Fante translation of the Book of Mormon; note the use of the Latin epsilon in the word N'AHYƐMU.
Fante (Fanti:[ˈfɑnti]), also known 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 collectively known as Twi, with which it is mutually intelligible.[2][3] It is principally spoken in the central and southern regions of Ghana as well as in settlements in other regions in western Ghana, Ivory Coast, as well as in Liberia, Gambia and Angola.[1]
Fante is the common dialect of the Fante people, whose communities each have their own subdialects, namely Agona, Anomabo, Abura and Gomoa,[4] all of which are mutually intelligible. Schacter and Fromkin describe two main Fante dialect groups: Fante 1, which uses a syllable-final /w/ and thus distinguishes kaw ("dance") and ka ("bite"); and Fante 2, where these words are homophonous.[2] A standardized form of Fante is taught in primary and secondary schools.[1] Many Fantes are bilingual or bidialectal and most can speak Twi.[5]
Notable speakers include Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson,[6] Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang,[7] former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan,[8][9] and former Ghanaian presidents Kwame Nkrumah and John Atta Mills.[10][11] Maya Angelou[12][13] learned Fante as an adult during her stay in Ghana.
Today Fante is spoken by more than 6 million people in Ghana primarily in the Central and Western Regions. It is also widely spoken in Tema, where majority of the people in that city are native Fante speakers who were settled after the new port was built.
One striking characteristic of the Fante dialect is the level of English influence, including English loanwords and anglicized forms of native names, due both to British colonial influence and "to fill lexical and semantic gaps, for reasons of simplicity and also for prestige". Examples of such borrowings include rɛkɔso ("records"), rɔba "rubber", nɔma ("number"), kolapuse "collapse", and dɛkuleti "decorate".[14] Native names are occasionally anglicized, such as "Mεnsa" becoming "Mensah" or "Atta" becoming "Arthur".[15]
^ abcAkan at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
^ abSchacter, Paul; Fromkin, Victoria (1968). A Phonology of Akan: Akuapem, Asante, Fante. Los Angeles: UC Press. p. 3.
^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.
^Fante dialect at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
^Abakah, Emmanuel Nicholas (2004). "Elision in Fante" (PDF). Africa & Asia: 181–213.
^Jones, Sam; Afua Hirsch (2013-02-11). "Who will be the next pope? The contenders for Vatican's top job". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
^"Make no mistake, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang is a courageous Fante!". GhanaWeb. 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2023-10-02.
^"William Shawcross - UK : official personal website". 2014-01-14. Archived from the original on 2014-01-14. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
^"Kofi Annan | Biography & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
^Welmers, William Everett (1946). A Descriptive Grammar of Fanti. Linguistic Society of America. p. 7.
^Sunday, Eno-Abasi; Andrew Oyafemi (2012-07-25). "John Atta Mills: Death of an African leader". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2013-06-01. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
^Hambleton, Laura (2011-10-24). "Celebrated poet Maya Angelou speaks about a life well and creatively lived". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
^Drezen, Anna; Angelou, Maya (2018). "American Masters - The Poet: Dr. Maya Angelou". www.pbs.org. PBS. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
^Apenteng, Monica Amoah; Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2014). "The Form and Function of English Loanwords in Akan". Nordic Journal of African Studies. 23: 219–240.
^Agyekum, Kofi (2006-12-31). "The Sociolinguistic of Akan Personal Names". Nordic Journal of African Studies. 15 (2). ISSN 1459-9465.
Fante (Fanti: [ˈfɑnti]), also known as Fanti, Fantse, or Mfantse, is one of the four principal members of the Akan dialect continuum, along with Asante...
The Mfantsefo or Fante ("Fanti" is an older spelling) are an Akan people. The Fante people are mainly located in the Central and Western regions of Ghana...
principal members of the Akan dialect continuum, along with Bono and Asante, with which it is collectively known as Twi, and Fante, with which it is mutually...
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the Asante and Fante Language Called Tshi Chwee, Twi Based on the Akuapem Dialect with Reference to the Other (Akan and Fante) Dialects. Harvard University...
further-away dialect such as Fante is linguistically further as well. Most speakers of Bono are bilingual or bidialectal with Asante. Along with Fante, Bono...
nation are branches based on many dialects, widest and possibly the oldest one being used is Twi as well as Fante. Each branch subsequently holds a collection...
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Four dialects have been developed as literary standards with distinct orthographies: Asante, Akuapem, Bono (collectively known as Twi), and Fante. Despite...
The name Aboakyer translates as "hunting for game or animal" in the Fantedialect as spoken by the people of the Central Region. The institution of the...
harmony based on tongue root position. That is illustrated here with the Fantedialect of Akan, which has fifteen vowels: five +ATR vowels, five −ATR vowels...
that formed the basis of the first descriptive grammar of his native Fantedialect of the Akan language. Nkrumah spent his summers in Harlem, a center...
mutually intelligible with Fante, Akuapem, Asante, and Abron, the latter three which are collectively known as Twi. Its dialects include Amenfi and Fianse...
Ghana. The name Aboakyer translates as 'hunting for game or animal in Fantedialect as spoken by the people of the Central region. The institution of the...
Asante dialect, but nonetheless is markedly distinct from the [a] allophone. It is not distinguished from [a] in either orthography. In the Fantedialect, it...
Oguaa Omanhen, Osabarima Kwesi Atta II. The school's motto, written in Fantedialect, is "Nyansa ahyese ne Nyamesuro" which translates as "The fear of the...
family, is a dialect continuum, but with regard to official status, only a few out of the many varieties of Akan are recognised: Fante, Asante Twi, Akuapem...
literary works, "It is an Akan dialect influenced by Fante, steering in the middle course between other Akan dialects and Fante in sounds, forms and expressions;...
Ghana. The name Aboakyer translates as ‘hunting for game or animal’ in Fantedialect as spoken by the people of the Central region. The institution of the...
beginning of the fishing season in Elmina. The name Bakatue is from the Fantedialect and translates as "draining of a lagoon". The celebration of the festival...
derived from two separate words from the Asante Twi, the Akuapem Twi or Fantedialects of the Akan language, dum ('to turn off or quench') and sɔ ('to turn...
(68–70% of sentences) Akan: Twi and Fante. Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) is a dialect continuum, with some dialects being mutually intelligible and others...
the Fante led to the Ashanti–Fante War, in which the Ashanti were victorious under Asantehene Osei Bonsu ("Bonsu, the whale"). In the 1811 Ga–Fante War...
translated the Bible (along with other Christian texts) from Dutch into the Fantedialect as part of his missionary efforts with the local population. Once word...
The Fantes and British captured their rivals the Asantes and these captives were sent to British colonies such as Jamaica. While Dutch Komenada Fantes allied...
Kwaku Dwaku in a town near Kumasi. Over time, all Akan people including the Fante, Akuapem and Akyem all made Adinkra symbols a major part of their culture...
Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional varieties; some Norwegian and Swedish dialects, in particular...
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