Stemming the tide of centrifugal forces in Igbo orthography

摘要

The paper deplores the increasing practice whereby individuals and groups write Igbo with orthographic conventions that deviate from those of the official Igbo (Ọnwụ) Orthography. It warns that these divergent acts are steadily dragging Igbo Orthography into a state of anarchy whose consequences could be more disastrous than those of the earlier orthography controversy of 1929–1961. The paper briefly traces the history of Igbo orthography from the earliest mention of Igbo in the sixteenth century writings of European travelers to the present times. Among its recommendations for the restoration of sanity in Igbo orthography are: the respect of the present official one until new conventions are officially agreed to and sanctioned; the revival of the Igbo Standardization Committee which formerly regulated and supervised developments in the language; the convening of an international workshop on Igbo orthography and the production of an enlarged Pan Igbo orthography for writing in dialects while the present official (Ọnwụ) orthography serves for Standard Igbo.