Igbo Alphabet | Igbo Abụ
The Igbo alphabet consists of 36 letters using the Latin script with special characters and diacritics for tones.
A a
A
a
B b
Be
b
Ch ch
Che
ch
D d
De
d
E e
E
e
Ẹ ẹ
Ẹ
eh
F f
Fe
f
G g
Ge
g
Gb gb
Gbe
gb
Gh gh
Ghe
gh
Gw gw
Gwe
gw
H h
He
h
I i
I
i
Ị ị
Ị
ih
J j
Je
j
K k
Ke
k
Kp kp
Kpe
kp
Kw kw
Kwe
kw
L l
Le
l
M m
Me
m
N n
Ne
n
Nw nw
Nwe
nw
Ny ny
Nye
ny
Ṅ ṅ
Ṅ
ng
O o
O
o
Ọ ọ
Ọ
aw
P p
Pe
p
R r
Re
r
S s
Se
s
Sh sh
She
sh
T t
Te
t
U u
U
u
Ụ ụ
Ụ
uh
V v
Ve
v
W w
We
w
Y y
Ye
y
Z z
Ze
z
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About the Igbo Alphabet
The Igbo alphabet uses the Latin script with 36 letters, including digraphs and letters with dots below (ẹ, ị, ọ, ụ, ṅ). Igbo is a tonal language spoken in southeastern Nigeria, and tone marks are used in writing to distinguish meanings. The alphabet was standardized in the 1960s.
History
The Igbo alphabet was developed by missionaries in the 19th century and standardized by the Onwu Committee in 1961. The current orthography includes special characters for sounds unique to Igbo and was designed to unify various Igbo dialects. It has been refined over the years to better represent Igbo phonology.
Key Features
- Written from left to right
- 36 letters including digraphs
- Dotted vowels for pronunciation
- Tone marks used
- Standardized in 1961
- Unifies multiple dialects