Esan language

Esan
Ishan
Native to	Nigeria
Ethnicity	Esan people
Native speakers	300,000 (1994)[1]
Language family	Niger窶鼎ongo Atlantic窶鼎ongo Volta窶哲iger yeai Edoid North Central Edo窶摘san窶徹ra Esan
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ish
Glottolog	esan1238[2]

Esan is a tonal Edoid language of Nigeria. Dictionaries and grammar texts of the Esan language are being produced. There is a high level of illiteracy among the Esan, and a large number of dialects, including 蘯ｸkpoma, Ewohimi, 蘯ｸkp盻肱, and Ohordua. Most annual Esan Kings' Council meetings are largely conducted in English for this reason. However, the Esan language has been described as regionally important. It is taught in schools throughout Esanland, and Esan language radio and television is prevalent.

Linguistic finding has shown the word 窶枠be窶� to have the highest number of usages in Esan, with up to 76 different meanings in a normal dictionary. Names starting with the prefixes 盻茎蘯ｹ; 蘯ｸhi, 蘯ｸhiz or 蘯ｸhis; and Okoh (for male), 盻稽盻肱 (for female) are the commonest in Esan: 蘯ｸhiz盻耕hae, 蘯ｸhizojie, 蘯ｸhin盻肯蘯ｹn, 蘯ｸhimanre, 蘯ｸhiz蘯ｹle, 蘯ｸhim蘯ｹn, 蘯ｸhikhayim蘯ｹntor, 蘯ｸhikhayim蘯ｹnle, 蘯ｸhijantor,Ehicheoya etc.; 盻茎蘯ｹmundiam蘯ｹn, 盻茎蘯ｹmh蘯ｹngbe, etc.; Okosun, Okojie, Okodugha, Okoemu, Okouromi,Okoukoni, Okougbo, Okoepk蘯ｹn, Okoror, Okouruwa, Oriaifo etc. To any Oko-, '盻稽-' the suffix of the name can be added to arrive of the female version e.g. 盻稽osun, 盻稽uromi, etc.

Alphabet

Esan uses several alphabets, Romanized Esan being the most commonly used with a total number of 25 letters:

a, b, d, e, 蘯ｹ, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, 盻�, p, r, s, t, u, v, w, y, z.

The digraph consists of 10 sets of double letters:

bh, gb, gh, kh, kp, kw (rarely used), mh, nw, ny, sh.

e.g.

• Bhi, Ibha,

• Gbe, Agba

• Gha, Ughe

• Khu, Akhu蘯ｹ

• Kpa, 蘯ｸkpoma

• Emhin

• Nw蘯ｹn

• Ny蘯ｹn

• Shi

• A E E I O O U

Nouns

All Esan nouns begin with vowel letters (i.e. a, e, 蘯ｹ, i, o, 盻�, u): aru, eko, 蘯ｹbho, itohan, oz蘯ｹ, 盻荒hia, 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 窶亙窶� /i:/: 窶冀azaar, 窶價onah, 窶冤abour, 窶凛oo, etc.

Each Esan noun ends in either a vowel letter (e.g. ato, 蘯ｸkpoma, uri, oya) or the vowel-associated letter 窶蕨窶�: agb盻肱, eran, 蘯ｹny蘯ｹn, it盻肱, is蘯ｹn, etc. Exception to this rule is the writing of proper nouns where a name can end in letter 窶腕窶� always after a letter 窶倔ｻ坂€� to make it sound like 窶椀r窶� in English as well as the use of letter 窶鷲窶� after a letter 窶椀窶� to make it sound as 窶椀h窶� in English: Isibor, Oko'ror, Okoh, Oko盻甲oh, 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), 盻�ssh盻� (=female friend), 盻�rrhia (=female person), etc. This gender-sensitive style is better understood by French speakers, who usually differentiate genders 窶� masculine, feminine, neuter. Exception to this rule has to do with certain nouns that consist of vowel letters only e.g. 'o蘯ｹ' (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:

盻肯盻肱 (baby), im盻肱 (babies); 盻肯盻考e (man, male), im盻考e (men, males); okpea (man), ikpea (men); okhuo (woman, female), ikhuo (women, females); 盻行h盻�, 盻肯u盻稿 (friend), ish盻�, imu盻稿 (friends); obhio (relation), ibhio (relations); obhokhan (child), ibhokhan (children); oghian (enemy), ighian (enemies); us蘯ｹnbhokhan (boy), is蘯ｹnbhokhan (boys); 盻肯amh蘯ｹn, 盻肯盻紘in (girl), imamh蘯ｹn, im盻紘in (girls); 盻購anl蘯ｹn (elder, adult), iwanl蘯ｹn (elders, adults); 盻荒hia (person), erhia (persons); 盻甲o (doctor), ebo (doctors); Ebo (English citizen), Ibo (English citizens); ob盻� (arm), ab盻� (arms); o蘯ｹ (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)

