A Beginner’s Guide To Studying The Twi Language
By Chris Owusu-Barfi
The Akan ethnic group is mainly found in modern-day Ghana and the Ivory Coast in West Africa. The ethnic group is made up of several subgroups that can be traced to a common origin. These subgroups include, the Ashanti, the Akyem, the Akwapim, the Agona, the Bono, the Fante, the Kwahu, the Wassa and the Ahanta. The population of the Akan ethnic group is estimated to be about 20 – 25 million people. All the subgroups share common cultural attributes. These include, the Twi language, the matrilineal type of inheritance and how funerals are conducted for the dead.
The Twi dialect is the dialect spoken by all the subgroups of the Akan tribe. Twi is studied at major universities in North America and the United States, including Ohio University, Ohio State University, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Harvard University and Boston University. There are different variations of the Twi dialect, including: the Asante Twi, Akwapim Twi, Bono Twi and Fante, to just mention a few. With their distinct orthographies, these four Twi dialects have been developed as literacy standards. They can now be written and they are usually taught in most Ghanaian schools. Among all the variations of the Akan language, Asante Twi is the most commonly spoken one in most parts of Ghana. About 80% of the Ghanaian population can speak or understand the Twi dialect.
The Twi language has characteristic features. These features include, tone, vowel harmony and nasalization. There are twenty-two alphabets in the Twi language. These twenty-two alphabets consist of fifteen consonants and seven vowels; some of the vowels have two sounds, making a total of ten vowel sounds, as noted in the tables below.
|
Printed Letter |
Sounds |
Pronunciation |
|
B, b |
/b/ |
as in book, boom |
|
D, d |
/d/ |
as in dance, drum |
|
F, f |
/f/ |
as in fish, food |
|
G, g |
/g/ |
as in go, good |
|
H, h |
/h/ |
as in hat, halt |
|
K, k |
/k/ |
as in car, come |
|
L, l |
/l/ |
as in loud, ball |
|
M, m |
/m/ |
as in moon, mute |
|
N, n |
/n/ |
as in name, anoint |
|
P, p |
/p/ |
as in purse, pour |
|
R, r |
/r/ |
as in round, road |
|
S, s |
/s/ |
as in sing, surprise |
|
T, t |
/t/ |
as in teach, talk |
|
W, w |
/w/ |
as in we, win |
|
Y, y |
/y//j/ |
as in yam, you |
|
Printed Letter |
Sounds |
Pronunciation |
|
A, a |
a |
as in bath, add |
|
æ |
as in man, pan |
|
|
E, e |
e |
as in hate, date |
|
I |
as in dip, sip |
|
|
Ɛ, ɛ |
ɛ |
as in set, get |
|
I, i |
i |
as in feet, heat |
|
O, o |
o |
as in old, sold |
|
ʋ |
as in foot, good |
|
|
⊃,⊃ |
⊃ |
as in all, short |
|
U, u |
u |
as in moon, food |
Source: https://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/audio/languagelessons/ghana/
Some common words a newbie to the Twi language has to know are:
Akwaaba: Welcome
Mepa wo kyεw: Please
Medaase: Thank you
You can use the Nkenne App to learn more and practice the Twi language of the Akans. The app is available both on the App Store and the Google Play Store.
Medaase bebree! (Thank you very much!)
HEAD ON TO THE NKENNE APP AND START LEARNING TODAY!
DOWNLOAD THE APP ON THE APP STORE OR GOOGLE PLAY STORE
