Akala
The mission
Akala is a codex of Igbo culture and perspective — through story, myth, language, and history. An archive of memory and imagination, building the database that makes sure our ancestors still echo in the minds of machines.
Akala is a free, open-source archive for readers, speakers, and scholars of Igbo. Read the novel, browse the dictionary, the proverbs, the riddles and the nsibidi collection — and, with a free account, add the words, proverbs, and artefacts you carry, and help coin the vocabulary the language does not have yet.
Riddle of the day
Gwa m ihe kuru aka kpam, maba ime ohia
The Akalaverse
Explore the characters and forces of the Akalaverse. Drag to spin; tap a face and it turns to reveal who they are.
Drag to spin · tap a face
One spine · three surfaces
The community museum
A museum curated by all of us
The Archive is a digital museum the community builds — objects, fashion, spaces and architecture, art — each piece uploaded with the history and meaning its keeper wrote. Consider contributing: what hangs here trains AI toward better Igbo representation, and the collection will be open-sourced to the world, so we represent ourselves best.
The work is communal
Suggest a word
Name a concept Igbo has no word for — or propose the word yourself, with its roots and reasoning.
Submit an ilu
Proverbs are compressed arguments, resistant to drift. Bring the ones you carry.
Submit an agwụgwa
Riddles — the call, the response, and the logic of the resolution.
“There is no preservation without repeated engagement.”
Join the oha
Add your brick to the wall
An account lets you annotate the story, submit words, proverbs, riddles, and artefacts, and vote in the Forge. Every contribution carries your name. Reading stays free and needs no account.
or join with email →Signing in with Google shares only your name, email address, and profile picture with Akala — see the note below and our Privacy Policy and Terms.