Ewe language

language
name=Ewe
nativename=Unicode|Ɛ̀ʋɛ̀gbè
states=Ghana, Togo
region=Southern Ghana east of the Volta River, southern Togo
speakers=2.5 million, 3 million including second language speakers
familycolor=Niger-Congo
fam2=Atlantic-Congo
fam3=Volta-Niger
fam4=Gbe
iso1=ee|iso2=ewe|iso3=ewe

Ewe (native name "Unicode|Ɛ̀ʋɛ̀gbè," pronounced|ὲβὲg͡bè) is a Niger-Congo language spoken in Ghana, Togo and Benin by approximately five million people. Ewe is part of a cluster of related languages commonly called Gbe, stretching from eastern Ghana to western Nigeria. Other Gbe languages include Fon and Aja. Like other Gbe languages, Ewe is a tone language.

The German Africanist Diedrich Hermann Westermann published many dictionaries and grammars of Ewe and several other Gbe languages. Other linguists who have worked on Ewe and closely related languages include Gilbert Ansre (tone, syntax), Herbert Stahlke (morphology, tone), Nick Clements (tone, syntax), Roberto Pazzi (anthropology, lexicography), Felix K. Ameka (semantics, cognitive linguistics), Alan Stewart Duthie (semantics, phonetics), Hounkpati B. Capo (phonology, phonetics), Enoch Aboh (syntax), and Chris Collins (syntax).

ounds

Consonants

An n is placed after vowels to mark nasalization. Tone is generally unmarked, except in some common cases which require disambiguation, e.g. the first person plural pronoun "mí" 'we' is marked high to distinguish it from the second person plural "mi" 'you', and the second person singular pronoun "wò" 'you' is marked low to distinguish it from the third person plural pronoun "wo" 'they/them'
* IPA| [ɛ́k͡pɔ̀ wɔ̀] — 'he saw you'
* IPA| [ɛ́k͡pɔ̀ wɔ́] — 'he saw them'

Grammar

Ewe is a Subject Verb Object language. The possessor precedes the head noun. Adjectives, numerals, demonstratives and relative clauses follow the head noun.

Ewe has a rich system of serial verb constructions (see Ansre 1961).

tatus

Ewe is a national language in Togo and Ghana.

References

* Ansre, Gilbert (1961) "The Tonal Structure of Ewe". MA Thesis, Kennedy School of Missions of Hartford Seminary Foundation.
*Ameka, Felix Kofi (2001) 'Ewe'. In Garry and Rubino (eds.), "Fact About the World's Languages: An Encyclopedia of the World's Major Languages, Past and Present", 207-213. New York/Dublin: The H.W. Wilson Company.
* Collins, Chris. 1993. "Topics in Ewe Syntax". Doctoral Dissertation, MIT.
* Capo, Hounkpati B.C. (1991) "A Comparative Phonology of Gbe", Publications in African Languages and Linguistics, 14. Berlin/New York: Foris Publications & Garome, Bénin: Labo Gbe (Int).
* Pasch, Helma (1995) "Kurzgrammatik des Ewe" Köln: Köppe.
* Westermann, Diedrich Hermann (1930) "A Study of the Ewe Language" London: Oxford University Press.

External links

* [http://www.ethnologue.org/show_language.asp?code=ewe Ethnologue report for Ewe]
* [http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/verba-africana/ewe/c-ewe-language.htm The Ewe language] at Verba Africana
* [http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/aflang/ewe/ Short Ewe resources list] at UCLA
* [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ewe.htm Ewe alphabet and pronunciation] page at Omniglot
* [http://www.ghanakeyboards.com/ Free virtual keyboard for Ewe language] at GhanaKeyboards.Com
* [http://archive.phonetics.ucla.edu/Language/EWE/EWE.html] Recordings of Ewe being spoken.
* [http://dictionary.kasahorow.com/all/ee kasahorow Gbe(Ewe) Dictionary] Online Gbe(Ewe)-English Glossary
* [http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Gbe PanAfriL10n page]
* [http://classweb.gmu.edu/accent/nl-ipa/eweipa.html Ewe IPA]
*http://www.eweland.com/