Mkpụrụ Edemede Igbo Ásụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò | |
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Languages | |
ISO 15924 | |
ISO 15924 | Latn (215), Latin |
Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Latin |
The modern Igbo alphabet (Igbo: Mkpụrụ Edemede Igbo), otherwise known as the Igbo alphabet (Mkpụrụ Edemede Igbo[1]), is the alphabet of the Igbo language, it is one of the three national languages of Nigeria.[2] The modern Igbo alphabet is made up of 36 letters,[3] which includes only a 23-letter set of the ISO basic Latin alphabet minus Q and X, which are not part of Abidịị Igbo. C is not used other than in the digraph 'ch' and proper names. The alphabet uses the dot above on the letter Ṅ, and the dot below on Ị, Ọ and Ụ.
There are numerous Igbo dialects, some of which are not mutually intelligible. The standard written form of Igbo is based on the Owerri and Umuahia dialects of Igbo.
A New Standard Orthography has been proposed for Igbo, and it was used, for example, in the 1998 Igbo English Dictionary by Michael Echeruo, but it has not been otherwise widely adopted. In this orthography, diaeresis replaces the dot below (ï ö ü), and the ch digraph is not used.