Medefaidrin (Medefidrin), or Obɛri Ɔkaimɛ, is a constructed language and script created as a Christian sacred language by an Ibibio congregation in 1930s Nigeria. It has its roots in glossolalia ('speaking in tongues').
Speakers consider Medefaidrin to be a 'spirit language'. It was created by two leaders of the church, Michael Ukpong and Akpan Akpan Udofia. They state that the Holy Spirit revealed the words of the language to Ukpong, while Udofia wrote them down. At the time Ibibio was not a written language, and Udofia created a script to write Medefaidrin.
After finalizing the language in 1936, members of the church started a school in which children were instructed in Medefaidrin. This was not tolerated by the British colonial government, who closed the school that same year. Nonetheless, the language continued to be used for church activities, including liturgy and hymns, and for letters and written contracts between members. The language faded from use, but in 1986 Udofia began teaching it again in the church's Sunday school in Ididep. Old manuscripts in the script are in poor condition, and in the 21st century there has been some effort to preserve them.
Linguistic propertiesedit
Medefaidrin is a stress-accented rather than tonal language, though this may be changing under Ibibio influence. Unlike the Ibibio language, there are several consonant clusters in Medefaidrin, many of which do not exist in English.
Grammaredit
Structurally, the language is largely a relexification of English, although the semantics are closer to the native language of its users, Ibibio. The definite article is dei, and several prepositions alliterate or rhyme with their English equivalents: su "to", fra "from", nai "by", kin "in". Most words, however, resemble nothing in English or Ibibio, but appear to have been created without a specific underlying system. The morphology is not highly developed, but a few elements have been taken from English, such as the plural in -s (z?).
Numbers and datesedit
The vigesimal numbering system and calendar reflect Ibibio norms. The calendar year contains sixteen four-week months.[a]
The script has upper- and lower-case letters like the English alphabet,[1] but the letters were invented and there is no systematic relationship between glyph and sound. There are a number of arbitrary digraphs, whose pronunciation cannot be determined from their component letters, again as in English.
^The week is reported to consist of eight days, but it is not clear if it is 8 by Ibibio or English counting. What is 2 days from now in English is 3 days from now in Ibibio (with today counted inclusively as the first day), so starting a new week every 8 days when thinking in Ibibio means every 7 days when thinking in English.
Referencesedit
^Rovenchak, Andrij; Gibbon, Dafydd; Ekpenyong, Moses; Urua, Eno-Abasi (2016-04-18). "L2/16-101R: Proposal for encoding the Medefaidrin (Oberi Okaime) script in the SMP of the UCS" (PDF). ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2.
^"Unicode 11.0.0". Unicode Consortium. June 5, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
Bibliographyedit
Abasiattai, Monday B. (1989). "The Oberi Okaime Christian Mission: Towards a History of an Ibibio Independent Church". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 59 (4): 496–516. doi:10.2307/1159944. ISSN 0001-9720. JSTOR 1159944. S2CID 143886594.
Adams, R. F. G. (1947). "Obεri Ɔkaimε: A New African Language and Script". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 17 (1): 24–34. doi:10.2307/1156936. ISSN 0001-9720. JSTOR 1156936. S2CID 144319581.
Gibbon, Dafydd; Ekpenyong, Moses; Urua, Eno-Abasi (2010). "Medefaidrin: Resources documenting the birth and death language life-cycle" (PDF). Proceedings of the Seventh Conference on International Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC'10). Valletta, Malta. ISBN978-2-9517408-6-0.
Gibbon, Dafydd; Urua, Eno-Abasi (2009). Preserving and understanding the Medefaidrin language of the Obɛri Ɔkaimɛ ('Church freely given') Ibibio community(PDF). World Congress of African Linguistics (WOCAL) 6. Cologne.
Hau, Kathleen (1961). "Oberi Okaime script, texts and counting systems". Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Afrique Noire. Série B, Sciences humaines. 23: 291–308.
Udofia, Akpan Akpan (1953). "Dictionary, transcriptions and translations of texts". In Hau, Kathleen (ed.). Oberi Okaime Script, Texts and Counting System. Material relating to the Oberi Okaime language of southeastern Nigeria.
Urua, Eno-Abasi (2008). "Medefidrin, the 'Spirit' language of the 1920s in Ibibio land". In Ndimele, Ozo-mekuri; Udoh, Imelda Icheji Lawrence; Anyanwu, Ogbonna (eds.). Critical Issues in the Study of Linguistics, Languages and Literatures in Nigeria: A Festshrift for Conrad Max Benedict Brann. Festschrift Series, 7.
