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Foodo
Foodo ( ISO 639-3 fod) is a Guang language spoken in and around the town of Sèmèrè in the north of Benin. There are approximately 37,000 speakers (taking the most recent estimate and adding the estimated 3.2% a year growth rate for Benin). A large proportion of the population live beyond the homeland in other parts of Benin, as well as in neighboring Togo, Nigeria, and Ghana. There may be as many as 1,000 living in Ghana. The language has its origin in Ghana. Approximately 200 to 300 years ago, a group of Guang speakers migrated from the south of Ghana to Sèmèrè along the ancient cola trade route which extended through Togo and Benin to Nigeria. The various origins of Foodo speakers are still retained in clan names." Sociolinguistic background Foodo is one of the national languages of Benin. In the Beninese sociopolitical context 'national language' is interpreted to mean all African languages spoken within the borders of the country. The Foodo have clos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its population lives on the southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Porto-Novo, and the seat of government is in Cotonou, the most populous city and economic capital. Benin covers an area of and its population in was estimated to be approximately million. It is a tropical nation, dependent on agriculture, and is an exporter of palm oil and cotton. Some employment and income arise from subsistence farming. The official language of Benin is French, with indigenous languages such as Fon, Bariba, Yoruba and Dendi also spoken. The largest religious group in Benin is Sunni Islam (27 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donga Department
Donga is one of the twelve departments of Benin; its capital is Djougou, the fourth largest city in the country. The department of Donga was created in 1999 when it was split off from Atakora Department. Donga is subdivided into five communes, each centered at one of the principal towns: Bassila, Copargo, Djougou Rural, Djougou Urban and Ouaké. , the total population of the department was 543,130, with 270,754 males and 272,376 females. The proportion of women was 50.10%. The total rural population was 57.90%, while the urban population was 42.10%. The total labour force in the department was 120,021, of which 24.20% were women. The proportion of households with no level of education was 72.50%. Geography Donga Department, with an area of , is located in north-central Benin, bordering Atakora Department to the north, Borgou Department to the east, Collines Department to the south, and Togo to the west. The northwest region of Benin consists mostly of forested mountains, from w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beninese
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Republic of Dahomey, Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its population lives on the southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Porto-Novo, and the seat of government is in Cotonou, the most populous city and economic capital. Benin covers an area of and its population in was estimated to be approximately million. It is a tropical nation, dependent on agriculture, and is an exporter of palm oil and cotton. Some employment and income arise from subsistence agriculture, subsistence farming. The official language of Benin is French, with indigenous languages such as Fon language, Fon, Bariba language, Bariba, Yoruba language, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guang Languages
The Guan languages are languages of the Kwa language family spoken by the Guan people in Ghana and Togo: *South Guan: Efutu, Cherepon, Gua, Larteh *North Guan: Chumburung– Tchumbuli, Dwang, Foodo, Kyode, Ginyanga, Gonja, Kplang, Krache, Nawuri, Nchumbulu, Nkonya Nkonya is a town in the Oti Region of Ghana. As a state, it consists of nine towns namely Ahenkro, Asakyiri, Betenase, Kadjebi, Ntsumuru, Ntumda, Tayi, Tepo and Wurupong. The town is known for the Nkonya Senior High School. The school is a second ...– Nkami, Ntrapo, Vagala, Sissala ''Ethnologue'' and ''Glottolog'' also list Dompo, but according to Blench (1999), that is better left unclassified. Proto-Guang has been reconstructed by Snider (1990).Snider, Keith L. 1990. The consonants of proto-Guan. ''Journal of West African languages'' 20(1), 3-26. See also * List of Proto-Guang reconstructions (Wiktionary) References Potou–Tano languages Languages of Ghana Languages of Togo {{kwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guang Language
