Twi ([tɕᶣi]) is a variety of the Akan languages spoken in southern and central Ghana by several million people, mainly of the Akan people, the largest of the seventeen major ethnic groups in Ghana. Twi has about 4.4 million speakers.[1]
| Twi | |
|---|---|
| Akwapem Twi | |
| Pronunciation | [tɕᶣi] |
| Native to | Ghana |
| Region | Ashanti Region |
| Ethnicity | |
Native speakers | 4.4 million (2013)[1] |
| Dialects | |
| Latin | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Ashanti Region |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Regulated by | Akan Orthography Committee |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | tw |
| ISO 639-2 | twi |
| ISO 639-3 | twi (see [aka] for Ethnologue description) |
| Glottolog | akan1251 |
Twi is a common name for mutually intelligible former literary dialects of the Akan language of Bono, Asante and Akuapem.[2][3][4] Akuapem, as the first Akan variety to be used for Bible translation, has become the prestige dialect as a result.[5] It is also spoken by the people of southeastern Côte d'Ivoire.[6][3][7]It generally subsumes the following dialects: Ahafo, Akuapem, Akyem, Asante, Asen, Dankyira and Kwawu.[8]
Etymology
The name 'Twi' is derived from the name of a Bono king, Nana Baffuor Twi.[9]
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | voiced | m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | ɲ ⟨ny, n⟩ | ŋ ⟨ng, n⟩ | |||
| labialized | nʷ ⟨nw⟩ | |||||||
| Stop/ Affricate | voiced | b ⟨b⟩ | d ⟨d⟩ | d͡ʒ ⟨dw⟩ | d͡ʑ ~ ɟ͡ʝ ⟨gy⟩ | g ⟨g⟩ | ||
| aspirated | pʰ ⟨p⟩ | tʰ ⟨t⟩ | t͡ɕʰ ~ c͡çʰ ⟨ky⟩ | kʰ ⟨k⟩ | ||||
| labialized | t͡ɕʷ ⟨tw⟩ | kʷ ⟨kw⟩ | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f ⟨f⟩ | s ⟨s⟩ | ç ⟨hy⟩ | h ⟨h⟩ | |||
| labialized | hʷ ⟨hw⟩ | |||||||
| Approximant | j ⟨y⟩ | w ⟨w⟩ | ||||||
| Tap/Flap | ɾ ⟨r⟩ | ɽ ⟨r⟩ | ||||||
| Trill | r ⟨r⟩ | |||||||
| Lateral | l ⟨l⟩ | |||||||
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | +ATR | i | u | |
| –ATR | ɪ | ʊ | ||
| Mid | +ATR | e | o | |
| –ATR | ɛ | ɔ | ||
| Open | +ATR | æ | ||
| –ATR | ɑ | |||
Front vowels additionally show a distinction in duration, where –ATR front vowels are shorter than their +ATR counterparts.[10]
Tone
Twi has at least 5 tones:
- High tone: H
- Mid tone: M
- Low tone: L
- Rising tone: R
- Falling tone: F
However, when writing Twi using the Latin script, tone marks are not used.
Diphthongs
Twi contains the diphthongs /ao/, /eɛ/, /ei/, /ia/, /ie/, /oɔ/, /ue/, and /uo/.[11]
Orthography
| Uppercase | A | B | D | E | Ɛ | F | G | H | I | K | L | M | N | O | Ɔ | P | R | S | T | U | W | Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase | a | b | d | e | ɛ | f | g | h | i | k | l | m | n | o | ɔ | p | r | s | t | u | w | y |
The letters C, J, Q, V, X and Z are also used, but only in loanwords.[12]
Naming system
The Akan peoples use a common Akan (Ghana) naming system of giving the first name to a child, based on the day of the week that the child was born. Almost all the tribes and clans in Ghana have a similar custom.
| Day | Male name | Female name | |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Akan | ||
| Monday | Dwoada | Kwadwo, Kojo | Adwoa |
| Tuesday | Benada | Kwabena, Kobina | Abena |
| Wednesday | Wukuada | Kweku, Kwaku | Akua |
| Thursday | Yawoada | Yaw, Kwaw | Yaa |
| Friday | Fiada | Kofi | Afia/Afua |
| Saturday | Memeneda | Kwame | Ama |
| Sunday | Kwasiada | Akwasi, Kwasi, Kwesi | Asi, Akosua, Esi |
References
External links
- Akan at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019)
- Language resources at LangMedia (Five College Center for World Languages)
- Akan basic course
- Bibliography of structural properties of the Twi language at WALS Online (The World Atlas of Language Structures)
- Akuapem Twi to English Parallel Text Dataset
