How do you say thank you in Nigeria?
Question
How do you say thank you in Nigeria?
I am working with lots of Nigerian here in Africa and looking to learn the basic of Nigerian languages. So I need to understand how to be thankful or say thank you in a way it will appeal to a Nigerian person. I hope to hear back from you.
Answers ( 8 )
There are different ways to say thank you in Nigeria?. It depends on which ethnic group u find your self and also the age bracket u are thanking (here old people are highly respected)…here u say thank by showing gratitude and telling the person how grateful u are either kneeling in some areas or prostrating in other areas. Generally,u must be grateful…were I come from, u bow down and say kaa
The way you say ‘thank you in Nigeria is probably the same way they say it in other countries where English is the official language. Nigeria speak English as an official language so In most settings, it is still –
thank you! You could bow when an elder is involved.
However, there are several other language spoken in Nigeria and they say “thank you” differently.
Below are some of the local languages spoken in Nigeria and how they say thank you in Nigeria.
1 Hausa – Nagode
Igbo – Imela
Yoruba – E se/O se
Efik – Sosono eti eti
Nigeria is a country made up of different ethnic groups, so we really do not have a generalised way of saying thank you in Nigeria. In Nigeria we say thank you base on dialect, culture, ethnicity, age, and then personal loyalty. From my place we say (Imela) which is thank you, you may not kneel, prostrate, nor squort to say imela.
In Nigeria we say thank you just as it is because we don’t have one language… We have different languages and it is impossible to learn how to say thank in all the languages, the general language we use in communication is English so how you say thank you in Nigeria is just the same way it is said in any English speaking country. I suppose an average Nigeria will understand that. There are other meanings of thank you in different Nigerian languages.
Igbo Say – Imela
Hausa sau – Nagode
Nigeria is rich in diversity. There are over 250 different tribes, and so they speak different languages.
I’m of the Igbo tribe, and thank you in my language is actually *imela*. In the Hausa tribe, it is *Nagode*.
The Yorubas say it differently, likewise the others 200 plus ethnic groups in Nigeria.
The official language of Nigeria is English. So if you want to say thank you in Nigeria, just say “thank you”.
If you want to say “thank you” in Nigeria, using the languages of the major ethnic groups which are the Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa groups, you can say in
Igbo- daalu or imela.
In Yoruba -O sé (for a younger person) or É sé (for your mate or an elder).
In Hausa- nagode.
However, English is the official language in Nigeria, so u can simply say “thank you”.
Thank you is a way of showing appreciation for something that was done. This form of appreciation can be said in different ways depending on the language the person saying it is conversant with.
Also, you would want to consider the language of the person you are conversing with. Generally, we just say “thank you”, however, if you know the person’s local you could say it in their local language.
Nigeria is a multi-diversified in terms of languages with three major languages: Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa.
Thank you can be said in
Igbo – Imela
Hausa – Nagode
Yoruba – E se
while in other minor ethnic groups
Edo – U ru ese
Efik – Sosongo