A Study of Igbo Language: The Three Uses of NA in Igbo

Igbo language is one of the most widely spoken languages of the world. It is a language of the Igbo people who occupy the South East and South South regions of Nigeria. This is an effort to bring the consciousness of this widely spoken language closer to the people.
There are three uses of 'na' in the Igbo language. It can be used as:
1) Conjunction (Njiko)
2) Preposition (Mbuuzo)
3) Auxiliary Verb (Enyemaka ngwaa)
We have to take these one after the other.

-Conjunction:
This is known in Igbo as Njiko or Njiko okwu. This plays the role of joining two or more words and sentences together. For example: Ndi ala anyi na ndi bekee ga-aso mkpi taa (Our people and the whitemen will compete today). In this sentence, 'na' plays the role of bringing together two ideas.

-Preposition: 
This is known in Igbo as Mbuuzo. The preposition links the noun, pronoun to other words. For decades, it was believed that 'na' was the only preposition in Igbo language. When a consonant is following 'na', 'na' is written fully. For example: Dike bi na mba. (Dike lives in a foreign land). When 'na' is followed by a vowel, 'na' is shortened by replace 'a' with an apostrophe. This process is known as OLULO UDAUME in Igbo language. For example: Chike bi n'Aba. (Chike lives in Aba). Writing na Aba is wrong in Igbo language. The simple reason is that 'na' is followed by a vowel. Other examples are: n'elu (on top), n'okpuru (under), n'etiti (at the middle)

-Auxiliary Verb:
This is known in Igbo as Enyemaka Ngwaa or Nnyemaka Ngwaa. Ngwaa is the name of verb in Igbo language. Most Igbo writers make the mistake of distinguishing auxilliary verb from preposition. For example: Obi n'eri nri (Obi is eating) is a wrong presentation of Igbo language. This is because 'eri' is a verb. This is quite different from Obi hiri n'akwa taa (Obi slept in the bed today). Na in this sentence is preposition because 'akwa' (bed) is not a verb. However, the sentence, Obi is eating is correctly translated in Igbo language as: Obi na-eri nri. Whenever is used in a sentence as auxiliary verb, a hyphen is written between the 'na' and the verb (ngwaa). Other examples are:
Ada m na-ebe akwa (My daughter is crying).
Afo a na-agba oso (This year is rushing).
Nne m na-ama mma kwa ubochi (My mother is getting beautiful as the day goes).
Na-ala (Is going)
Na-abia(Is coming)

However, in pronunciation, 'na' is not pronounced different from the verb. For example, when pronouncing OBI IS COMING in the Igbo language, it is pronounced as OBI N'ABIA. In writing, it is written as OBI NA-ABIA. This has been a reason many fail to distinguish between preposition and auxiliary verb.
In conclusion, it is my belief that one day, Igbo language will compete favourably with English and French internationally. This is just an introductory contribution to what I wish to do.

You can reach me on twitter @lordpercyo and lordpercyo@aol.com