo “Uwa Yaghara-Ayagha”. That is Ayaghara-like world. There is also a yam tuber called Ayaghara that chaotically arranged and thorny leftover of sliced-up palm bunches (inflorescence) from which the fruits have been removed is called Agharigha. Agharigha also means rascality.

Igha, to scatter, links-up all chaotic processes as the Igbo see it. Such include Aghara, commotion or disorder; Agha, war; Gharagharaghara, chaos; Ghajighaji, double-dealing or unpredictable character; Ighasa, to scatter or to spread out; Ghaghagha, chaotically, barking; Igharu, to stir-up and Igha, to scatter, to spread or to lie. Ayaghaya, chaotic Devil’s dance. Ichighasa, to misrule. Yaghayagha, chaotic sound of shaken particles in tatters. Gharighari, powdery or random-motioned Yaghayaghayagha, wild appearance or unkempt dressing. Onyeaghara (contracted to onyeara), troublemaker or madman. Ighagha, to degenerate, to disassemble or to mislead. Gharii, gaseous, imponderable or incoherent. Imegha, to spoil or to damage. Igbaghasa, to blast, scatter or dismiss a gathering. Gharagharagwurugwuru, rainbow-character, evil-genius or crook. Ghajighajighaji, trickery or crookery. Usuaghara instigation of chaos, the vocation of Ekwesu or the Devil. Isuaghara, to instigate strife or to initiate war.

Other words and their meanings include: Usuuagha, commencer of war or general. Ogbaghara, social disorder. So, Igha means to scatter and also means to lie. To lie in the Igbo mind is to cause a thorough scattering or a mental disordering. Falsehood is disorder. It causes disorientation and mental chaos. The root to “gha”, the word ucha, lie or falsehood is generated just like “u” was added to “zi” to generate uzi, the tree. This is consistent with Igbo lingual practice.

The classical Igbo pictured falsehood as simulated disorder, disarray or chaos-generating expression. A liar is basically a mental chaos-generator. Just like Eziokwu is “okwu dabara adaba”. Ordering train-of-thought, falsehood, okwugha, is “okwu n’adabaghi a’daba”, a disordering train-of-thought. Falsehood disorders the world. Okwugha is the opposite of Eziokwu (we note the interesting physical reversal of positions of “gha” and “Ezi” in relation to “Okwu”, which either transform okwu to truth or to falsehood). When the words “order” and “disorder” are considered alongside each other in a binary partition system, like truth-falsehood, it is analogous to a thermodynamic two-state system. The two partitions are mutually excluding. What is located in the one cannot at the same time be located within the other. Even though the total sums in the two locations will always be the same.

If one pictures a very tall stack of coins, rising upright like uzi, the tree, to the sky, that would be the Igbo picture of ezi, the ordered and the truth. If this stack is kicked down, the resulting disordered Igbo picture of ugha is falsehood. Only guesses can be made in an ugha system, while the order in an ezi system allows prediction. It becomes logically evident that the central purpose of truth telling is to enhance the predictability of the listener. To lie is to increase unpredictability. Predictability or truth is equivalent to thermodynamic order. Unpredictability or falsehood is equivalent to thermodynamic disorder. A liar is an agent of social unpredictability. Indeed laws are but rules for predictable social interaction. And lawlessness is promotion of disorder, as law is order.

[Icegold]

interesting

[tomapep]

I enjoyed this article. In my dialect, shadow is onyinyo and glass is enyo. Wish I knew epistemology as I am so intrigued by some of the words Mazi Ikechukwu used.

[Anubis]

Very interesting.