Draft:Kwa Nsibidi

Nsibidi radical character chart created by Jordan Williams showcasing the innovation of modern Nsibidi into a modern logographic system

Overview

Kwa Nsibidi, a modern neography created by Jordan Williams, an ideographic systems researcher directly inspired by traditional graphemes of pre-colonial Nsibidi, created a logographic system with morphographic semantics derived from Chiadikobi Nwaubani's Neo-Nsibidi script. Kwa Nsibidi is an experimental writing branch of the Neo-Nsibidi writing system for the portrayal of the African diasporan cultural, literary and religious concepts such as Hoodoo and Abakua, and primarily to be used for the languages that belong to the same historic Niger-Congo family, straddling the boundaries of the subgroups traditionally called "Kwa," "Bantu" and "Semi-Bantu".The Neo-Nsibidi project involves altering original characters to develop entirely morphographic characters for cross-cultural communication and literacy for African communities both continental and within the African diaspora. The majority of these traditional Nsibidi characters are sourced from early 20th-century publications in the journals of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Since many of these characters were originally ideographic, simplifying them into morphographic forms was essential for accurate written recording. The core essences and inspirations for the lexicon was to document The Sacred Abakua Language, a book written by Lydia Cabrera into a Nsibidi-inspired lexicon for Afro-American cultural and linguistic narrative enrichment. The project has been formed with the permission of Ivor Miller, a cultural historian in Africans, Afro-Cuban and Afro-American studies.

History

The publicly used symbols existing before this project do not appear to constitute "true" writing, which is characterized by traditional Nsibidi symbols representing specific utterances or a distinct string of meaning. Most symbols seemed to be ideographic, signifying something within a semantic field but not necessarily specific phonemes (sounds). However, these symbols maintained a consistent aesthetic, and some displayed evidence of having morphographic value, being used independently to represent a specific utterance. An example is the symbol for 'bunch of plantains,' claimed by Elphinstone Dayrell to be written as "Etak Ntaña Nsibidi" and sent as an order for plantains to someone on a farm. Additionally, there were instances of proper names of people being written in Nsibidi.

Orientation

A traditional Nsibidi grapheme depicting a plantain or plantain leaf

Chiadikobi Nwaubani, in his book, Ikpo Nsibidi Ohuru 1, Akwukwo di n'Igbo na Beekee, maintains a convention that neo-Nsibidi is typically written from left to right, and each character is shaped as if it fits within an invisible square. The majority of the modern Nsibidi characters are monosyllabic, aligning with the structure of most Igbo morphemes. However, there are exceptions, with some Nsibidi characters being polysyllabic, particularly in the case of compound words, which facilitates easy reading. Certain characters play a role in semantic extensions, allowing a single word to indicate two related concepts by differentiating the Nsibidi characters. For instance, a word originally referring to 'tree trunk' but expanded to include 'bridge' due to the historical use of tree trunks as bridges are represented by two characters—one for 'bridge' and another for 'tree trunk.'

Within Kwa Nsibidi, the modern neography maintains two innate functional conventions, a structured square writing block called an ekebe, a square-like quadrat used for the reading, writing and practice of modern Nsibidi characters. This square motif allows the characters to be written right to left, left to right, vertically, and horizontally for the aesthetic and use of the writing within multiple specific cultural uses.

A bamboo scroll written with vertically oriented modern Nsibidi characters. The work was completed by Jordan Williams, to test and challenge the horizontal convention of Nsibidi writing professed by Chiadikobi Nwaubani

The second convention is a merged, intertwined script influenced by the philosophies of Victor Ekpuk, J.B. Murray and Frank Jones, pioneering a new form of Afro-American spirit writing called Kwa Jujuism by Jordan Williams, who uses these concepts to create murals of moving ideographic spirit writing for the capturing of essences of objects, people and places written within modern Nsibidi but curved and conjoined to create multiple interacting scenes and lively situations for visionary writing and communication.

Types

A spirit writing display using Nsibidi characters created by Jordan Williams

The project incorporates four types, namely new characters, compounds, simplifications, and fully original characters. At the foundation of these categories are the radicals, basic shapes that form the core of all characters or serve as the most frequently used characters, providing compounds with semantic context.

The creation of new Nsibidi characters involved different steps. Initially, original symbols representing specific meanings, rather than more pictographic symbols, were incorporated. This aimed to preserve as many original graphic shapes as possible by applying symbols to morphemes with similar meanings. Many Nsibidi symbols underwent simplification as well. In the second step, characters were often joined as compounds to represent a new morpheme. Two methods were employed for making compounds: semantic and phonetic extension. This means that Nsibidi characters with distinct meanings could be combined to form a new meaning based on their representations in both a pictographic and phonetic sense.

Ekebe

West African yam mounds depicted as triangular square pyramids being prepared for plot harvesting.

"Ekebe" is a multicultural term for the quadrat motif used for reading and writing practice of the modern Nsibidi writing system. The Ekebe quadrat is an experimental application of Chiadikobi's neography-inspired Nsibidi writing. The Ekebe is a semi-traditional square motif directly inspired by indigenous Nigerian linguistic, cultural and agricultural concepts. The Ekebe is derived from Ukara cloth motifs such as 'efe okonko' and pinwheel motifs as well as native West African agricultural concepts such as yam mounds, square yam plots and yam barns.