January 01, 1970
medefaidrin, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, february, 2022, learn, when, remove, this, template, message, med. This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations February 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Medefaidrin Medefidrin or Obɛri Ɔkaimɛ is a constructed language and script created as a Christian sacred language by an Ibibio congregation in 1930s Nigeria It has its roots in glossolalia speaking in tongues Medefaidrin𖹝𖹰𖹯𖹼𖹫 𖹚𖹬𖹾𖹠𖹯 Obɛri ƆkaimɛCreated byadherents of the Obɛri Ɔkaimɛ churchDate1930sSetting and usageIbibioland NigeriaPurposeConstructed language liturgical languageglossolaliaMedefaidrinWriting systemObɛri Ɔkaimɛ scriptLanguage codesISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code dmf class extiw title iso639 3 dmf dmf a Glottologmede1238 Contents 1 History 2 Linguistic properties 2 1 Grammar 2 2 Numbers and dates 3 Writing system 3 1 Unicode 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 BibliographyHistory editSpeakers consider Medefaidrin to be a spirit language It was created by two leaders of the church Michael Ukpong and Akpan Akpan Udofia They state that the Holy Spirit revealed the words of the language to Ukpong while Udofia wrote them down At the time Ibibio was not a written language and Udofia created a script to write Medefaidrin After finalizing the language in 1936 members of the church started a school in which children were instructed in Medefaidrin This was not tolerated by the British colonial government who closed the school that same year Nonetheless the language continued to be used for church activities including liturgy and hymns and for letters and written contracts between members The language faded from use but in 1986 Udofia began teaching it again in the church s Sunday school in Ididep Old manuscripts in the script are in poor condition and in the 21st century there has been some effort to preserve them Linguistic properties editMedefaidrin is a stress accented rather than tonal language though this may be changing under Ibibio influence Unlike the Ibibio language there are several consonant clusters in Medefaidrin many of which do not exist in English Grammar edit Structurally the language is largely a relexification of English although the semantics are closer to the native language of its users Ibibio The definite article is dei and several prepositions alliterate or rhyme with their English equivalents su to fra from nai by kin in Most words however resemble nothing in English or Ibibio but appear to have been created without a specific underlying system The morphology is not highly developed but a few elements have been taken from English such as the plural in s z Numbers and dates edit The vigesimal numbering system and calendar reflect Ibibio norms The calendar year contains sixteen four week months a Writing system editMedefaidrin scriptScript typeAlphabetTime period1930s to presentLanguagesMedefaidrinISO 15924ISO 15924Medf 265 Medefaidrin Oberi Okaime Oberi Ɔkaimɛ UnicodeUnicode aliasMedefaidrinUnicode rangeU 16E40 U 16E9F The script has upper and lower case letters like the English alphabet 1 but the letters were invented and there is no systematic relationship between glyph and sound There are a number of arbitrary digraphs whose pronunciation cannot be determined from their component letters again as in English Unicode edit Main article Medefaidrin Unicode block Medefaidrin script was added to the Unicode Standard in June 2018 with the release of version 11 0 The Unicode block for Medefaidrin is U 16E40 U 16E9F and contains 91 characters 2 Medefaidrin 1 2 Official Unicode Consortium code chart PDF 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F U 16E4x 𖹀 𖹁 𖹂 𖹃 𖹄 𖹅 𖹆 𖹇 𖹈 𖹉 𖹊 𖹋 𖹌 𖹍 𖹎 𖹏 U 16E5x 𖹐 𖹑 𖹒 𖹓 𖹔 𖹕 𖹖 𖹗 𖹘 𖹙 𖹚 𖹛 𖹜 𖹝 𖹞 𖹟 U 16E6x 𖹠 𖹡 𖹢 𖹣 𖹤 𖹥 𖹦 𖹧 𖹨 𖹩 𖹪 𖹫 𖹬 𖹭 𖹮 𖹯 U 16E7x 𖹰 𖹱 𖹲 𖹳 𖹴 𖹵 𖹶 𖹷 𖹸 𖹹 𖹺 𖹻 𖹼 𖹽 𖹾 𖹿 U 16E8x U 16E9x Notes 1 As of Unicode version 15 1 2 Grey areas indicate non assigned code pointsSee also editEskayan language and script of the Philippines Lingua Ignota and script of GermanyNotes edit The week is reported to consist of eight days but it is not clear if it is 8 by Ibibio or English counting What is 2 days from now in English is 3 days from now in Ibibio with today counted inclusively as the first day so starting a new week every 8 days when thinking in Ibibio means every 7 days when thinking in English References edit Rovenchak Andrij Gibbon Dafydd Ekpenyong Moses Urua Eno Abasi 2016 04 18 L2 16 101R Proposal for encoding the Medefaidrin Oberi Okaime script in the SMP of the UCS PDF ISO IEC JTC1 SC2 WG2 Unicode 11 0 0 Unicode Consortium June 5 2018 Retrieved June 5 2018 Bibliography editAbasiattai Monday B 1989 The Oberi Okaime Christian Mission Towards a History of an Ibibio Independent Church Africa Journal of the International African Institute 59 4 496 516 doi 10 2307 1159944 ISSN 0001 9720 JSTOR 1159944 S2CID 143886594 Adams R F G 1947 Oberi Ɔkaime A New African Language and Script Africa Journal of the International African Institute 17 1 24 34 doi 10 2307 1156936 ISSN 0001 9720 JSTOR 1156936 S2CID 144319581 Gibbon Dafydd Ekpenyong Moses Urua Eno Abasi 2010 Medefaidrin Resources documenting the birth and death language life cycle PDF Proceedings of the Seventh Conference on International Language Resources and Evaluation LREC 10 Valletta Malta ISBN 978 2 9517408 6 0 Gibbon Dafydd Urua Eno Abasi 2009 Preserving and understanding the Medefaidrin language of the Obɛri Ɔkaimɛ Church freely given Ibibio community PDF World Congress of African Linguistics WOCAL 6 Cologne Hau Kathleen 1961 Oberi Okaime script texts and counting systems Bulletin de l Institut Francais d Afrique Noire Serie B Sciences humaines 23 291 308 Udofia Akpan Akpan 1953 Dictionary transcriptions and translations of texts In Hau Kathleen ed Oberi Okaime Script Texts and Counting System Material relating to the Oberi Okaime language of southeastern Nigeria Urua Eno Abasi 2008 Medefidrin the Spirit language of the 1920s in Ibibio land In Ndimele Ozo mekuri Udoh Imelda Icheji Lawrence Anyanwu Ogbonna eds Critical Issues in the Study of Linguistics Languages and Literatures in Nigeria A Festshrift for Conrad Max Benedict Brann Festschrift Series 7 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Medefaidrin amp oldid 1207477813, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
