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Akan is a group of several closely related languages within the wider Central Tano languages. These languages are the principal native languages of the Akan people of Ghana, spoken over much of the southern half of Ghana. About 80% of Ghana's population can speak an Akan language as a first or second language, and about 44% of Ghanaians are native speakers. There are populations of polyglots in Ghana who speak an Akan language as a third language. They are also spoken in parts of Côte d'Ivoire.
The Akan people are a Kwa group living primarily in present-day Ghana and in parts of Ivory Coast and Togo in West Africa. The Akan speak dialects within the Central Tano branch of the Potou–Tano subfamily of the Niger–Congo family. Subgroups of the Akan people include: the Agona, Akuapem, Akwamu, Akyem, Anyi, Ashanti, Baoulé, Bono, Chakosi, Fante, Kwahu, Sefwi, Wassa, Ahanta, and Nzema, among others. The Akan subgroups all have cultural attributes in common; most notably the tracing of matrilineal descent in the inheritance of property, and for succession to high political office.
Okomfo Anokye (c.1655-c.1717?/c.1719) was the first priest (Okomfo) of the Ashanti Empire. Anokye is known for his participation in the expansion of the empire. He was also the codifier of the constitution and laws of the Ashanti Empire.
The Efutu are an Akanized Guang people that are the original inhabitants of present-day Ghana. They founded the coastal area about 1390 C.E. The Efutu are found in Awutu, Adina, Senya-Beraku and Winneba and their main occupation is fishing. Like most Guans, they were somewhat absorbed into the greater Akan culture and adopted Akan names via annexing and military campaigns as the Akan were natural warriors. Similar to the Akuapem people of the Eastern Region of Ghana who are ruled by an Akan Abusua but was originally ruled by their own Guan kings. They also have adopted the Fante version of some Akan institutions and the use of some Fante words in their rituals. Before Akanization, the Simpa Kingdom was formed about 1400 AD.
Kwahu refers to an area and group of people that live in Ghana and are part of the Twi-speaking Akan group. Their homeland has been dubbed Asaase Aban, or the Natural Fortress, in view of its position as the highest habitable elevation in the country. Kwahu lies in the Eastern Region of Ghana, on the west shore of Lake Volta. The Kwahus share the Eastern Region with their fellow Akans: the Akyem and Akuapem, as well as the Adangbe-Krobos. Among Kwahu lands, a significant migrant population work as traders, farm-hands, fisherfolk, and caretakers in the fertile waterfront 'melting pot' of Afram plains. These migrants are mostly from the Northern and Volta Regions, as well as, some indigenous Guans from the bordering Oti and Brong-Ahafo regions live in the Afram Plains area. Kwahus are traditionally known to be wealthy traders, owning a significant number of businesses and industries in Ghana.
Fante, also known as Fanti, Fantse, or Mfantse, is one of the four principal members of the Akan dialect continuum, along with Asante, Bono and Akuapem, the latter three collectively known as Twi, with which it is mutually intelligible. It is principally spoken in the central and southern regions of Ghana as well as in settlements in other regions in western Ghana, Ivory Coast, as well as in Liberia, Gambia and Angola.
Ghana is a multilingual country in which about eighty languages are spoken. Of these, English, which was inherited from the colonial era, is the official language and lingua franca. Of the languages indigenous to Ghana, Akan is the most widely spoken in the south. Dagbani is most widely spoken in the north.
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The Akyem are an Akan people. The term Akyem is used to describe a group of four states: Asante Akyem, Akyem Abuakwa, Akyem Kotoku and Akyem Bosome. These nations are located primarily in the eastern region in south Ghana. The term is also used to describe the general area where the Akyem ethnic group clusters. The Akyem ethnic group make up between 3-4 percent of Ghana's population depending on how one defines the group and are very prominent in all aspects of Ghanaian life. The Akyem are a matrilineal people. The history of this ethnic group is that of brave warriors who managed to create a thriving often influential and relatively independent state within modern-day Ghana. When one talks of Ghanaian history, there is often mention of The Big Six. These were six individuals who played a big role in the independence of Ghana. Of the big six, people of Akyem descent made up the majority.
