L1: 8.9 million (2013)[1] L2: 1 million (no date)[1]
Language family
Niger–Congo?
Atlantic–Congo
Volta–Congo
Kwa
Potou–Tano
Tano
Central Tano
Akan
Dialects
Twi
Ahafo
Akuapem
Wasa
Fante
Agona
Anomabo
Abura
Gomoa
Akyem Bosome
Asen
Denkyira
Kwawu
Asante
Fante
Writing system
Latin
Official status
Official language in
None. — Government-sponsored language of Ghana
Regulated by
Akan Orthography Committee
Language codes
ISO 639-1
ak
ISO 639-2
aka
ISO 639-3
aka
Glottolog
akan1251 Akanic akan1250
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Akan (/əˈkæn/[2]) is a group of several closely related languages within the wider Central Tano languages. These languages are the principal native languages of the Akan people of Ghana, spoken over much of the southern half of Ghana.[3] About 80% of Ghana's population can speak an Akan language as a first or second language,[3] and about 44% of Ghanaians are native speakers.[3] There are populations of polyglots in Ghana who speak an Akan language as a third language.[4] They are also spoken in parts of Côte d'Ivoire.[3]
Four dialects have been developed as literary standards with distinct orthographies: Asante, Akuapem, Bono (collectively known as Twi), and Fante.[5][6] Despite being mutually intelligible,[7][8] they were inaccessible in written form to speakers of the other standards until the Akan Orthography Committee (AOC)'s development of a common Akan orthography in 1978, based mainly on Akuapem Twi.[9] This unified orthography is used as the medium of instruction in primary school by speakers of several other Central Tano languages, such as Akyem, Anyi, Sehwi, Fante, Ahanta, and the Guan languages.[10] The Akan Orthography Committee has worked on the creation of a standard orthography.
With the Atlantic slave trade, Akan languages were introduced to the Caribbean and South America, notably in Suriname, spoken by the Ndyuka, and in Jamaica, spoken by the Jamaican Maroons, also known as the Coromantee.[7] 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. In Jamaica and Suriname, the Anansi spider stories are still well-known.[7][8]
^ abcAkan at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Wasa at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
^Bauer, Laurie (2007), The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-3160-5
^ abcd"Akan (Twi) at Rutgers". Rutgers University. Retrieved 2019-03-23.
^"Akan Language". Center for International Studies. Ohio University. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
^Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Arhin, Kwame; Studies, University of Ghana Institute of African. (1979). A Profile of Brong Kyempim: Essays on the Archaeology, History, Language and Politics of the Brong Peoples of Ghana. Afram.
^ abc"Akan (Twi) at Rutgers". www.amesall.rutgers.edu. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
^ abThe Brong (Bono) dialect of Akan” by Florence Abena Dolphyne University of Ghana, Legon 1979.
^Harries, Patrick; Maxwell, David (2012-07-20). The Spiritual in the Secular: Missionaries and Knowledge about Africa. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4674-3585-7.
Akan (/əˈkæn/) is a group of several closely related languages within the wider Central Tano languages. These languages are the principal native languages...
The Akan people of Ghana frequently name their children after the day of the week they were born and the order in which they were born. These "day names"...
The Akan (/ˈækæn/) people are a Kwa group living primarily in present-day Ghana and in parts of Ivory Coast and Togo in West Africa. The Akan speak dialects...
Tano languages Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan Central Tano languages, a language group which includes AkanAkan (Ghana parliament...
([tɕᶣi]) is a variety of the Akanlanguages spoken in southern and central Ghana by several million people, mainly of the Akan people, the largest of the...
20% of the population. Eleven languages have the status of government-sponsored languages: three Akan ethnic languages (Akuapem Twi, Asante Twi and Fante)...
Tano or Akanlanguages are languages of the Niger-Congo family (or perhaps the theorised Kwa languages) spoken in Ghana and Ivory Coast by the Akan people...
(including Akan) Ga–Dangme Na-Togo [formerly] Gbe (inclusion doubtful, as they show more features of Kwa the closer one moves to Akan) The Lagoon languages of...
Although it is a Bia language, Nzema is also one of the many Akanlanguages, and it has had considerable influence from other Akanlanguages, especially Twi...
seventy or so indigenous languages fall into five main branches of the Niger–Congo family. In the southeastern quadrant are Kwa languages, some such as Baoulé...
to the predominant local languages, those of Akan family, primarily Fante, Akuapem Twi and Asante twi. Other Akanlanguages employ variants on "oborɔnyi":...
and orthographic writing system for Akan was completed by the Akan Orthography Committee (AOC) in 1968. Akanlanguages started to be written down mainly...
of the principal members of the Akan dialect continuum. It is one of the three mutually intelligible dialects of Akan which are collectively known as...
over the next several years to accommodate various languages spoken in Ghana and Ivory Coast such as Akan, Dagbani, Ewe and Ga- a process that culminated...
The list of Akan people includes notable individuals of Akan meta-ethnicity and ancestry; the Akan people who are also referred to as (Akan: Akanfo) are...
you have forgotten." The sankofa bird appears frequently in traditional Akan art, and has also been adopted as an important symbol in an African-American...
Tano language common to the Bono people and a major dialect of the Akan dialect continuum, and thus mutually intelligible with the principal Akan dialects...
as Fanti, Fantse, or Mfantse, is one of the four principal members of the Akan dialect continuum, along with Asante, Bono and Akuapem, the latter three...
Ndyuka". The language bears some similarity to Twi and other Akanlanguages spoken by the Akan people of Ghana.[citation needed] The IETF language tags have...
Akan religion comprises the traditional beliefs and religious practices of the Akan people of Ghana and eastern Ivory Coast. Akan religion is referred...
ethnic group in Ghana Asante (name) Asante dialect, a dialect of the Akanlanguages Asante Kotoko S.C., a Ghanaian professional association football club...
also more purely Akan than regular Patois, with little to no contribution from other African languages. Today, the Maroon Spirit language is used by Jamaican...
Unified English Braille has been adopted. Four other languages have been written in braille: Akan (Twi), Ga, Ewe, and Dagaare. All three alphabets are...
The Gonja language, properly called Ngbanya or Ngbanyito, is a Tano language within the Kwa languages family, closely related to Akanlanguages. Rulers...
official language of Ghana. Additionally, there are eleven languages that have the status of government-sponsored languages: Akanlanguages (Asante Twi...
In Ghana, an Outdooring (Ga: kpodziemo; Akan: abadinto, Ewe language “vihehedego”) is the traditional naming ceremony for infants. Traditionally this ceremony...
of Akans. Bono is one of the largest ethnic group of Akan and are matrilineal people. Bono people speak the Bono Twi of Akanlanguage. Twi language, thus...
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