In the traditional agricultural practices of Igbo culture, the yam cultivation process unfolds as follows: once the farm site is chosen, it undergoes a rough clearing process. Smaller trees are cut down to stumps, while larger ones are mercilessly lopped. All debris is burned, leaving the roots untouched. The soil is then shaped into circular mounds on elevated areas and large oblong beds in swampy regions. The depth of these mounds varies based on the yam variety cultivated, ranging from a foot for certain types to twice that depth for others. Each mound, forming a full square yard, accommodates one seed-yam. While the best crops come from whole seeds, economic considerations may lead to the cutting of tubers into sections.

Planting yams holds significant cultural and ceremonial importance for the Igbo people. Under the old governance system, any violation of farming etiquette carried grave consequences. Yam theft, whether of freshly planted seeds or mature roots, was punishable by death. Despite the high risks involved, there were instances of farms being raided.

A picture of the Nsude pyramids in Nigeria 1935. Ten square-circular stepped pyramids were associated with the Uto deity and were made of mud. These were also a direct inspiration for the Ekebe quadrat.

The word "ekebe" also gets its inspiration from the word, akebe or ekebe/ekeme meaning box in Efik-Ibibio.

The ekebe (ekeme/akebe) also draws influence from square motifs found in Uli and mystical concepts such as Omambala. Omambala refers to a term in the Anambra dialect with cultural and mystical significance, symbolizing ceremonial control of water, the divine creation of the Moon, and protective qualities, especially for the abandoned child. It is associated with the mystical lake "Oma of the primordial square."[2] Oma also refers to the Earth Goddess, Ani-Oma, Ala, Ana, Ani.

It is from the Divine Womb as Divine Square, all other agbala or divinities are brought into creation. These concepts bring divinity into reality via the earth and two celestial beings. This concept is known as Anyanwu na Agbara and Onwa na Agbara, the Sun and the Divinities and the Moon and the Divinities. Agbala, meaning divinity also captures the concept of spirit and a square with square mounds or oda used for native religious practices (agba - covenant + ala - land).

Ekebe can also be stemmed from the Igbo philosophies of Emume Chi and Ama Mbu. In essence, Igbo mystics, in alignment with the ancient mystical tradition of Igbo culture, emphasize the universal mystic belief that our earthly existence is a dreamlike journey of leisure and learning (enu uwa bu olili). To the ancient Igbo people, life is comparable to a Grand Dream or Grand Celebration, leading to the collective term for all Igbo traditions as Emume Chi (Celebration of Chi). This designation stems from their innate inclination for ritual festivities (Emume/Mme-Mme). Within this serene awareness that naturally inspires a celebration of life, they aptly named the earth Ama Mbu. In their characteristic succinct language, Ama Mbu translates to Primordial Square, signifying a communal space for gatherings, rejuvenation, or collective celebrations.[3]This group celebration of Spirit, the spirits and essences of objects, peoples, places, and ideas fuel the writing to be used in esoteric applications such as talismans, tattoos and door signs.

Ekebe supports the spirituality of the square via the concept of Igba n’Izo Mmuo lit. to manifest in the common square of the spirit realm.

This textile is known as 'ukara' or 'Ukara Ekpe' in the Igbo culture. It features Nsibidi ideographic characters and is exclusively utilized by members of the Ekpe society in the Cross River region of southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon. The weaving of Ukara material is carried out by men in the Igbo-speaking city of Abakaliki, while the designs are created by men from Ohafia.The motifs on the cloth were also direct inspirations for Ekebe quadrats

The square becomes a placeholder for the essences of objects, peoples, places, and ideas captured within a square for communication. Ekebe, or the place of the place of Eke, (ebe Eke), is an allusion to Agwu, the Igbo god of communication, healing, divination and magic. Eke, the market day particularly associated with Agwu in many communities. In various locales, market days are marked by local deities representing the spirits. In numerous southern Igbo towns, Eke is under the patronage of Agwu, Orie has Ogwugwu as its patron, Afọ is associated with Amadioha, and Nkwọ looks to Ala as its patron.

The Cosmos itself is categorized into four integral complexes referred to as Okike, Alusi, Mmuo, and Uwa. Okike signifies the occurrence of "Creation," Alusi represents the lesser deities, Mmụọ encompasses the spirits of the ancestors and all other beings, while Uwa encompasses the World. Nsibidi captures essences of objects and items related or depicting these spirits into writing that can be used for powerful talismans and charms.

An Ekebe quadrat is a square motif created by Jordan Williams for the reading, counting, writing and display when practicing modern Nsibidi characters. It is directly inspired by indigenous Ekpe Ukara cloth motifs such as the Efe Okonko or House of the Ekpe.

References

Cabrera, L., Gómez-Cásseres, P. G., & Miller, I. L. (2016). Sample Translation: The Sacred Language of the Abakuá. Afro-Hispanic Review, 35(2), 124–141.

Chiadikobi Nwaubani," Ikpo Nsibidi Ohuru 1, Akwukwo di n'Igbo na Beekee, (2015) (unpublished)

Dayrell, Elphinstone (1911-07). "Further Notes on 'Nsibidi Signs with Their Meanings from the Ikom District, Southern Nigeria". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland

Miller, I. (2000). A Secret Society Goes Public: The Relationship between Abakuá and Cuban Popular Culture. African Studies Review, 43(1), 161–188.

Rafael A. Núñez Cedeño. (1988). The Abakuá Secret Society in Cuba: Language and Culture. Hispania, 71(1), 148–154.

Ukara: ritual cloth of the Ekpe Secret Society. (2021, February 5). Hood Museum. https://hoodmuseum.dartmouth.edu/news/2015/03/ukara-ritual-cloth-ekpe-secret-society