Akwamu was a state set up by the Akwamu people in present-day Ghana. After migrating from Bono state, the Akan founders of Akwamu settled in Twifo-Heman. The Akwamu led an expansionist empire in the 17th and 18th centuries. At the peak of their empire, Akwamu extended 400 kilometres (250 mi) along the coast from Ouidah, Benin in the East to Winneba, Ghana in the West.
Akropong is a town in South Ghana and is the capital of the Akuapim North District, a district in the Eastern Region of South Ghana. This town is known for producing snails and palm oil. Akropong has a 2013 settlement population of 13,785 people.
Abusua is the name in Akan culture for a group of people that share common maternal ancestry governed by seven major ancient female abosom (deities). The Abusua line is considered to be passed through the mother's blood . There are several Abusua that transcend the different ethnic subgroups outside of the ancient seven. People of the same Abusua share a common ancestor somewhere within their bloodline, which may go back as far as thousands of years. It is a taboo to marry someone from the same Abusua. The different Abusua are the Agona (parrot), the Aduana (dog), the Asenie (bat), Oyoko (falcon/hawk), the Asakyiri (vulture), the Asona (crow), the Bretuo (leopard), and the Ekuona (bull).
Twi is a variety of the Akan language 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 16 million speakers in total, including second-language speakers.
Akuapem, also known as Akuapim, Akwapem Twi, and Akwapi, is one of the principal members of the Akan dialect continuum, along with Bono and Asante, with which it is collectively known as Twi, and Fante, with which it is mutually intelligible. There are 626,000 speakers of Akuapem, mainly concentrated in Ghana and southeastern Cote D'Ivoire. It is the historical literary and prestige dialect of Akan, having been chosen as the basis of the Akan translation of the Bible.
Akuapim-Mampong is a town in the Akuapim North district of the Eastern Region of Ghana. It shares boundaries with Mamfe .It is famous for being the first place cocoa was planted in Ghana by Tetteh Quarshie
Akwamufie is the ceremonial state and seat capital of the Akwamu people. It is located along the Akuapim-Togo range, the Volta River and in the Eastern Region, Ghana. It is the town where the Paramount Chief, Odeneho Kwafo-Akoto III and Queen Nana Afrakoma II reside and administer their operations. The majority of the divisional chiefs and sub chiefs also reside in Akwamufie. Akwamu State or Kingdom consists of thirty six towns of which Akwamufie is the capital. While the Paramount Chief is the Head of Akwamu State (Akwamuman), the occupant of the Osomanyawa Stool; the Senior Divisional Chief is the Akwamufiehene and he is second in command to the Akwamuhene, Paramount Chief, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III.
Amanokrom is a town in the Akuapim North District of the Eastern Region of Ghana. It shares border with Mamfe and Abotakyi
The Christ Presbyterian Church, formerly known as the Basel Mission Church, Akropong, is a historic Protestant church located in Akropong–Akuapem, Ghana. It is the first Presbyterian Church to be established in Ghana. It was founded in 1835 by Andreas Riis, a Danish minister and missionary of the Basel Mission who was the only congregant at the time. After years of dormancy, the church began to flourish after the arrival of the Moravian missionaries from the West Indies in 1843. The Basel missionary, Johann Georg Widmann was appointed the minister-in-charge of the Akropong church in 1845. The Jamaican missionary, John Hall, who had served as an elder in his home church in Irwin Hill, Montego Bay, became the first Presbyter of the church while Alexander Worthy Clerk became the first Deacon. Liturgical services are conducted in English and the Twi language.
Clement Anderson Akrofi was an ethnolinguist, translator and philologist who worked extensively on the structure of the Twi language under the aegis of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.
References
- 1 2 3 "AFRICA | 101 Last Tribes - Akuapem people". www.101lasttribes.com. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ↑ Olson, James Stuart (1996). The peoples of Africa: an ethnohistorical dictionary. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-313-27918-8.
- ↑ Ayesu, Ebenezer (1 January 2013). "One state, many origins : peopling of the Akuapem State : a re-examination". Contemporary Journal of African Studies. 1 (1): 27–54. ISSN 2343-6530.
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