Igbospeaking

Igbospeaking refers to communities and individuals who speak Igbo, one of the major Niger-Congo languages of Africa. The term covers native Igbo speakers in Nigeria as well as people in the diaspora who use Igbo in daily life, education, media, and cultural practices. Linguistically, Igbo is part of the Igboid group within the Volta-Niger branch of the Niger-Congo language family. It is a tonal language, typically described as having high and low tones that can change word meaning; most varieties are written with the Latin alphabet, and orthography was standardized in the 20th century for schooling and publishing.

Igbo is primarily spoken in the southeastern states of Nigeria—Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo—and in parts of Delta, Rivers, and Lagos states, with smaller communities across the country. The Igbo-speaking area contains numerous dialects; no single form is universally used, and standard Igbo in schools and media draws on central varieties. Global Igbo communities exist in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and elsewhere, where the language faces challenges of transmission and maintenance among younger generations.

Culture among Igbospeaking communities includes traditional institutions such as age grades and chieftaincy titles, as well as festivals, music, and masquerade arts. The New Yam Festival is widely celebrated, and contemporary Igbo literature, theatre, and media contribute to the language's vitality. In the modern era, education, broadcasting, and online resources support language use, while global migration and urbanization contribute to ongoing language contact and, in some communities, language shift.