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Abron | |
---|---|
Native to | Ghana |
Ethnicity | Abron |
Native speakers | 1.4 million (2013) [1] |
Dialects |
|
Official status | |
Official language in | Ghana |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | abr |
Glottolog | abro1238 [2] |
Bono, also known as Abron, or Brong, [3] is the common language of the Abron people and a major dialect of the Akan dialect continuum, and thus mutually intelligible with the principal Akan dialects of Fante, Asante, and Akuapem, collectively known as Twi. [3] It is spoken by 1.2 million in Ghana, primarily in the Central Ghanaian region of Brong-Ahafo, and by over 300,000 in eastern Ivory Coast. [3] [3]
Abron is mutually intelligible with all dialects of Akan, but the degree of intelligibility depends on the geographical distance between the dialects. Abron is physically close to Asante, and therefore linguistically close, while a further-away dialect such as Fante is linguistically further as well. [4] Most speakers of Abron are bilingual or bidialectal with Asante. [5]
Along with Fante, Abron is the most conservative dialect of Akan, retaining several features, such as the third-person plural pronoun bɛ, that have since been lost elsewhere in Akan. [6] [4] [5]
Independent | Subject | Possessive | Object | |
---|---|---|---|---|
First sing. | me | me- | me- | m |
Second sing. | wo | wo- | wo | w |
Third sing. | ɔno | wɔ- | ɔ-; ne | no |
First pl. | yɛ | yɛ- | yɛ | yɛ |
Second pl. | hõ | hõ- | hõ | hõ |
Third pl. | bɛ | bɛ- | bɛ | bɛ |
Unspecified | ɛ- |
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