Ethnicity Dangme Official language in Ghana | Native speakers 800,000 (2004) | |
 | ||
Region South-eastern Ghana, east of Accra Language family Niger–Congo
Atlantic–Congo
Kwa
Ga–Dangme
Dangme Writing system Latin (Dangme alphabet) | ||
The Dangme language, Dangme or Adaŋgbi, is a Kwa language spoken in south-eastern Ghana by the Dangme People (Dangmeli). Dangmeli are part of larger Ga-Dangme ethnic group. Klogbi, is a variant of Adaŋgbi, spoken by Kloli (Klo or Krobo People)
Contents
Classification
Dangme is a Kwa language, part of the Niger–Congo family. It is very closely related to Ga, and together they form the Ga–Dangme branch within Kwa. It is also part of the Gbe language group,
Geographic distribution
Dangme is spoken in Ghana by over 800,000 people in 2004.
It is the aboriginal language spoken in Ghana, Togo, Benin by the people of Ada, Osudoku, Manya Krobo, Yilo Krobo, Shai, Ningo, Prampram and Kpone. The Dangme and Ga people can readily understand each other without intentional study or special effort because both languages are mutually intelligible. Dangme as a school subject is taught in the Dangme areas.
The land of these related tribes stretched from the Greater Accra Region to the Easter Region of Ghana, northward to the Akwapim hills and has all the Dangmeland on the east and the Ga to the west of it. Bawaleshi, which is about 4.8 kilometers southwest of Dodowa, is the last Dangme town which is close to the Akwapim and the Ga boundaries. There are six main dialects which coincide with political unit. The coastal dialects are Ada, Ningo and Prampram (Gbugbla). The inland dialects are Shai (Sɛ), Krobo (Klo) and Osudoku.
Consonants
Vowels
Adangme has 7 oral vowels and 5 nasal vowels.
Tones
Adangme has three tones: high, mid and low. Like many West African languages, it has tone terracing.
Phonotactics
The possible syllable structures are V, CV, or CCV where the second consonant is /l/.
Writing system
Adangme is written in the Latin script. Tones and nasalisation are not normally written.
Orthographic and phonemic correspondences include the following: