About Kịrịkẹnị
A dictionary that belongs to its speakers.
Kịrịkẹnị is a free online dictionary of Kịrịkẹ, the language of the Wakịrịkẹ people of Okrika in Rivers State, Nigeria. Search it in Okrika or English, learn from it, and help correct and grow it.
- 5,067
- entries
- 4,898
- headwords
“It is unfortunate, a language will have to be explained to its owners in a foreign language.”
Sika wrote his word book for Okrika people whose English had overtaken their Kịrịkẹ. Kịrịkẹnị exists for the same reason: so that anyone, at home in Okrika or far from it, can look a word up, hear it, and use it.
Where the words come from
Three decades from typescript to search box.
- 1995
Levi Sika compiles the Word Book
Levi Sika completes Kịrịkẹnị Ọkụẹịngbọlụ Diri, an Okrika–English word book of nearly five thousand entries, drawing on Okrika chiefs and clergy, with Kay Williamson, E. J. Alagoa and Charles Jenewari as editorial consultants and George J. Orupabo advising on phonology.
- 2005
Roger Blench circulates it
The typescript is found among the papers left by Kay Williamson. Roger Blench formats it, adds scientific names, cross-references and etymologies, and circulates it so the material is not lost, while noting that much of it still needed checking.
- 2026
Kịrịkẹnị puts it online
Every entry is re-read from the 2005 PDF, the dotted letters and tone marks lost to old fonts are restored, and the whole book becomes searchable in Okrika and in English, with room for speakers to correct it, record it and add to it.
How we work
Four rules we keep.
- Sika is the reference
- Where sources disagree on spelling or tone, Levi Sika’s dictionary stands. New material is checked against it before it goes live.
- Every change is reviewed
- Contributions go to a queue, where the community can vote and comment and an editor approves or rejects them.
- Honest about gaps
- Entries we could not read cleanly from the source are flagged for review instead of guessed.
- Free to read, always
- Searching, browsing and learning will never sit behind a paywall or an account.
What’s next
The website first, then the apps.
- iOS and Android apps
- The apps will be built once the website is complete. Until then the site is designed to work well on a phone.
- Premium features
- Extra features are planned for a later version. Searching the dictionary stays free.
Who runs it
The people behind it.
Kịrịkẹnị was founded by Boma Nathaniel Williams and is designed, built and run by Greencrest Integrated Services Ltd. Editors and contributors from the Okrika community review and add to it.
Read the full creditsStart here
Look a word up, or add one.
You do not need an account to search. To save words or contribute, sign up for free.