ꗏ̈ 𑀏 ꗷ̱Ndịokwu

Learn Ndịokwu

Contents

Introduction

Ndịokwu is the most efficient writing system ever developed for the Igbo language. Designed for phonetic precision, simplicity, and speed, it compresses the entire syllabic inventory of Igbo into:

  • 41 base consonants
  • 7 consistent vowel diacritics
  • 8 independent vowels

It is fully Unicode-compatible, with each consonant-vowel pairing forming a single, elegant glyph. Mastery can be achieved in under 30 minutes.

How to Use Ndịokwu

Ndịokwu is an abugida writing system specifically designed for writing the Igbo language.

What is an abugida?

An abugida is a writing system where each character represents a consonant sound with an inherent vowel. Unlike an alphabet where vowels and consonants are written as separate letters, an abugida starts with consonants as base characters, and vowels are shown with diacritics (marks) added to those base characters.

Consonants as the Core of the Script

Ndịokwu uses 41 consonant glyphs to represent all the consonant and digraph sounds in Igbo. These characters are the foundation of every syllable and word written in the system.

How Words Are Formed

  1. Start with a consonant:
    Each character automatically includes the vowel a as its default ending.

    Example:

    • 𑀠 = ma
    • ꖙ = da

  2. Add a vowel diacritic to change the vowel ending:
    Use one of the 7 vowel diacritics to transform the default 'a' into another vowel:

    Vowel Diacritic Example Latin
    a (none) 𑀠 ma
    e ˉ (macron) 𑀠̄ me
    i ̊ (ring) 𑀠̊ mi
    ị ̈ (umlaut) 𑀠̈ mị
    o ̣ (dot) 𑀠̣ mo
    ọ ̤ (dbl dot) 𑀠̤ mọ
    u ̱ (line) 𑀠̱ mu
    ụ ̳ (dbl line) 𑀠̳ mụ

  3. That's it! No need to write vowels separately—just attach the correct mark to the consonant to change its sound.

📌 Examples

Word Breakdown Script
mị m + diacritic for ị 𑀠̈
du d + diacritic for u ꖙ̱
sụ s + diacritic for ụ 𑀚̳

This system makes it fast, compact, and highly phonetic, perfectly suited for the structure of Igbo. Once you know the consonants and diacritics, you can read and write any Igbo word using Ndịokwu!