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The Central Tano or Akan languages are languages of the Niger-Congo family spoken in Ghana and Ivory Coast by the Akan people.
The Kwa languages, often specified as New Kwa, are a proposed but as-yet-undemonstrated family of languages spoken in the south-eastern part of Ivory Coast, across southern Ghana, and in central Togo. The name was introduced 1895 by Gottlob Krause and derives from the word for 'people' (Kwa) in many of these languages, as illustrated by Akan names.
Mpra, or Mpre, is an extinct language spoken in the village of Butei in central Ghana, located between the towns of Techiman and Tamale near the confluence of the Black and White Voltas. Mpra has been difficult to classify due to its divergent vocabulary. It is known only from a 70-word list given in a 1931 article. Blench (2007) considers it to be a possible language isolate. A poorly attested language spoken in the nearby village of Tuluwe, Mpur, may also turn out to be yet another language isolate. Both Butie and Tuluwe are located near the village of Mpaha.
The Ligbi people speak a Mande language in Ghana, in the north-west corner of the Brong-Ahafo Region. Ligbi is spoken by approximately 10,000 speakers. It is fairly closely related to Jula, Vai and Kono. A small population of Ligbi speakers is reported to live in Ivory Coast. Ligbi is also known as Wela (Hwela) or Numu. The latter of these refers to a subsection of the Ligbi people; Numu is Dyula for 'blacksmith'.
The Dangme language, also Dangme or Adaŋgbi, is a Kwa language spoken in south-eastern Ghana by the Dangme People (Dangmeli). The Dangmeli are part of the larger Ga-Dangme ethnic group. Klogbi is a variant, spoken by the Kloli. Kropp Dakubu (1987) is the most thorough grammar of the language.
Logba is a Kwa language spoken in the south-eastern Ghana by approximately 7,500 people. The Logba people call themselves and their language Ikpana, which means ‘defenders of truth’. Logba is different from Lukpa of Togo and Benin, which is also sometimes referred to as Logba.
The voiced labial–velar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ŋ͡m⟩.
The Ghana–Togo Mountain languages, formerly called Togorestsprachen and Central Togo languages, form a grouping of about fourteen languages spoken in the mountains of the Ghana–Togo borderland. They are part of the Kwa branch of the Niger–Congo family.
Gonja was a kingdom in northern Ghana founded in 1675 by Sumaila Ndewura Jakpa. The word can also refer to the people of this kingdom.
Ga–Dangme is a branch of the Kwa language family. Ga–Dangme is made up of just two languages: Ga and Dangme. They are closely related and have sometimes been considered as a single language. There are many similarities in the basic vocabulary. There are also many words that are different, and grammatical differences, particularly in the verb phrase. Where they differ, Adangme is usually closer to the original Proto-Ga–Dangme than Ga.
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.
Sisaala (Sissala) is a Gur language cluster spoken in northern Ghana near the town of Tumu and in the neighbouring republic of Burkina Faso. Western Sisaala is intermediate between Sisaali and Tumulung Sisaala.
Siwu is a language that is spoken in the mountainous central part of the Volta Region of Ghana. It belongs to the geographic group of Ghana Togo Mountain languages of the Kwa branch of Niger–Congo. The speakers of Siwu call themselves the Mawu and their land Kawu, some of the speakers of Siwu lives around Lolobi communite.
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Kposo language, or Ikposo, is the language of the Akposso people, mainly in the Plateau Region of Togo, west of Atakpamé, but also into eastern Ghana. It is considered one of the Ghana–Togo Mountain languages, but does not have the system of noun classes that is characteristic of other languages in the group.
Gua is a Guang language spoken in many parts of Ghana including the Gonja, in the northern Savannah Region, the Nchumurus in the Northern, Oti and Bono East Regions, the people of Larteh, the people of Winneba, Senya Beraku, Buem, Achode, Nkonya, Krachi, Santrokofi, Adele and Wuripong all in the Oti Region. The Larteh is also called Anum-Boso
The Mampruli language is a Gur language spoken in northern Ghana, Northern Togo, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Mali by the Mamprusi people. It is partially mutually intelligible with Dagbani. The Mamprusi language is spoken in a broad belt across the northern parts of the Northern Region of Ghana, stretching west to east from Yizeesi to Nakpanduri and centred on the towns of Gambaga, Nalerigu and Walewale.
Dompo is an endangered language of Ghana. Speakers are shifting to Nafaanra. It is spoken adjacent to the main town of the Nafaanra people, namely Banda, Brong-Ahafo Region, Ghana. Blench (2015) reports that it is spoken by 10 households.
Nterato, or Ntrapo (ntrapʊ), is a nearly extinct Guang language of Ghana.
Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu was an American linguist based in Ghana, known for her work on Ghanaian languages. She was professor emerita at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, where she had been affiliated since 1964.
References
- ↑ Gonja, Ngbanya, Ngbanyito at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ↑ Mary E. Kropp Dakubu (ed.), The Languages of Ghana, page 77
- ↑ Language Guide (Gonja Version). Bureau of Ghana Languages, Accra, 1977-1988.
- ↑ Kropp Dakubu, M.E. (editor), The Languages of Ghana. Kegan Paul International, London, for the International African Institute. 1988.
- Colin Painter, Gonja: a phonological and grammatical study, Indiana University, 1970