Dangme language

Adangme is a Kwa language, part of the Niger–Congo family. It is closely related to Ga, and together they form the Ga–Dangme branch within Kwa.

Adangme is spoken in Ghana by over 800,000 people as of 2004.

It is the aboriginal language spoken in Ghana, Togo, and Benin by the people of Ada, Osudoku, Manya Krobo, Yilo Krobo, Shai, Ningo, Prampram and Kpone. Adangme is partly mutually intelligible with Ga, and, to a lesser extent, Ewe. Nevertheless, many Adangme people also speak or understand at least one of these languages, painting the relationship as asymmetric. Adangme as a school subject is taught in the Adangme areas.

The land of these related tribes stretched from the Greater Accra Region to the Eastern Region of Ghana, northward to the Akwapim hills and has all the Adangmeland on the east and the Ga to the west of it. Bawaleshi, which is about 4.8 kilometers southwest of Dodowa, is the last Adangme town which is close to the Akwapim and the Ga boundaries.

There are six main dialects which coincide with political units. The coastal dialects are Ada, Ningo and Prampram (Gbugbla). The inland dialects are Shai (Sɛ), Krobo (Klo) and Osudoku.

• {{IPA|/m, p, b/}} are bilabial, whereas {{IPA|/f, v/}} are labiodental.
• {{IPA|/p, b, t, d, k, g/}} are singly articulated plosives, {{IPA|/t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/}} are affricates (stops with a strong fricative release), whereas {{IPA|/k͡p, ɡ͡b/}} are doubly articulated plosives.
• {{IPA|/l/}} varies between a lateral approximant {{IPAblink|l}} and a central trill {{IPAblink|r}}.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}
• {{IPA|/j/}} has a fricative allophone {{IPAblink|ʒ}}.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}

File:Dangme vowel chart.svgs of Dangme, from {{Harvcoltxt|Kropp Dakubu|1987|p=15}}]]

Dangme has 7 oral vowels and 5 nasal vowels.{{sfnp|Kropp Dakubu|1987|p=15}}

• The front vowels are unrounded, whereas the back vowels are rounded.{{sfnp|Kropp Dakubu|1987|p=15}}
• {{IPA|/i, u/}} are slightly more open than {{IPA|/ĩ, ũ/}}.{{sfnp|Kropp Dakubu|1987|p=15}}
• {{IPA|/e, o/}} are close-mid {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|e}}, {{IPAplink|o}}]}}. They do not have nasal counterparts.{{sfnp|Kropp Dakubu|1987|p=15}}
• {{IPA|/ɛ̃, ɔ̃/}} are open-mid {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ɛ|ɛ̃}}, {{IPAplink|ɔ|ɔ̃}}]}}, whereas {{IPA|/ɛ, ɔ/}} are somewhat lower (near-open) {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|æ}}, {{IPAplink|ɒ|ɔ̞}}]}}.{{sfnp|Kropp Dakubu|1987|p=15}}
• The nasal {{IPA|/ã/}} is open front {{IPAblink|a|ã}}, whereas the oral {{IPA|/a/}} is slightly retracted (near-front) {{IPAblink|a|a̠}}.{{sfnp|Kropp Dakubu|1987|p=15}}

Dangme has three tones: high, mid and low. Like many West African languages, it has tone terracing.

The possible syllable structures are V, CV, or CCV where the second consonant is {{IPA|/l/}}.

Dangme is written in the Latin script, with the addition of the letters ɛ, ɔ, and ŋ. Tones are not normally written.{{Cite book |last=Hartell |first=Rhonda L. |url=http://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_ada_ortho-1 |title=Alphabets of Africa |date=1993 |publisher=Dakar: UNESCO and Summer Institute of Linguistics |others=The Long Now Foundation}}

Orthographic and phonemic correspondences include the following:

• j - {{IPA|/dʒ/}}
• ŋ - {{IPA|/ŋ/}}
• ŋm - {{IPA|/ŋm/}}
• ny - {{IPA|/ɲ/}}
• ts - {{IPA|/tʃ/}}
• y - {{IPA|/j/}}
• ɛ - {{IPA|/ɛ/}}
• ɔ - {{IPA|/ɔ/}}

The following text is Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

{{lang|ada|Adesahi tsuo ɔ, a bɔ mɛ nɛ nɔ fɛɛ nɔ e ye e he, nɛ nɔ tsuaa nɔsɔ ngɛ odehe si himi kɛ he blɔhi a blɔ fa mi. A bɔ mɛ kɛ nɔ́ se kɔmi kɛ he nule juɛmi, nɛ e hia kaa nɔ fɛɛ nɔ nɛ e na nyɛmi suɔmi kɛ ha nɔ tsuaa nɔ.}}{{cite web |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/human-rights/universal-declaration/translations/dangme?LangID=gac1 |title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Dangme |lang=en, ada |access-date=2024-04-04}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book

|editor-last=Kropp Dakubu

|editor-first=M. E.

|title=West African Language Data Sheets

|volume=1

|publisher=West African Linguistic Society

|year=1977

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Kropp Dakubu

|first=M. E.

|title=The Dangme Language: An Introductory Survey

|year=1987

|place=London

|publisher=Macmillan

|url=https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_ada_phon-1

}}

• {{cite book

|editor-last=Kropp Dakubu

|editor-first=M. E.

|title=The Languages of Ghana

|location=London

|publisher=Kegan Paul International for the International African Institute

|year=1988

|isbn=0-7103-0210-X

}}

• {{cite book

|title=Language Guide

|publisher=Bureau of Ghana Languages 4th Edition

|location=Accra

|year=1977

}}

{{refend}}

{{Incubator|ada}}

• [http://ge.kasahorow.org/app/d My First GaDangme Dictionary] kasahorow
• [http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/Language.aspx?LangID=gac1 Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Dangme]
• Lessons in Wikiversity
• [http://globalrecordings.net/langcode/adq Listen to a sample of Dangme from Global Recordings Network]
• [http://globalrecordings.net/langcode/ada Listen to a sample of Dangme from Global Recordings Network]

{{Languages of Ghana}}

{{Kwa languages}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Languages of Ghana

Category:Ga–Dangme languages