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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 Ivory Coast, across southern Ghana, and in central Togo. The name was introduced 1895 by Gottlob Krause and derives from the word for 'people' (''Kwa'') in many of these languages, as illustrated by Akan names. Languages See the box at right for a current classification. The various clusters of languages included in Kwa are at best distantly related, and it has not been demonstrated that they are closer to each other than to neighboring Niger–Congo languages. Stewart distinguished the following major branches, which historical-comparative analysis supports as valid groups: * Potou–Tano (including Akan) * Ga–Dangme * Na-Togo * ormerly Gbe (inclusion doubtful, as they show more features of Kwa the closer one moves to Akan) The Lagoon languages of southern Ivory Coast are not particularly close to any of these, nor to each other, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is the port city of Abidjan. It borders Guinea to the northwest, Liberia to the west, Mali to the northwest, Burkina Faso to the northeast, Ghana to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean) to the south. Its official language is French, and indigenous languages are also widely used, including Bété, Baoulé, Dioula, Dan, Anyin, and Cebaara Senufo. In total, there are around 78 different languages spoken in Ivory Coast. The country has a religiously diverse population, including numerous followers of Christianity, Islam, and indigenous faiths. Before its colonization by Europeans, Ivory Coast was home to several states, including Gyaaman, the Kong Empire, and Baoulé. The area became a protectorate of France in 1843 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abidji Language
Abidji (also known as ''Abiji'' and ''Ambidji'') is a language of uncertain classification within the Kwa branch of the Niger–Congo family. It is spoken in the Ivory Coast. It has two dialects: "enyembe" and "ogbru". These dialects' names are used by the members of these Abidji-speaking ethnic groups to refer to themselves. The name Ambidji was given to the language by these groups' neighbors.Renée Vick, Le système aspecto-modal de l’abidji, Abidjan, Institut de linguistique appliquée, 1990 Villages Abidji is spoken in these villages:Dumestre, Gérard. 1971. ''Atlas linguistique de Côte-d'Ivoire : les langues de la région lagunaire''. Abidjan : Institut de Linguistique Appliquée (ILA). 323 p. Writing System Abidji is written with a Latin alphabet, using the graphemes of the practical writing for the languages of the Ivory Coast. The letter upsilon ‹ Ʊ, ʊ › is often replaced with the V with hook ‹ Ʋ, ʋ ›. The nasal vowels are written with ‹ n › ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diedrich Hermann Westermann
Diedrich Hermann Westermann (June 24, 1875 – May 31, 1956) 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. Westermann is seen as one of the founders of modern African linguistics. He carried out extensive linguistic and anthropological research in the area ranging from Senegal eastwards to the Upper Nile. His linguistic publications cover a wide range of African languages, including the Gbe languages, Nuer, Kpelle, Shilluk, Hausa, and Guang. Westermann's comparative work, begun in 1911, initially brought together much of today's Niger–Congo and Nilo-Saharan language phyla under the name Sudanic languages. His most important later publication ''Die westlichen Sudansprachen'' 1927a divided these into East and West Sudanic languages and laid the basis for what would become Niger–Congo. In this book and a series of associated articl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tano Languages
Tano may refer to Places ;Ghana/Ivory Coast * Tano North District and * Tano South District in Ghana, which make up ** Tano North (Ghana parliament constituency) and ** Tano South (Ghana parliament constituency) * Tano River or Tanoé River in Ghana and Ivory Coast * Tano, the Akan God of War and Strife ;Italy * Tano, Italy, a place in Campania ;Japan * Tano, Ehime, a former village in Ehime Prefecture, Japan * Tano, Kōchi, a town in Japan * Tano District, Gunma in Japan * Tano Station (other), either one of the train stations named thus, in Kōchi or in Miyazaki prefecture of Japan * Tano, Miyazaki, a former Japanese town, now part of the city of Miyazaki Other * Tano (name) * Tano Kami, Japanese spirit observing the harvest of rice plants * Ahsoka Tano, a Force-wielder in the ''Star Wars'' universe * An alternate name for the Arizona Tewa, a Pueblo group from Arizona * Bofoakwa Tano, a football team from Sunyani, Ghana * Tano languages, a group of Kwa languages spok ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volta River
The Volta River is the main river system in the West African country of Ghana. It flows south into Ghana from the Bobo-Dioulasso highlands of Burkina Faso. The main parts of the river are the Black Volta, the White Volta, and the Red Volta. In the northwest, the Black Volta forms the international borders between the Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. The Volta flows southward along the Akwapim-Togoland highlands, and it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at the Gulf of Guinea at Ada Foah. It has a smaller tributary river, the Oti, which enters Ghana from Togo in the east. The Volta River has been dammed at Akosombo for the purpose of generating hydroelectricity. The reservoir named Lake Volta stretches from Akosombo Dam in the south to the northern part of the country, and is the largest man-made reservoir by area in the world. Volta was named by the Portuguese, meaning