Twi ([tɕᶣi]) 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.[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 | |
| 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 |
| This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. | |
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]
The name 'Twi' is derived from the name of a Bono king, Nana Baffuor Twi.[9]
| 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⟩ | |||||||
| 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]
Twi has at least 5 tones:
However, when writing Twi using the Latin script, tone marks are not used.
Twi contains the diphthongs /ao/, /eɛ/, /ei/, /ia/, /ie/, /oɔ/, /ue/, and /uo/.[11]
| 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]
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 |
