Twi

Twi
Twi
Pronunciation	[tɕᶣi]
Native to	Ghana
Region	Ashanti Region
Ethnicity	Asante; Akuapem; Bono;
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Kwa Potou–Tano Tano Central Tano Akan Twi; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Dialects	Asante; Akuapem;
Writing system	Latin
Official status
Official language in	Ashanti Region
Recognised minority; language in	Ghana
Regulated by	Akan Orthography Committee
Language codes
ISO 639-1	tw
ISO 639-2	twi
ISO 639-3	twi (see [aka] for Ethnologue description)
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Twi ([tɕᶣi]) is the common name of the Akan literary dialects of Asante and Akuapem.^[1] Effectively, it is a synonym for 'Akan' that is not used by the Fante people. It is not a linguistic grouping, as Akuapem Twi is more closely related to Fante dialect than it is to Asante Twi.^[2] Twi generally subsumes the following Akan dialects: Ahafo, Akuapem, Akyem, Asante, Asen, Bono, Dankyira and Kwawu, which have about 4.4 million speakers in southern and central Ghana.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Etymology

The name "Twi" is derived from the name of a Bono king, Nana Baffuor Twi.^[6]

References

^ Arhin, Kwame; Studies, University of Ghana Institute of African (1979). A Profile of Brong Kyempim: Essays on the Archaeology, History, Language and Politics of the Brong Peoples of Ghana. Afram.
^ Dolphyne, Florence Abena (1986) The languages of the Akan peoples. Research review. Vol. 2 No. 1, Pages 1-22[1] University of Ghana.
^ Akan at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
^ African 671, University of Wisconsin-Madison Students in. "About Akan (Twi)". UW Press Journals.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Boaheng, Isaac (2021). "An Akan (Bono-Twi) Mother-Tongue Commentary on the Second Letter of John". Journal of Mother Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology.
^ The Akan of Ghana: Their Ancient Beliefs. Faber & Faber. 1958.