The Example below,  taken from I Saw the Sky Catch Fire, illustrates how some of the elements outlined in the essay on Kwenu may appear in typical Igbo speech.  

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"So it was, then, that Ekweredi, Oyoyo's mother-in-law, summoned together the women of her town and asked them to accompany her to town to bring back her daughter-in-law from the house of prostitution:

“’Ndom ibem, agree with me!'

“ ‘Agreed!  Agreed!'

“ ‘Agree with me!'

“ ‘Agreed!  Agreed!  Agreed!'

“'Thank you for agreeing, for consenting to be in accord with me this afternoon.  And thank you especially for answering my invitation.  The reason I have called all of you together is that the proverb says that when a hunter encounters an animal in the forest that is too big for one person to hunt, he runs home and summons his kinsmen.  Well, I have come face to face with a beast that is in part pagha-pagha-yeghe-yeghe [a heavy, unwieldy load], in part enwegh-isi-nwegh-odu [that which has neither head nor tail), in part ihea nadigh otu n'eme ya [that about which nothing can be done), and I have come to ask you to help me hunt it.  As I am a married woman, my fellow married women are my nearest kin.  The reason I have called all of you here tonight is already known to most of you.  It is about my son's wife. . . . ' "

Many of the women sighed.  Others made various signs of displeasure.  A number muttered, "God forbid the evil thing!" under their breaths.

Ekweredi acknowledged their commiseration and continued speaking.  "Yes," she said, "a piece of meat that falls to the ground has unavoidably picked up some dirt.  But what do we do with it?  Well, because meat is scarce and expensive, we usually pick it up, wash it, and eat it, nevertheless.  Is that not so?"

 "Yeah.  Yeah," the women echoed.

"Yes," Ekweredi concurred.  "That is the way it is.  A person dons a tight ogodo and slaps her backside confidently, thinking that she is fully protected from things that attack one from the back, only to find out she isn't.  As you all know, the woman my son married left us some years ago and ran off to Agalaba, where she is now doing something the mouth finds heavy even to utter.  She is offering herself, I have been told, to every man in the town as a public woman.  For one manila or one penny, I do not know how much the harlot's rate is in the town, a man can lie with her."

"Shame!  Shame!" the women mumbled.  Many shook their heads in despair.

"Yes, it is a horrible shame," Ekweredi concurred.  "But what do I do?  What is your advice to me?  For a long time, I have had one mind that told me to consider her spit that has left my mouth.  You know what the proverb says.  While spit is in my mouth, it is part of me, but once it leaves my mouth, then it becomes something that I loathe.  But I have also had another mind that says, loathe her as I may, my daughter-in-law has two children.  You know those children; you have seen them.  They look well fed and plump, and could not look any better if their mother were here.  My fellow women, tell me that what I am saying is not so.  Tell me that I am lying!"

"No!  No!  You are not lying!  It is so!"

"Thank you.  Thank you for standing witness to the truth of what I say.  It is for these two children that I want their mother back in this compound.  I want your help, ndom ibem, in getting her back.  I have a wish to travel to Agalaba in the next few weeks to find her.  I need your company.  As the sheep said to the lion in the folktale, travel is merriest in large company.  I want you to go with me.  Here are ten manilas, from me to you as your ukwu-ozi, four kola nuts, and four pepper pods.  These two pots in front of you are full of wine. Ndom ibem, will you travel with me?  Ndewo-nu!"

"Ndewo.  Ndewo.  Ndewo"

  The first speaker who responded to Ekweredi said, "Certainly!" The second speaker said, "Of course!" The third speaker named a possible date for them to travel.  Ndom was unanimous.  Yes, they said.  Of course they would travel with her.  They all understood how she felt as the mother of a son, a gardener who had watched a solitary shoot come up weak and prone to be knocked over by the wind, a planter who had labored to root it firmly, to pack and compact the earth around the seedling, to help it stand erect and thrive.  They all knew that the reason one trudged to market was not to lose one's capital but to make a profit.  They all understood that even though the children might be doing better under her care than they would with their own mother, that njia ka nwa eghu na nne-ya nma [cuddling best becomes a she-goat and her own kids], no matter what kind of goat she was.

They set a date for their travel.

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