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Wasa or WASA may refer to:
The Central Tano or Akan languages are languages of the Niger-Congo family spoken in Ghana and Ivory Coast by the Akan people.
Baoulé, also known as Baule or Bawule, is a language spoken in central and southern Ivory Coast, including in the regions of Lacs, Lagunes, Gôh-Djiboua, Sassandra-Marahoué, Vallée du Bandama, Woroba, and Yamoussoukro, by approximately 5.3 million people. It is a Kwa language of the Central Tano branch, forming a dialect continuum with Anyin and closely related to Nzema and Sehwi. It is the common language of the Baoulé people, the largest ethnic group in Ivory Coast.
Asante, also known as Ashanti, Ashante, or Asante Twi, is one of the principal members of the Akan dialect continuum. It is one of the three mutually intelligible dialects of Akan which are collectively known as Twi, the others being Bono and Akuapem. There are over 3.8 million speakers of the Asante language, mainly concentrated in Ghana and southeastern Cote D'Ivoire, and especially in and around the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
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'.
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.
Ndyuka, also called Aukan, Okanisi, Ndyuka tongo, Aukaans, Businenge Tongo, Eastern Maroon Creole, or Nenge is a creole language of Suriname and French Guiana, spoken by the Ndyuka people. The speakers are one of six Maroon peoples in the Republic of Suriname and one of the Maroon peoples in French Guiana. Most of the 25 to 30 thousand speakers live in the interior of the country, which is a part of the country covered with tropical rainforests. Ethnologue lists two related languages under the name Ndyuka, the other being a dialect of Lutos.
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.
Wetarese is an Austronesian language of Wetar, an island in the south Maluku, Indonesia, and of the nearby island Liran.
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, Dagare, Sisaala, Waale, and Gonja are among the most widely spoken in the northern part of the country.
Ivory Coast is a multilingual country with an estimated 69 languages currently spoken. The official language is French. This language is taught in schools and serves as a lingua franca in the country, along with Dioula.
Nzema, also known as Nzima or Appolo, is a Central Tano language spoken by the Nzema people of southwestern Ghana and southeastern Ivory Coast. It is partially intelligible with Jwira-Pepesa and is closely related to Baoulé.
Bono, also known as Abron or Brong, is a Central Tano language common to the Bono people and closely related to the Akan language. Bono has some mutually intelligibility with Wasa. 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.
The Wassa are Akan people who live predominantly in Ghana.
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 4.4 million 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.
Kulango is a Niger–Congo language spoken in Ivory Coast and across the border in Ghana. It is one of the Kulango languages, and it may be classified as a Gur language. There are two principal varieties distinct enough to be considered separate languages: the Kulango of Bondoukou (Bonduku), also known as Goutougo locally, and that of Bouna (Buna). Ethnologue reports that Bouna-dialect speakers understand Bondoukou, but not the reverse. Bouna, in addition, has the subdialects Sekwa and Nabanj. In Ghana, the principal towns in which the language is spoken are Badu and Seikwa, both in the Tain District, and Buni in the Jaman North district, all in the Bono region of Ghana. In addition, there are smaller towns and villages closer to Wenchi in the Bono region and Techiman in the Bono East region where this language is spoken. Among these are Asubingya (Asubinja) and Nkonsia. The Koulango are matrilineal like the Akans and possess similar cultural practices.
Central Banda is a dialect continuum of the Banda languages spoken by around one million people, primarily in the Central African Republic. The varieties may be mutually intelligible, especially the Mid-Southern–Gobu–Kpagua–Mono–Ngundu cluster. The other varieties are Bambari, Banda-Banda, Mbrès, Ndélé, and Togbo-Vara Banda.
Jwira–Pepesa, also known as Gwira and Pepesa–Jwira, is a Niger-Congo language of the Western Region of Ghana, consisting of the mutually intelligible dialects Jwira and Pepesa, with approximately 18,000 speakers total. It is a Kwa language of the Central Tano branch, and shares 60% intelligibility with Nzema and partial intelligibility with Ahanta and Anyin. Jwira is spoken in 18 villages from Bamiankaw to Humjibere along the Ankobra River, while Pepesa is spoken on Wasa land between Agona Junction and Tarkwa. The two dialects are separated by a mountain range.
Wassa Akropong is a big city and is the capital of Wassa Amenfi East Municipal in the Western Region of Ghana.
References
- ↑ Wasa at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ↑ "Akan". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
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