Things Fall Apart Vocabulary

agadi-nwayi

old woman

agbala

woman; man wih no title

chi

personal god

efulefu

worthless man

egwugwu

a masquerader who impersonates one of the ancestral spirit of the village

ekwe

a musical instrument; a type of drum made from wood

eneke-nti-oba

a kind of bird

eze-agadi-nwayi

the teeth of an old woman

iba

fever

ilo

the village green, where assemblies for sports, discussions, etc., take place

inyanga

showing off, bragging

isa-ifi

a ceremony. If a wife has been seperated from her husband for some time and were then to be re-united with him, this ceremony would be held to ascertain that she had not been unfaithful to him during the time of their separation

iyi-uwa

a special kind of stone which forms the link between an obanje and the spirt world. Only if the iyi-uwa were discovered and destroyed would the child not die

jigida

a string of waist-beads

kotma

court messenger. The word is not of Ibo origin but is a corruption of ‘court messenger’

kwenu

a shout of approval and greeting

ndichie

elders

nna ayi

our father

nno

welcome

nso-ani

a religious offense of a kind abhorred by everyone, literally earth’s taboo

nza

a very small bird

obi

the large living quarters of the head of the family

obodo dike

the land of the brave

ochu

murder or manslaughter

obanje

a changeling; a child who repeatedly dies and returns to the mother to be reborn. It is almost impossible to bring up an obanje child without it dying, unless its iyi-uwa is first found and destroyed

ogene

a musical instrument; a kind of gong

oji odu achu-ijiji-o

a cow (i.e., the one that uses its tail to drive flies away)

osu

outcat. Having been dedicated to a god, the osu was taboo and not allowed to mix with the freeborn in any way

Oye

the name of one of the fourt market days

ozo

the name of one of the titles or ranks

tufia

a curse or oath

udu

a musical instrument; a type of drum made from pttery

uli

a dye used by women for drawing patterns on the skin

umuada

a family gathering of daughters, for which the female kinsfold return to their village of origin

umunna

a wide group of kinsmen (the masculine form of the word umuada)

Uri

part of the betrothal ceremony when the dowry is paid