Pronouns

All Esan pronouns have plural forms different from singular, but both subject and object cases do not differ: All Esan pronouns have plural forms different from singular, and both subject and object cases are the same:

Singular Plural im蘯ｹn (I, me), iman (we, us); uw蘯ｹ (you) ibha, (you, or Pidgin English 窶�una窶�); 盻考e (he, him), ele (they, them); 盻考le (she, her), elle (they, them); 盻紘le (it), ehle (they, them); 窶�, Aah; otuan [preceding figure(s)], ituan [preceding figure(s)]; ukp盻考e ikp盻考e,

(窶連ah窶�, 窶椀tuan窶� and 窶�ukp盻考e窶� have no English equivalent, and while 窶連ah窶� can only be used as subject, 窶椀tuan窶� and 窶�ukp盻考e窶� can be used in both ways: Otuan 盻耕pa ni ele dia; Dati ituan eva re. Ukp盻考e 盻耕pa ribh盻�. Jia ikp盻考e ea re. Note that 窶椀tuan窶� (pl. ituan) is used for humans, 窶�ukp盻考e窶� (pl. ikp盻考e) is used for non-humans and 窶連ah窶� depends on the context in which it is used.)

Sentence order

The use of Esan is open to three orders or arrangements: (subject窶砺erb窶登bject (SVO), object窶都ubject窶砺erb (OSV), and object窶砺erb窶都ubject (OVS)) to express themselves Okoh 窶冑 gbi ele (SVO). Okoh im蘯ｹn ddaghe (OSV). Ena y蘯ｹ im蘯ｹn (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 窶蕨窶�: bi, d蘯ｹ, fan, h蘯ｹn, lolo, etc. In expressing the past, doubling of initial letter of a verb takes place such that 窶話i窶� changes to 窶話bi窶� and 窶鷲蘯ｹn窶� becomes 窶鷲h蘯ｹn窶�. 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 窶和h窶� (or 窶冑) to show present participle (as in 窶廩e is going home.窶�). Although this is absent in majority of Esan dialects, it is used and placed before the main verb when writing: Ele 窶冑 kh盻溝 = They窶决e having bath.

Adjectives

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 mh蘯ｹnmhin. = They are good. // Ele mmh蘯ｹnmhin. = They were good. The doubling of the initial letter of the adjective 'mh蘯ｹnmhin (good)' like verbs, clearly demonstrates this point. Esan adjectives are of two distinct types: 窶�word adjective窶� and 窶湾hrasal adjective窶�.

Word adjective.

A word adjective is an adjective consisting of a single word: esi, kh盻考盻�, 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窶冱 size and/or quantity, and they start with a vowel letter: ukpomin, ekitui, udede, ikw蘯ｹkwi, etc. These adjectives are not subject to the law of tenses and do not take the suffix 窶藁hin窶�. A post-noun adjective comes immediately after the noun it modifies: kh盻考盻�, kh盻荒i盻肱, fu盻�, ba, to, han, l蘯ｹnl蘯ｹn, 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. 窶廾koh r蘯ｹ kkh盻荒i盻肱.窶� = "Okoh is ugly.").

Except the adjective 窶鰐h盻荒i盻肱窶�, all others can be used with the suffix 窶藁hin窶�, and (窶脇be窶� and 窶脇si窶� 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 窶徂ow many?窶�: 盻耕pa, 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 窶藁hin窶�. 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 窶藁hin窶� nor are they subject to tense law. A restricted adjective is one that can only be used with a particular noun e.g. 窶話hibhi窶� in 'ewew蘯ｹ 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: fan盻肱-fan盻肱 (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: fan盻肱/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 蘯ｹlo (blind), yi eh盻� (deaf, rebellious), di 盻肯al蘯ｹn (old, senile), di it盻肱 a (wretched), bh盻肱 ose (beautiful), fi ahi蘯ｹ a (serene), fua am蘯ｹn (light-complexioned), ba bhi egbe (painful), mh蘯ｹn bhi egbe (body-friendly), mh蘯ｹn bhi unu (sweet), mh蘯ｹn bhi 蘯ｹlo (beautiful or not offensive to sight), mh蘯ｹn bhi ihue (not offensive to the nose), mh蘯ｹn bhi eh盻� (not offensive to the ear), kh盻� bhi unu (unpalatable; offensive), kh盻� bhi egbe (unbearable), etc.

