Ghana Togo Mountain languages
Encyclopedia
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
–Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
borderland. They are part of the Kwa
Kwa languages
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 Côte d'Ivoire, across southern Ghana, and in central Togo...
branch of the Niger–Congo
Niger–Congo languages
The Niger–Congo languages constitute one of the world's major language families, and Africa's largest in terms of geographical area, number of speakers, and number of distinct languages. They may constitute the world's largest language family in terms of distinct languages, although this question...
family.
Bernhard Struck, in 1912, was the first to group together these languages under the label Semibantu von Mitteltogo. Westermann
Diedrich Hermann Westermann
Diedrich Hermann Westermann was a German missionary, Africanist, and linguist. He substantially extended and revised the work of Carl Meinhof, his teacher, although he rejected some of Meinhof's theories only implicitly...
, in his classification of the then Sudanic languages
Sudanic languages
In early twentieth century classification of African languages, Sudanic languages was a generic term for African languages spoken in the Sahel belt from Ethiopia in the east to Senegal in the west.-Scope:...
, adopted the grouping but called it Togorestsprachen. This was mainly a loose geographical-typological grouping based on the elaborate noun class systems of the languages; lack of comparative data prevented a more definitive phylogenetic classification. Bernd Heine
Bernd Heine
Bernd Heine is a German linguist and specialist in African studies.From 1978 to 2004 Heine held the chair for African Studies at the University of Cologne, Germany. His main focal points in research and teaching are African linguistics, language sociology, grammaticalization theory and language...
(1968) carried out comparative research among the group, establishing a basic division between Ka-Togo and Na-Togo based on the word for 'flesh' in the languages. Dakubu and Ford (1988) renamed this cluster the Central Togo languages, a term still used by some (e.g. Blench 2001); since the mid-90s, the term Ghana–Togo Mountain languages has become more common. No comparative study of the languages has appeared in print since Heine (1968); Blench (unpublished) presented a tentative reclassification of the group in 2001, noting the internal diversity of the grouping. It is still unclear whether the grouping forms a branch on its own within Kwa.
A much noted characteristic of these languages is their typical Niger–Congo noun class system, since in many surrounding languages only remnants of such a system are found. All Ghana–Togo Mountain languages are tonal and most have a nine or ten vowel system employing ATR vowel harmony
Vowel harmony
Vowel harmony is a type of long-distance assimilatory phonological process involving vowels that occurs in some languages. In languages with vowel harmony, there are constraints on which vowels may be found near each other....
. Both Ewe
Ewe language
Ewe is a Niger–Congo language spoken in Ghana, Togo and Benin by approximately six million people. Ewe is part of a cluster of related languages commonly called Gbe, spoken in southeastern Ghana, Togo, and parts of Benin. Other Gbe languages include Fon, Gen, Phla Phera, and Aja...
and Twi, the dominant regional languages, have exerted considerable influence on many GTM languages.
The languages
| |English names | | Autonyms | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| People | Language | ||
| Na | Adele | Bidire | Gidire |
| Anii, Basila | |||
| Giseme, Akpe | |||
| Logba | Akpanawò | Ikpana | |
| Lelemi, Buem | Lε-lεmi | ||
| Lefana, Buem | Lε-fana | ||
| Siwu-Lolobi, Akpafu | sg. Ɔwu, pl. Mawu |
Siwu | |
| Likpe | sg. Ɔkpεlá, pl. Bakpεlá |
Sεkpεlé | |
| Santrokofí | Sεlεε | ||
| Ka | Avatime | Ke-dane-ma | Sì-yà |
| Nyangbo | Batrugbu | Tùtrùgbù | |
| Tafi | Bàgbɔ̀ | Tɛ̀gbɔ̀ | |
| Ikposo | Akpɔsɔ | Ikpɔsɔ | |
| Bowiri, Tora | Bawuli | Tuwuli | |
| Ahlon | Igo | ||
| Akebu | əkpəβə |
Kᵼkpəkə | |
| Animere | Animere | ||
Classification of GTM languages
Heine (1968) placed the GTM languages into two branches of Kwa, Na-Togo and Ka-Togo:- Na-Togo
- 1.
- LelemiLelemi languageLelemi or Lefana is spoken by the Buem people in the mountainous Volta Region of Ghana. It belongs to the geographic group of Ghana Togo Mountain languages of the Kwa branch of Niger–Congo....
- SiwuSiwu languageSiwu 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...
(Akpafu–Lolobi) - LikpeLikpe languageLikpe or Sekpele 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....
- SantrokofiSantrokofi languageSantrokofi or Selee 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....
(Sεlεε)
- Lelemi
- 2. LogbaLogba languageLogba 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’...
