| Twi | |
| Also Known As: | Akwapem Twi |
| Pronunciation: | pronounced as /tw/ |
| States: | Ghana |
| Region: | Ashanti Region |
| Speakers: | million |
| Date: | 2013 |
| Ref: | e27 |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Fam1: | Niger–Congo? |
| Fam2: | Atlantic–Congo |
| Fam3: | Kwa |
| Fam4: | Potou–Tano |
| Fam5: | Tano |
| Fam6: | Central Tano |
| Fam7: | Akan |
| Dia1: | Asante |
| Dia2: | Akuapem |
| Dia3: | Bono |
| Dia4: | Fante |
| Script: | Latin |
| Nation: | Ashanti Region |
| Minority: | Ghana |
| Agency: | Akan Orthography Committee |
| Iso1: | tw |
| Iso2: | twi |
| Iso3: | twi |
| Iso3comment: | (see [aka] for Ethnologue description) |
| Glotto: | akan1251 |
| Glottorefname: | Akan |
| Notice: | IPA |
Twi (pronounced as /tw/) 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.
Twi is a common name for mutually intelligible former literary dialects of the Akan language of Bono, Asante and Akuapem.[1] [2] [3] Akuapem, as the first Akan variety to be used for Bible translation, has become the prestige dialect as a result.[4] It is also spoken by the people of southeastern Côte d'Ivoire.[5] [2] [6] It generally subsumes the following dialects: Ahafo, Akuapem, Akyem, Asante, Asen, Dankyira and Kwawu.
The name 'Twi' is derived from the name of a Bono king, Nana Baffuor Twi.[7]
| Labial | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | voiced | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||
| labialized | pronounced as /nʷ/ | ||||||||
| Stop/ Affricate | voiced | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ ~ pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
| aspirated | pronounced as /pʰ/ | pronounced as /tʰ/ | pronounced as /t͡ɕʰ/ ~ pronounced as /c͡çʰ/ | pronounced as /kʰ/ | |||||
| labialized | pronounced as /t͡ɕʷ/ | pronounced as /kʷ/ | |||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||
| labialized | pronounced as /hʷ/ | ||||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||||
| Tap/Flap | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||||
| Trill | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||
| Lateral | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | +ATR | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| –ATR | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Mid | +ATR | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| –ATR | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Open | +ATR | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| –ATR | pronounced as /link/ | |||
Front vowels additionally show a distinction in duration, where –ATR front vowels are shorter than their +ATR counterparts.[8]
Twi has at least 5 tones:
However, when writing Twi using the Latin script, tone marks are not used.
Twi contains the diphthongs,,,,,,, and .[9]
| 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 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 | Twi: Dwoada | Twi: Kwadwo, Kojo | Twi: Adwoa | |
| Tuesday | Twi: Benada | Twi: Kwabena, Kobina | Twi: Abena | |
| Wednesday | Twi: Wukuada | Twi: Kweku, Kwaku | Twi: Akua | |
| Thursday | Twi: Yawoada | Twi: Yaw, Kwaw | Twi: Yaa | |
| Friday | Twi: Fiada | Twi: Kofi | Twi: Afia/Afua | |
| Saturday | Twi: Memeneda | Twi: Kwame | Twi: Ama | |
| Sunday | Twi: Kwasiada | Twi: Akwasi, Kwasi, Kwesi | Twi: Asi, Akosua, Esi |
In his 1865 collection, Wit and Wisdom from West Africa,[11] Richard Francis Burton published over 250 Twi (Oji) proverbs and sayings with English translations, taken from Hans Nicolaus Riis's Grammatical Outline and Vocabulary of the Oji-language, published in 1854. (Riis, nephew of Andreas Riis, went to Ghana as a missionary in 1845.) Here are some of those sayings: