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The People - Traditional Language and Orature |
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| Traditional Language And Orature - By Prof. J.K. Anquandah |    |
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THE one cultural mark which clearly distinguishes a Ghanaian is traditional language. It is through our languages and literature that the authentic wisdom of the Ghanaian mind finds expression. On the basis of studies conducted by linguistic scholars into patterns of tonation, vocabulary and grammar of Ghana's 25 major languages, we can distinguish three great language families in Ghana.
The first is the Voltaic or Gur family of Northern Ghana comprising 18 languages distributed in the area bounded by Lawra, Bawku, Banda Nkwanta and Kete Krachi. Many of these languages resemble in some aspects the languages of the Savanna peoples in areas like Mali and Burkina Fasso.
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The second is the Volta-Comoe family of languages, so-called because its members are distributed in the wide area bounded in the east by the Volta River of Ghana and in the west by the Comoe River of the Ivory Coast. The Volta-Comoe family comprises some 12 dialects of the Akan language, some 10 Guan languages and 4 Western Ghanaian Languages, Nzema, Ahanta, Aowin, and Sefwi.
These Western Ghanaian languages and the Akan languages are closely related to languages spoken in the forest and Southern Savanna lands of the Ivory Coast. The third great family is that of Ga, Dangme and Volta Region group of languages. It is estimated that about 50% of Ghana's population speak Akan as their first language, 16% speak Gur languages, 13% speak Ewe, 10% speak Ga-Dangme, and 11% belong to the Guan group of languages and a number of West African languages such as Mande and Senufo.
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| | |  Read More...
| | The Languages of Ghana- By M.E. Kropp Dakubu | | Like most African countries, Ghana has many different indigenous languages. For various reasons, it is not possible to give an exact number. The lists and maps in Hall (1983) and Dakubu (ed., 1988) give forty-four, but these are incomplete. A few languages were inadvertently omitted, and besides, there is always a problem with the method of counting: what exactly are we trying to count? How do we distinguish between “languages” and “dialects”? | | | Read More...
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News &
Events |
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| 20/04/2010 | | PRESS RELEASE - NAFAC 2010 | | The Minister for Chieftaincy and Culture Alexander Asum – Ahensah (MP) has launched this year’s National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC 2010) at Tamale – in the Northern Region....more | | | | 16/04/2010 | | Look again at planning Panafest | | I do not know whether the acronym PANAFEST which represents the Pan African Historical Theatre Festival now stands for something else. The Ghanaian Times in it issue Saturday July 4, 2009, attributed the acronym to Pan African Festival of arts and Theatre....more | | | | 16/04/2010 | | involve chiefs in local governance | | The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) has been urged to consider the inclusion of chiefs in decision making structures of the decentralization system as part of the process of reviewing it....more | | | | 21/11/2009 | | Could your culture be letting you down | | As the year draws to a close, several organizations will be reviewing the year with the aim of identifying their successes, difficulties and failures....more | | | | 24/10/2009 | | GHANA JOSEPH PROJECT | | IN Ghana a person who tends cattle in the bush is called a Fulani. It does not matter whether he is a member of the Fulani tribe of Northern Nigeria....more | | | | 10/10/2009 | | Nkrumah’s projects in ruins | | Ghana’s desire to attain a middle-income status by 2015 has prompted calls on the government to reactivate hundreds of projects initiated by Ghana’s First President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, but which have been left to rot in many parts of the country....more | | | | 08/10/2009 | | Fynn and his eye for culture | | Last week, a unique pix-day exhibition of still photographs...more | | | | 12/09/2009 | | Developing National Arts and Culture | | That the Centres for National Culture throughout the country are the pivots of cultural promotion and development in the country cannot be disputed...more | | | | 31/08/2009 | | CULTURAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT PROGRAMME | | FIRST KWAME NKRUMAH CENTURY LECTURE ON CULTURE...more | | | | 27/04/2009 | | Nkrumah- Africa's greatest son | | Thirty seven years ago in far away Bucharet in Romania, death laid its icy hand on Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah-Africa’s greatest statesman. I choose to call him a real statesman because he was really selfless and honest to his country. He actually placed Ghana first, Africa second and himself last. I call him a statesman again because “A statesman thinks of his country and even the interests and aspirations of her future generations....more | | | | 07/02/2009 | | Culture-9th Millennium devt goal | | A network of arts administrators and artistes from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe last week resolved to lobby policy makers and governments to ensure that culture, as a tool for development, was accepted as the 9th Millennium Development Goal....more | | | | 03/07/2008 | | Review Trokosi Law – Research study | | A RESEARCH study of the practice of Trokosi in Ghana has revealed the need to review the Trokosi law, its implementation mechanism and the role of institutional agencies in abolishing the practice....more | | | | |
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