Akan language

**Akan** (/əˈkæn/), anaa **Twi-Fante**, 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, 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. 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.

### Vowels

## Orthography

## Vocabulary

### Common phrases

### Place names

## System of given names

## References



## Bibliography

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## External links

* , 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.