Asante dialect

Twi (pronounced 'chwee' [tɕʷi]) is a language spoken in Ghana by about 6 million people. It is a dialect of the Akan language, which in turn belongs to the Kwa language family.

There are many divisions of the Twi languages, but they are all mutually intelligible.

Phonology

Consonants

Before front vowels, all consonants are palatalized and plosives are affricated to some extent. The allophones of /n/ are quite complex. In the table below, palatalized allophones are shown with the vowel /i/ when they involve more than phonetic palatalization.

In Ashanti, /gu/ followed by a vowel is pronounced as /gʷ/, but in Akuapem it remains /gu/. [tɕʷ], [dʑʷ], [çʷi], [ɲʷ] would be more narrowly transcribed as [tɕ^ɥ], [dʑ^ɥ], [ç^ɥ], [ɲ^ɥ], for they are simultaneously labialized and palatalized. /nh/ is pronounced [ŋŋ̊].

The order of the cells in the table below is /phonemic/, [phonetic], <orthography>. Note that orthographic <dw> is ambiguous; in textbooks, <dw> = /g/ may be distinguished by the diacritic in d̩w. Likewise n̩w for <nw> when it's velar. <nu> is palatalized [ɲʷĩ].

voiceless plosive

/p/

[pʰ]

<p>

/t/

[tʰ, t^çi]

<t, ti>

/k/

[kʰ, tɕʰi~cçʰi]

<k, kyi>

/kʷ/

[kʷ, tɕʷi]

<kw, twi>

voiced plosive

/b/

[b]

<b>

/d/

[d]

<d>

/g/

[g, "dʒ", dʑi~ɟʝi]

<g, dw, gyi>

/gʷ/

[gʷ, dʑʷi]

<gw, dwi>

fricative

/f/

[f]

<f>

/s/

[s]

<s>

/h/

[h, çi]

<h, hyi>

/hʷ/

[hʷ, çʷi]

<hw, hwi>

nasal stop

/m/

[m]

<m>

/n/

[n, ŋ, ɲ, ɲĩ]

<n, ngi>

/nʷ/

[ŋŋʷ, ɲʷĩ]

<nw, nu>

geminate nasal

/nn/

[ŋː, ɲːĩ]

<ng, nyi, nnyi>

/nnʷ/

[ɲɲʷĩ]

<nw>

other

/r/

[ɾ, r, ɽ]

<r>

/w/

[w, ɥi]

<w, wi>

Vowels

(in progress)

Five nasal vowels.

Advanced tongue root ("tense") vowels: /i̘ e̘ a̘ o̘ u̘/ [i e æ~ɑ o u] <i e a o u>

Retracted tongue root ("lax") vowels: /i e a o u/ [ɪ~e ɛ ɑ ɔ ʊ~o] <e ɛ a ɔ o>

The two orthographic e’s and o’s are often not distinguished in pronunciation. The two orthographic a’s are only distinguished in Fante.

ATR harmony

Harmony rules:

–ATR vowels followed by +ATR non-mid vowels /i a u/ become +ATR. This is reflected in the orthography: e ɛ a ɔ o become i e a o u. (However, this is no longer reflected in orthography in e.g. subject and possessive pronouns, which therefore now have a consistant shape.) This rule takes precedence over the next one.

After –ATR non-high vowels /e a o/, +ATR mid vowels /e o/ become –ATR high vowels /i u/. This involves no change in orthography, for both sets are spelled <e o>, and in many dialects it involves no change in pronunciation either, for these vowels have collapsed together and this harmonic change no longer operates.

Tones

(in progress) High (H), mid (M), low (L). Initial syllable HIGH or LOW only.

Tone terracing

HIGH = same level as previous HIGH or MID; MID = lower than previous MID. LOW alway at bottom of speaking range, unless a single LOW is between two HIGHs, in which case it is raised but the following HIGH is still lowered. Therefore phonemic HMH and HLH are similar phonetically.

HIGH is lowered (downstepped) after a LOW. Combination of HIGH & MID lowering after MID, and HIGH lowering after LOW, results in terracing.

After the first "prominent" syllable of a clause, usually the first high tone, there is a downstep. This syllable is usually stressed.

Bibilography

J.E. Redden and N. Owusu (1963, 1995). Twi Basic Course. Foreign Service Institute (Hippocrene reprint). ISBN 0-7818-0394-2
Obeng, Samuel Gyasi. (2001). African anthroponymy: An ethnopragmatic and norphophonological study of personal names in Akan and some African societies. LINCOM studies in anthropology 08. Muenchen: LINCOM Europa. ISBN 3-89586-431-5.