Gilbert Ansre is a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, academic,

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

and Bible translation consultant.

Early life and education

He attended the

Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School , country = Ghana , region = Greater-Accra , location = Legon , coordinates = , type = Public high school , religious_affiliation = Presbyterian Church ...

which was then known as the Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School at

Odumase Krobo Odumase is a town and capital of Lower Manya Krobo Municipal District in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School was formerly located here. Prominent sites The town is a proposed site for the construction of ...

in the Eastern Region of Ghana. His university education was at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

where he graduated in 1966. The thesis he submitted was on "The grammatical units of Ewe : a study of their structure, classes and systems".

Career

He worked at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

where he was a professor in Linguistics. He first set up and led the Department of Linguistics at the University of Ghana. He was the Master of Akuafo Hall of the university between 1975 and 1979. His area of interest includes tone and syntax of the Ewe language. Ansre has also lectured at the Good News Theological College and Seminary at

Dodowa Dodowa is a town located in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, it is the district capital of Dangme West district, now Shai Osudoku District. The city is 39 km from the capital city, Accra. The notable tourist site found there is the Dodowa ...

in the

Greater Accra Region The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the second most populated region, befor ...

. Gilbert Ansre is an ordained reverend minister of the

Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana The Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana ( ee, Presbyteria Nyanyui Hame le Ghana) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in Ghana. It is popularly referred to as the "EP Church". It has strong roots in the Evangelical and Reform ...

Bible translation

Ansre has been actively involved with Bible Translation work in Ghana and

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

. He was the Technical Advisor to the NYALOTA project to develop the Nyagbo, Tafi and

Logba language Logba 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’. Logba is different from Lukpa of Togo and Benin, whic ...

s in the

Volta Region Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi- ...

of Ghana into written form. In 2017, he was the Chairman of the joint technical committee of the

Bible Society of Ghana The Bible Society of Ghana is a non-denominational, non-governmental Christian organization based in Ghana. The organization is registered under the Trustees Act, 1962 of the Republic of Ghana. It is the largest Bible distribution organization in G ...

and GIILBT to analyze the Bible Translation needs of Ghana. He has been active in the work of the GILLBT especially in the area of translation of the Bible into various West African Languages. This has included the

Ewe language Ewe (''Eʋe'' or ''Eʋegbe'' ) is a language spoken by approximately 20 million people in West Africa, mainly in Ghana, Togo and Benin, and also in some other countries like Liberia and southwestern Nigeria. Ewe is part of a cluster of rel ...

, his own language as well as thirteen others.

Honours

The

Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon The Trinity Theological Seminary is a Protestant seminary located on a 70-acre campus in Legon, Accra. As an ecumenical theological tertiary and ministerial training institution, it serves students in Ghana and the West African sub-region. The ...

has an academic chair established in honour of Ansre and Kwesi Dickson. This is the Kwesi Disckson-Gilbert Ansre Distinguished Chair of Biblical Exegesis & Mother Tongue Hermeneutics. The contribution of Gilbert Ansre to the development of Ghanaian languages was recognised by the

Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation The Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT) is an organisation involved in literacy, education and development projects in minority language communities in Ghana, as well as Bible translation work. History GILLBT gre ...

(GILLBT), which awarded him the " Kwame Nkrumah African Genius award for African Languages" in February 2015 in Accra.

Family

Gilbert Ansre was named after his father, Gilbert Bansah Ansre who was also a Presbyterian minister and was also a graduate of University of Edinburgh. His mother was Felicia Angelica Ansre (née Nane).

Publications

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References

External links

Google Scholar Citations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansre, Gilbert Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people) University of Ghana faculty Linguists from Ghana Ewe people People from Volta Region Alumni of SOAS University of London Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School alumni Ghanaian Presbyterians Ghanaian theologians Ghanaian clergy