Below are some Esan adjectives and their meanings (and those that can be used with the suffix 窶藁hin窶� 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), ikw蘯ｹkwi (tiny; trivial), khisin-mhin (small; diminutive), khere-mhin (small; little), hu-mhin (big; foamy), khu蘯ｹl蘯ｹ-mhin (slim), re-mhin (far; deep; well attended; grown up), dia-mhin (straight; appropriate), bhala-mhin (light-complexioned), bhia-mhin (large, spacious), ri蘯ｹri蘯ｹ-mhin (smooth), r蘯ｹr蘯ｹ-mhin (restless), kpoloa (smooth), g盻�-mhin (crooked) kpono-mhin (slippery), kw盻肱 (slippery; slimy), to-mhin (irritating), kp盻�-mhin (widespread), khia-mhin (holy, righteous), fu-mhin (peaceful), bhi蘯ｹl蘯ｹ-mhin (lazy), fa-mhin (dirt-free, clean), l蘯ｹ-mhin (scarce), tua-mhin (quick), zaza-mhin (skilful), sun-mhin (slimy), kholo (spherical), hian-mhin (efficacious; alcoholic), nwun-mhin or mun-mhin (sharp; alcoholic), kh盻考盻�-mhin (bad; painful), s蘯ｹ-蘯ｹ (ordinary), n盻紅h盻�-mhin (difficult), kpataki (real), lo-mhin (inexpensive; deep), khua-mhin (heavy; hot), t盻肱盻�-mhin (itchy), lu蘯ｹn (ripe), khekhea (sour), riala-mhin (bitter), fua-mhin (white), bhihi-mhin (black; dark-complexioned), k蘯ｹnk蘯ｹn-mhin (multicoloured), k盻肱k盻肱 (fat), kaka-mhin (hard; serious), toto-mhin (serious; taut), ghan-mhin (costly), ghantoa (costly), wualan-mhin (wise), s盻肱盻�-mhin (offensive), l蘯ｹkh蘯ｹ-mhin (soft), kh蘯ｹr蘯ｹ-kh蘯ｹr蘯ｹ (muddy), gban-a (expansive), tan-mhin (tall; elegant), gu蘯ｹgu蘯ｹ (ingratiating), mh蘯ｹn-mhin (good), l蘯ｹnl蘯ｹn-mhin (sweet), zeze-mhin (strong), wo-mhin (powerful; mature), bie (cooked or done), fe-mhin (wealthy); fan盻肱-fan盻肱 (unkempt; untidy), rughu-rughu or ragha-ragha (disorderly), sankan-sankan (muddy and rough), yagha-yagha (untidy); rui 蘯ｹlo (blind), yi eh盻� (deaf, rebellious), di 盻肯al蘯ｹn (old, senile), di it盻肱 a (wretched), bh盻肱 ose (beautiful), fi ahi蘯ｹ a (serene), fua am蘯ｹn (light-complexioned), ba bhi egbe (painful), mh蘯ｹn bhi egbe (body-friendly), mh蘯ｹn bhi unu (sweet), mh蘯ｹn bhi 蘯ｹlo (beautiful or not offensive to sight), mh蘯ｹn bhi ihue (not offensive to the nose), mh蘯ｹn bhi eh盻� (not offensive to the ear), kh盻� bhi unu (unpalatable; offensive), kh盻� bhi egbe (unbearable), etc.

Determiners

窶倔ｻ肱i窶� in Esan is equivalent to 窶�the窶� (as singular) in English: 盻肱i emhin = the thing

窶脇ni窶� in Esan is equivalent to 窶�the窶� (as plural) in English: eni emhinh = the things

窶蕨i窶� in Esan is equivalent to 窶�that窶� in English: emhin ni or 盻肱i emhin ni

窶蕨a窶� in Esan is equivalent to 窶�this窶� in English: emhin na or 盻肱i emhin na

In the determiner phrases below, the determiners are in boldface:

窶�ukpi窶� (pl. 窶亙kpi窶�) in Esan is equivalent to the indefinite article 窶和窶�/窶和n窶� in English:

ukpi 蘯ｹmhin = a thing

ikpi emhinh = ... things

窶倔ｻ行oso窶� (pl. 窶脇soso窶�) in Esan is equivalent to 窶和ny窶� in English:

emhin 盻行oso = any thing

emhinh esoso any things

窶脇so窶� /ayso/ in Esan is equivalent to 窶�some窶� in English:

emhinh eso = some things

窶亙kpeta窶� in Esan is equivalent to 窶惑ew窶� in English:

ikpeta emhinh = few things

窶蕨ekir蘯ｹla窶� in Esan is equivalent to 窶�whoever窶�/窶�whichever窶� in English:

emhin nekir蘯ｹla = whatever thing

窶脇rebhe窶� in Esan is equivalent to 窶和ll窶� in English:

emhin erebhe = all things

窶脇veva窶� in Esan is equivalent to 窶話oth窶� in English:

Emhinh eveva = both things

窶脇kitui窶� in Esan is equivalent to 窶藁any窶� in English:

ekitui emhinh = many things

Esan are traditionally Pagans following Traditional Religion.

References

1. Esan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarstrﾃｶm, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Esan". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.