- 3.
- AdeleAdele languageThe Adele language is spoken in central eastern Ghana and central western Togo. It belongs to the geographic group of Ghana Togo Mountain languages of the Kwa branch of Niger–Congo...
- BasilaBasila languageThe Anii or Basila language is spoken in central eastern Ghana and central western Togo. It is part of the geographic group of Ghana Togo Mountain languages of the Kwa branch of Niger–Congo.-References:* Bernd Heine, Die Verbreitung und Gliederung der...
(Anii)
- Adele
- 1.
- Ka-Togo
- 1.
- AvatimeAvatime languageAvatime, also known as Afatime, Sideme, or Sia, is a Kwa language of the Avatime people of eastern Ghana...
- Nyangbo-TafiNyangbo-Tafi languageThe Nyangbo-Tafi language is spoken in the Volta Region of Ghana. It is considered one of the Ghana–Togo Mountain languages of the Kwa family....
- Avatime
- 2.
- Ahlo (Igo)
- BowiliBowili languageThe Bowili language, Tuwuli , is spoken in the Volta Region of Ghana. It is considered one of the Ghana–Togo Mountain languages of the Kwa family....
- KposoKposo languageKposo language, or Ikposo , is the language of the Akposso people, spoken mainly in the Plateau Region of Togo, but also into eastern Ghana. It is considered one of the Ghana–Togo Mountain languages.-External links:*...
- 3.
- AnimereAnimere languageAnimere is a language spoken in Ghana, in the Kecheibe and Kunda villages of the Benimbere people. It is most closely related to Kebu or Akebu of Togo. Both are Ghana Togo Mountain languages , classified as members of the Ka-Togo group by Heine...
- AkebuAkebu languageAkebu or Kebu is one of the Ghana–Togo Mountain languages spoken by the Akebu people of southern Togo and southeastern Ghana. It is a language with nominal classes...
- Animere
- 1.
However, this classification was distorted by influence from Ewe on the one hand and Twi on the other. Blench (2006) makes the following tentative classification, which he expects to change as more data becomes available. One branch each of the Na and Ka languages are split off. As with Heine's classification, these may be independent branches of Kwa:
- Na-Togo (reduced)
- 1.
- LelemiLelemi languageLelemi or Lefana is spoken by the Buem people in the mountainous Volta Region of Ghana. It belongs to the geographic group of Ghana Togo Mountain languages of the Kwa branch of Niger–Congo....
- SiwuSiwu languageSiwu 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...
(Akpafu–Lolobi) - LikpeLikpe languageLikpe or Sekpele 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....
- SantrokofiSantrokofi languageSantrokofi or Selee 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....
- Lelemi
- 2. LogbaLogba languageLogba 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’...
- 1.
- Anii–Adere
- AdeleAdele languageThe Adele language is spoken in central eastern Ghana and central western Togo. It belongs to the geographic group of Ghana Togo Mountain languages of the Kwa branch of Niger–Congo...
- BasilaBasila languageThe Anii or Basila language is spoken in central eastern Ghana and central western Togo. It is part of the geographic group of Ghana Togo Mountain languages of the Kwa branch of Niger–Congo.-References:* Bernd Heine, Die Verbreitung und Gliederung der...
(Anii)
- Adele
- Ka-Togo (reduced)
- 1.
- AvatimeAvatime languageAvatime, also known as Afatime, Sideme, or Sia, is a Kwa language of the Avatime people of eastern Ghana...
- Nyangbo-TafiNyangbo-Tafi languageThe Nyangbo-Tafi language is spoken in the Volta Region of Ghana. It is considered one of the Ghana–Togo Mountain languages of the Kwa family....
- BowiliBowili languageThe Bowili language, Tuwuli , is spoken in the Volta Region of Ghana. It is considered one of the Ghana–Togo Mountain languages of the Kwa family....
- Avatime
- 2.
- Ahlo
- KposoKposo languageKposo language, or Ikposo , is the language of the Akposso people, spoken mainly in the Plateau Region of Togo, but also into eastern Ghana. It is considered one of the Ghana–Togo Mountain languages.-External links:*...
- 1.
- Kebu–Animere
- AnimereAnimere languageAnimere is a language spoken in Ghana, in the Kecheibe and Kunda villages of the Benimbere people. It is most closely related to Kebu or Akebu of Togo. Both are Ghana Togo Mountain languages , classified as members of the Ka-Togo group by Heine...
- AkebuAkebu languageAkebu or Kebu is one of the Ghana–Togo Mountain languages spoken by the Akebu people of southern Togo and southeastern Ghana. It is a language with nominal classes...
- Animere