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oyibo

Dialect
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A word from Igbo meaning a white person or foreigner. In some contexts it can simply mean someone who is not local.

Detailed Definition
Oyibo is an Igbo word used in Nigeria, often referring to a white person or, more broadly, a foreigner. It is not standard English, so readers unfamiliar with Igbo may need to look it up. In the poem, it appears as part of the repeated opening address.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Igbo, “ihe oyibo” can refer to European or foreign things, depending on context; “Aprilena, ihe oyibo” sets vernacular speech within a celebratory refrain; “The market called every imported shine / ihe oyibo” can explore colonial commerce and perception; A poem should preserve the phrase’s cultural specificity rather than treating dialect as comic decoration
Additional Notes
The word appears in the line “Aprilena, ihe oyibo,” and it is an Igbo term rather than ordinary English.; Found in the poem, Aprilena's Dance by Richard
Also Known As
foreigner outsider stranger expatriate
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