Akan Language

With the Atlantic slave trade, Akan languages, principally Twi/Fante, were introduced to the Caribbean and South America, notably in Suriname and Jamaica, where they heavily influenced the language of the Ndyuka and the Jamaican Maroons, also known as the Coromantee. The cultures of the descendants of escaped slaves in the interior of Suriname and the Maroons in Jamaica still retain Akan influences, including the Akan naming practice of naming children after the day of the week on which they are born, e.g. Akwasi/Kwasi for a boy or Akosua for a girl born on a Sunday, etc. In Jamaica and Suriname, the Ananse spider stories are still well-known.