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The Dangbe language, also Dangbe or Adaŋgbi, is a Kwa language spoken in south-eastern Ghana by the Dangbe People (Dangbeli). The Dangbeli are part of the larger Ga-Dangbe ethnic group. Klogbi is a variant, spoken by the Kloli (Klo or Krobo People). Kropp Dakubu (1987) is the most thorough grammar of the language.

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2015)

Dangbe
Dangbe
Region	South-eastern Ghana, east of Accra
Ethnicity	Dangbe
Native speakers	800,000 (2004)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Kwa Ga-Dangme Dangbe
Writing system	Latin (Dangbe alphabet)
Official status
Official language in	Ghana
Language codes
ISO 639-2	ada
ISO 639-3	ada
Glottolog	adan1247
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Classification

Dangme is a Kwa language, part of the Niger–Congo family. It is closely related to Ga, and together they form the Ga–Dangme branch within Kwa.

Geographic distribution

Dangme is spoken in Ghana by over 800,000 people as of 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. Dangme is partly mutually intelligible with Ga, and, to a lesser extent, Ewe. Nevertheless, many Dangme people also speak or understand at least one of these languages, painting the relationship as asymmetric. 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 Eastern 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 units. The coastal dialects are Ada, Ningo and Prampram (Gbugbla). The inland dialects are Shai (Sɛ), Krobo (Klo) and Osudoku.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant phonemes[2]

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial-velar
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ	ŋ͡m
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	t͡ʃ	k	k͡p
	voiced	b	d	d͡ʒ	ɡ	ɡ͡b
Fricative	voiceless	f	s
	voiced	v	z
Approximant			l	j		w

• /m, p, b/ are bilabial, whereas /f, v/ are labiodental.
• /p, b, t, d, k, g/ are singly articulated plosives, /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/ are affricates (stops with a strong fricative release), whereas /k͡p, ɡ͡b/ are doubly articulated plosives.
• /l/ varies between a lateral approximant [l] and a central trill [r].^{[citation needed]}
• /j/ has a fricative allophone [ʒ].^{[citation needed]}

Vowels

Adangme has 7 oral vowels and 5 nasal vowels.[3]

	Front		Back
	oral	nasal	oral	nasal
Close	i	ĩ	u	ũ
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ	ɛ̃	ɔ	ɔ̃
Open	a	ã

• The front vowels are unrounded, whereas the back vowels are rounded.[3]
• /i, u/ are slightly more open than /ĩ, ũ/.[3]
• /e, o/ are close-mid [e, o]. They do not have nasal counterparts.[3]
• /ɛ̃, ɔ̃/ are open-mid [ɛ̃, ɔ̃], whereas /ɛ, ɔ/ are somewhat lower (near-open) [æ, ɔ̞].[3]
• The nasal /ã/ is open front [ã], whereas the oral /a/ is slightly retracted (near-front) [a̠].[3]

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:

• j - /dʒ/
• ng - /ŋ/
• ngm - /ŋm/
• ny - /ɲ/
• ts - /tʃ/
• y - /j/
• ɛ - /ɛ/
• ɔ - /ɔ/

References

Bibliography

External links

• My First GaDangme Dictionary kasahorow
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Dangme
• Lessons in Wikiversity
• Listen to a sample of Adangbe from Global Recordings Network
• Listen to a sample of Adangme from Global Recordings Network

На других языках

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[de] Dangme (Sprache)

Dangme ist die Sprache der Dangme in Ghana mit etwa 800.000 Sprechern (2004 SIL). Ein alternativer Name lautet Adangme.

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- [en] Dangme language

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[fr] Adangme (langue)

L'adangme (ou dangme, adangbe[2]) est une langue kwa parlée par les Adangmés dans le sud-ouest du Ghana.

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[ru] Адангме (язык)

Адангме, дангме — язык народа адангме, распространён на юго-востоке республики Гана в области Вольта. Относится к языкам ква, обычно объединяется в одну группу с языком народа га.

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