Akan language

Akan (/əˈkæn/), anaa Twi-Fante,Florence Abena Dolphyne, 1988, The Akan (Twi-Asante) Language Its Sound Systems and Tonal Structure be de most widely-spoken language of Ghana, den de principal native language of de Akan people, wey over much of de southern half of Ghana dey speak. About 80% of Ghana ein population dey speak Akan as a first anaa second language, den about 44% of Ghanaians be native speakers. Dem sanso dey speak de Bono dialect across de border insyd Ivory Coast.

Na dem develop three dialects as literary standards plus distinct orthographies: Asante den Akuapem, dem collectively know as Twi, den Fante. Despite e be mutually intelligible,The Brong (Bono) dialect of Akan” by Florence Abena Dolphyne University of Ghana, Legon 1979. dem be inaccessible insyd written form to speakers of de oda standards til de Akan Orthography Committee (AOC) ein development of a common Akan orthography insyd 1978, wey based mainly on Akuapem dialect. As de first Akan variety to be used for Bible translation, Akuapem cam be de prestige dialect.

Plus de Atlantic slave trade, na dem introduce Akan languages to de Caribbean den South America, notably insyd Suriname den Jamaica, wer e heavily influence de languages wey de Ndyuka den de Jamaican Maroons dey speak, dem sanso know as de Coromantee. De cultures of de descendants of escaped slaves insyd de interior of Suriname den de Maroons insyd Jamaica still retain Akan influences, wey dey include de Akan naming practice of naming kiddies after de day of de week on wich dem be born, e.g. Akwasi/Kwasi give a boy anaa Akosua give a girl dem born on a Sunday. Insyd Jamaica den Suriname, de Anansi spider stories still be well-known.

 Name 
Originally, na de language be known by local names rada dan a single unifying term. Inland Akan groups refer to am as 'Twi' (/tʃwiː, twiː, tʃiː/;), while coastal Akan groups refer to am as 'Fante.M E Kropp Dakubu, 2006, 'Akan', in Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics After independence, de national language commission adopt 'Akan', a name wey na e be used give all de languages wey de Akan people dey speak, wich include Twi-Fante den de Bia languages, as de name give Twi-Fante specifically per. Na dem rename de broader scope de Central Tano languages to avoid confusion. However, chaw sources still dey refer to de Central Tano languages as 'Akan'.

 History 
Na de largest Akan migration be to Ghana insyd successive waves between de 11th den 18th centuries. Smaller numbers migrate to de eastern part of Côte d'Ivoire den parts of Togo. Within Ghana, dem expand from de north to occupy de southern forest den coastal areas during de 13th century. De Akans get a strong oral history tradition of dema past wey sanso be known in for symbolic artifacts of wood, metal den terracotta. Dema cultural ideas be expressed insyd stories den proverbs as well as insyd designs such as symbols dem use in carvings den on clothes. De rich Akan culture den history insyd Ghana be areas of research for chaw disciplines, such as folklore, literary studies, linguistics, anthropology, den history.

 Dialects 
Akan be a dialect continuum wey be closely related to de Bia languages, de oda Central Tano languages wey de Akan people speak. De relationships of de major Akan dialects be as follows: Brong den Wasa get limited mutual intelligibility plus each oda, den so be separate languages by dat standard. Neighboring Brong den Asante be mutually intelligible, though geographically more distant Brong den Fante be less so. Indeed, 'a Fante-speaker go be right in looking on Bron [Bono] as a different language.'

 Phonology 
De Akan dialects dey contain extensive palatalization, vowel harmony, den tone terracing.
+Akan consonant phonemesLabialAlveolarDorsalLabializedNasalplain/m//n//nʷ/geminated/nː//nːʷ/Stopvoiceless/p//t//k//kʷ/voiced/b//d//ɡ//ɡʷ/Fricative/f//s//h//hʷ/Trill/r/Approximant/l//j//w/
+Allophones of Akan consonantsLabialAlveolarDorsalLabializedPhonemeAllophonesPhonemeAllophonesPhonemeAllophonesNasalplain/m//n/[n~ŋ, ɲ, ɲĩ]/nʷ/[ŋʷ, ɲᶣ]geminated/nː/[ŋː, ɲːĩ]/nːʷ/[ɲːᶣ]Stopvoiceless/p//t/[t]/k/[k, tɕ~cç]/kʷ/[kʷ, tɕᶣ]voiced/b//d//ɡ/[ɡ, dʑ~ɟʝ]/ɡʷ/[ɡʷ, dʑᶣ]Fricative/f//s//h/[h, ɕ]/hʷ/[hʷ, ɕᶣ]Trill/r/[ɾ, r, ɽ]Approximant/l//j//w/[w, ɥ]
+Akan consonant orthographyLabialAlveolarDorsalLabializedNasalplain⟨m⟩⟨n, ny, ngi⟩⟨nw, nu⟩geminated⟨ng, nyi, nnyi⟩⟨nnw⟩Stopvoiceless⟨p⟩⟨t, ti⟩⟨k, ky⟩⟨kw, twi⟩voiced⟨b⟩⟨d⟩⟨g, dw, gy⟩⟨gu, dwi⟩Fricative⟨f⟩⟨s⟩⟨h, hy⟩⟨hu, hwi⟩Trill⟨r⟩Approximant⟨l⟩⟨y⟩⟨w, wi⟩