The Guan languages are languages of the Kwa language family spoken by the Guan people in Ghana and Togo: *South Guan: Efutu, Cherepon, Gua, Larteh *North Guan: Chumburung– Tchumbuli, Dwang, Foodo, Kyode, Ginyanga, Gonja, Kplang, Krache, Nawuri, Nchumbulu, Nkonya Nkonya is a town in the Oti Region of Ghana. As a state, it consists of nine towns namely Ahenkro, Asakyiri, Betenase, Kadjebi, Ntsumuru, Ntumda, Tayi, Tepo and Wurupong. The town is known for the Nkonya Senior High School. The school is a second ...– Nkami, Ntrapo, Vagala, Sissala ''Ethnologue'' and ''Glottolog'' also list Dompo, but according to Blench (1999), that is better left unclassified. Proto-Guang has been reconstructed by Snider (1990).Snider, Keith L. 1990. The consonants of proto-Guan. ''Journal of West African languages'' 20(1), 3-26. See also * List of Proto-Guang reconstructions (Wiktionary) References Potou–Tano languages Languages of Ghana Languages of Togo {{kwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; , and , pronounced by forcing air through a narrow channel (fricatives); and and , which have air flowing through the nose ( nasals). Contrasting with consonants are vowels. Since the number of speech sounds in the world's languages is much greater than the number of letters in any one alphabet, linguists have devised systems such as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to assign a unique and unambiguous symbol to each attested consonant. The English alphabet has fewer consonant letters than the English language has consonant sounds, so digraphs like , , , and are used to extend the alphabet, though some letters and digraphs represent more than one consonant. For example, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trade Language
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups of people who do not share a native language or dialect, particularly when it is a third language that is distinct from both of the speakers' native languages. Lingua francas have developed around the world throughout human history, sometimes for commercial reasons (so-called "trade languages" facilitated trade), but also for cultural, religious, diplomatic and administrative convenience, and as a means of exchanging information between scientists and other scholars of different nationalities. The term is taken from the medieval Mediterranean Lingua Franca, a Romance-based pidgin language used especially by traders in the Mediterranean Basin from the 11th to the 19th centuries. A world language – a language spoken internationally and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; , and , pronounced by forcing air through a narrow channel (fricatives); and and , which have air flowing through the nose ( nasals). Contrasting with consonants are vowels. Since the number of speech sounds in the world's languages is much greater than the number of letters in any one alphabet, linguists have devised systems such as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to assign a unique and unambiguous symbol to each attested consonant. The English alphabet has fewer consonant letters than the English language has consonant sounds, so digraphs like , , , and are used to extend the alphabet, though some letters and digraphs represent more than one consonant. For example, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phoneme
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west of England, the sound patterns (''sin'') and (''sing'') are two separate words that are distinguished by the substitution of one phoneme, , for another phoneme, . Two words like this that differ in meaning through the contrast of a single phoneme form a ''minimal pair''. If, in another language, any two sequences differing only by pronunciation of the final sounds or are perceived as being the same in meaning, then these two sounds are interpreted as phonetic variants of a single phoneme in that language. Phonemes that are established by the use of minimal pairs, such as ''tap'' vs ''tab'' or ''pat'' vs ''bat'', are written between slashes: , . To show pronunciation, linguists use square brackets: (indicating an aspirated ''p'' in ''p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bilabial Consonant
In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a labial consonant articulated with both lips. Frequency Bilabial consonants are very common across languages. Only around 0.7% of the world's languages lack bilabial consonants altogether, including Tlingit, Chipewyan, Oneida, and Wichita. Varieties The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are: Owere Igbo has a six-way contrast among bilabial stops: . Other varieties The extensions to the IPA also define a () for smacking the lips together. A lip-smack in the non-percussive sense of the lips noisily parting would be .Heselwood (2013: 121) The IPA chart shades out ''bilabial lateral consonants'', which is sometimes read as indicating that such sounds are not possible. The fricatives and are often lateral, but since no language makes a distinction for centrality, the allophony is not noticeable. See also * Place of articulation In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation (also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loan Words
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because they share an Etymology, etymological origin, and calques, which involve translation. Loanwords from languages with different writing system, scripts are usually transliteration, transliterated (between scripts), but they are not translated. Additionally, loanwords may be adapted to phonology, phonotactics, orthography, and morphology (linguistics), morphology of the target language. When a loanword is fully adapted to the rules of the target language, it is distinguished from native words of the target language only by its origin. However, often the adaptation is incomplete, so loanwords may conserve specific features distinguishing them from native words of the target language: loaned phonemes and sound combinations, partial or total conserv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