twist or turn. The country of Burkina Faso was formerly called Upper Volta, after the river. The reserv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It was first issued in 1951, and is now published by SIL International, an American Christian non-profit organization. Overview and content ''Ethnologue'' has been published by SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics), a Christian linguistic service organization with an international office in Dallas, Texas. The organization studies numerous minority languages to facilitate language development, and to work with speakers of such language communities in translating portions of the Bible into their languages. Despite the Christian orientation of its publisher, ''Ethnologue'' isn't ideologically or theologically biased. ''Ethnologue'' includes alternative names and autonyms, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volta–Niger Languages
The Volta–Niger family of languages, also known as West Benue–Congo or East Kwa, is one of the branches of the Niger–Congo language family, with perhaps 70 million speakers. Among these are the most important languages of southern Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and southeast Ghana: Yoruba, Igbo, Bini, and Gbe. These languages have variously been placed within the Kwa or Benue–Congo families, but Williamson & Blench (2000) separate them from both. The boundaries between the various branches of Volta–Niger are rather vague, suggesting diversification of a dialect continuum rather than a clear split of families, which suggest a close origin. Branches The constituent groups of the Volta–Niger family, along with the most important languages in terms of number of speakers, are as follows (with number of languages for each branch in parentheses): The Yoruboid languages and Akoko were once linked as the Defoid branch, but more recently they, Edoid, and Igboid have been sugge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Esuma Language
Esuma (Essouma) is an extinct language of uncertain classification within the Kwa branch of the Niger–Congo family, once spoken in the villages of Assinie (Asini) and Mafia in Ivory Coast. The Esuma were vassals of the Sanwi Kingdom of Sanwi is a traditional kingdom located in the south-east corner of the Republic of Ivory Coast in West Africa. It was established in about 1740 by Anyi migrants from Ghana. In 1843 the kingdom became a protectorate of France. In 1959 i ... capital Krinjabo, and shifted to the Anyin and Nzima languages. References Languages of Ivory Coast Kwa languages {{kwa-lang-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ega Language
Ega, also known as Egwa and Diès, is a West African language spoken in south-central Ivory Coast. It is of uncertain affiliation and has variously been classified as Kwa or an independent branch of Niger-Congo. Demographics Ega is spoken in 21 villages near Gly in Diès Canton, Gôh-Djiboua District, Ivory Coast (Bole-Richard 1983: 359). Some villages are Broudougou, Gly, Dairo, Didizo, and Douzaroko. The Ega people are increasing in number, though some are shifting to Dida through intermarriage. Documentation A language documentation fieldwork project on Ega was conducted by a team from Universität Bielefeld, Germany (Dafydd Gibbon) and Université Houphouet Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (Firmin Ahoua) from 2000 to 2003 in cooperation with York University, Canada (Bruce Connell).Gibbon, Dafydd and Bow, Catherine and Bird, Steven and Hughes, Baden. 2004. Securing interpretability: the case of Ega language documentation. P''roceedings of the 4th International Conference on L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gbe Languages
The Gbe languages (pronounced ) form a cluster of about twenty related languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria. The total number of speakers of Gbe languages is between four and eight million. The most widely spoken Gbe language is Ewe (10.3 million speakers in Ghana and Togo), followed by Fon (5 million, mainly in Benin). The Gbe languages were traditionally placed in the Kwa branch of the Niger–Congo languages, but more recently have been classified as Volta–Niger languages. They include five major dialect clusters: Ewe, Fon, Aja, Gen (Mina), and Phla–Pherá. Most of the Gbe peoples came from the east to their present dwelling-places in several migrations between the tenth and the fifteenth century. Some of the Phla–Pherá peoples however are thought to be the original inhabitants of the area who have intermingled with the Gbe immigrants, and the Gen people probably originate from the Ga-Adangbe people in Ghana. In the late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akan Languages
Akan may refer to: People and languages *Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire *Akan language, a language spoken by the Akan people *Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan *Central Tano languages, a language group which includes Akan Places *Akan (Ghana parliament constituency) *Akan District, Hokkaido, Japan **Akan, Hokkaido, a town in Akan District, Hokkaido **Akan National Park ***Akan Volcanic Complex, a volcano in Hokkaidō, Japan ***Lake Akan, a lake in Hokkaidō, Japan ***Akan River, a river in Hokkaidō, Japan *Akan, Wisconsin, a town in the United States Other uses *Akan (surname), a surname *Akan (biblical figure), a person mentioned in the Book of Genesis *Akan (Maya god), a deity in Maya religion (identified with the god A') *Akan (あかん), a Japanese Kansai dialect The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The diale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
