Language lesson
🇬🇭 Twi (Akan)
Twi is the most widely spoken Akan dialect in Ghana, heard everywhere from Accra markets to Kumasi courtyards.
- Spoken in
- Ghana
- Speakers
- About 17 million speakers
- Language family
- Niger-Congo · Kwa branch
Lesson one
How it sounds.
Tonal, with nasal vowels. The letters ɛ (like 'e' in bed) and ɔ (like 'aw') are everyday Twi letters.
Say it out loud
Seven phrases to start with.
- MaakyeGood morningsay it: MAA-chee
- MaahaGood afternoonsay it: MAA-ha
- MaadwoGood eveningsay it: MAA-jo
- Wo ho te sɛn?How are you?say it: wo ho teh SEN
- Me ho yɛI am finesay it: meh ho YEH
- MedaaseThank yousay it: meh-DAA-seh
- YɛbɛhyiaWe will meet againsay it: yeh-beh-SHEE-ah
Behind the words
Culture notes.
- Adinkra symbols are a written language of their own — Sankofa means 'go back and fetch it'.
- Many Akan people carry a day name from their birth day: Kwame (Saturday), Ama (Saturday), Kofi (Friday).
- Kente cloth patterns each have names and proverbs attached.
Practise today: Greet by time of day — 'Maakye' before noon — and answer 'Me ho yɛ, medaase'.