 Vowels 
+Akan vowel phonemesFrontCentralBack-RTR+RTR-RTR+RTR-RTR+RTRClose/i//i̙//u//u̙/Mid/e//e̙//o//o̙/Open/a//a̙/
Orthog.-RTR+RTRi/i/ [i]e/e/ [e]/i̙/ [ɪ~e]ɛ/e̙/ [ɛ]a/a/ [æ~ɐ~ə]/a̙/ [a]ɔ/o̙/ [ɔ]o/o/ [o]/u̙/ [ʊ~o]u/u/ [u]

 Orthography 
UppercaseABDEƐFGHIKLMNOƆPRSTUWYLowercaseabdeɛfghiklmnoɔprstuwy

 Vocabulary 

 Common phrases 
EnglishAkanWelcomeAkwaaba YesAane (Asante)Nyew (Fante)Yiw (Akuapem)Okay/AlrightYooNo/NopeOho/Anhã (Fante)Daabi(Asante)Good nightDa yie (Asante)literally "sleep well"I'm going to sleepMe rekɔ da  (Fante)How's it going?/How are you?Ɛte sɛn? (Asante)e sanso fi be used insyd de non-literal sense as "hello"Thank youMedaasePlease/Excuse me/I beg your pardonMepa wo kyɛwSong(s)/MusicNdwom (Fante)Nnwom (Asante)What is your name?Wo din de sɛn?/Yɛfrɛ wo sɛn? (Asante)Wo dzin dze dεn? (Fante)My name is.../I'm called...Me dzin dze... /Wɔfrɛ me... (Fante)How old is he/she?Woedzi mfe ahen? (Fante)How old are you?Edzi mfe ahen (Fante)Where is it?Ɔwɔ hen? I am going/I am taking my leaveMe rekɔGoodMbo (Fante)Mmocode  (Asante)LeaveJo (Fante)Kɔ (Asante)Well doneAyɛ adze (Fante)StopGyaeSleepDaComeBraCome hereBra haCome and eatBɛ didi

 Place names 
EnglishAkanHomeFieSchoolSukuuChurchAsɔreMarketDwaaso University/Tertiary institutionSukuuponHospitalAyaresabea

 System of given names 
DayMale nameFemale nameEnglishAkanMondayDwoadaKwadwo, KojoAdwoaTuesdayBenadaKwabena, KobinaAbenaWednesdayWukuadaKweku, KwakuAkuaThursdayYawoadaYaw, KwawYaaFridayFiadaKofiAfia/AfuaSaturdayMemenedaKwameAmaSundayKwasiadaAkwasi, Kwasi, KwesiAsi, Akosua, Esi

 References 

 Bibliography 







 Read further 






  Reprint: 

 External links 

 English-Tshi (Asante) : a dictionary = Enyiresi-Twi nsem-asekyere-nhõma (1909), Evangelische Missionsgesellschaft in Basel
 Akan Language Resources
 Journal of West African Languages: Akan
 My First Akan Dictionary Online Akan (Twi, Fanti) Dictionary
 Twi Word of the Day and Articles
 Akan Language Resources
 The Bible in Twi
 The Quran in Twi Language
 Poem translated into Twi
 Watch Twi Music Videos
 Prayer in Asante used by Ghanaians of the Baha'i Faith
 Open Twi Project, a project to bring Asante to software.
 Literature and articles in Ahanta Literature and articles in Ahanta dialect.


Category:Central Tano languages
Category:Languages wey dey Ghana
Category:Akan people
Category:Languages
Category:Articles wey dey contain video clips