International Journal of Language and Linguistics 2021; 9(6): 334-343 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ijll doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.17 ISSN: 2330-0205 (Print); ISSN: 2330-0221 (Online) Ẹdo Orthography: The Compelling Need for Harmonization and Standardization Victor Ẹdosa Ọmọzuwa * , Osaigbovo Obed Ẹvbuọmwa Department of Linguistics Studies, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria Email address: * Corresponding author To cite this article: Victor Ẹdosa Ọmọzuwa, Osaigbovo Obed Ẹvbuọmwa. Ẹdo Orthography: The Compelling Need for Harmonization and Standardization. International Journal of Language and Linguistics. Vol. 9, No. 6, 2021, pp. 334-343. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.17 Received: November 22, 2021; Accepted: December 11, 2021; Published: December 24, 2021 Abstract: The earliest attempts at reducing the Ẹdo language to writing were the singular efforts of the colonial administrators with the aim of facilitating communication with the people. Records show that the writing system of the time, and its subsequent post-colonial reviews, lack the basic criteria that characterize a good orthography and show evidences of the direct adoption of European (mostly English) writing systems for the language. This study presents primary data that include synchronic written texts by Ẹdo writers with the aim of examining whether or not the Ẹdo writing system (as currently used) is consistent with established principles of a good orthography. Results of the study reveal that the writings of the average Ẹdo writer violate the orthographic principles of consistency, simplicity, accuracy, one sound-one letter/digraph, and harmonization. A phonetic-based orthographic system made up of thirty-nine (39) letters of the roman alphabet representing each of the thirty-nine distinctive sounds in the language on a one sound-one letter/digraph basis, in addition to other writing conventions, is proposed for the language. It is recommended that immediate and deliberate steps should be taken by all relevant stakeholders to halt the glaring trend of a 'free-for-all' writing system by organizing regular specialized seminars, workshops and conferences, for the purpose of harmonizing and standardizing the Ẹdo orthography. Keywords: Orthography, Standardization, Harmonization, Alphabet, Writing Conventions, Digraph, Sub Dot, Nasalization 1. Historical Overview The precolonial Ẹdo language had no writing system as we know it today. The language was reduced to writing, using the roman alphabetic system, by the singular efforts of the early colonial administrators to facilitate easy communication with the people. Naturally, they perceived what was said in Ẹdo through the sound system of their mother tongue – the English language, as it was also the case for other Nigerian languages. This explains, largely, the inconsistencies inherent in the way these languages were reduced to writing. For instance, a phonetic sound like [ɔ] was represented in different ways: the letter “o” in oka ‘maize’ fashioned after the “o” in adopt, popular dominant, etc., the digraph “or” in Ehigiator ‘a personal name’, Ugbor, Ekiadolor, Egbokor, ‘names of Ẹdo villages’, etc. The ‘or’ in these names were fashioned after the sounds you hear in English words such as or, for, anchor, author, etc. This is also observed in the way the same sound [ɔ] is rendered differently in Igbo such as the “o” in oka “maize”, the “or” in Okafor ‘personal name’, Agbor, ‘name of a town’, and the “aw” in Awka, Awgbu, Awkunanaw ‘names of towns’ etc. Undoubtedly, the ‘aw’ in the last three examples were fashioned after the same letters in the English words awful, law, paws, pawpaw, awkward, etc. The English orthographic system is perhaps a typical example of a system that breaches the principles of consistency in terms of one sound-one letter, simplicity, accuracy, and harmonization. This is evident in the ways the same sound is orthographically rendered differently in different words as demonstrated earlier using the sound [ɔ] written differently in the words awful, law, paws, pawpaw, awkward, saw, or, for, anchor, author, call, etc. An orthographic system that satisfies the criteria of consistency, simplicity, accuracy, and harmonization would list the Ẹdo and Igbo words presented earlier as: ọka, Ẹhigiatọ, ugbọ, Ẹkiadọlọ, Ẹgbokọ, Okafọ, Agbọ, Ọgbu, Ọkunanọ, respectively, using the “sub-dotted o”, in all cases, in these languages.