Ga language: Difference between revisions
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Ga is a [[Kwa languages|Kwa]] language, part of the [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo family]]. It is very closely related to [[Adangme language|Adangme]], and together they form the [[Ga-Dangme languages|Ga–Dangme]] branch within Kwa. | Ga is a [[Kwa languages|Kwa]] language, part of the [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo family]]. It is very closely related to [[Adangme language|Adangme]], and together they form the [[Ga-Dangme languages|Ga–Dangme]] branch within Kwa. | ||
Ga is the predominant language of the [[Ga people]], an ethnic group of Ghana. Ethnic Ga family names (surnames) include [[Owoo]], Lartey, Nortey, Aryee, Lamptey, Tetteh, Ankrah, Tetteyfio, Laryea, Ayitey, Okine, Bortey, Quarshie, Quaye, Quaynor, Ashong, Kotei, Clottey, Nai, Sowah, Odoi, Maale, Ako, Adjetey, Annang, Yemoh | Ga is the predominant language of the [[Ga people]], an ethnic group of Ghana. Ethnic Ga family names (surnames) include [[Owoo]], Lartey, Lomo, Nortey, Aryee, Lamptey, Tetteh, Ankrah, Tetteyfio, Laryea, Ayitey, Okine, Bortey, Quarshie, Quaye, Quaynor, Ashong, Kotei, Clottey, Nai, Sowah, Odoi, Maale, Ako, Adjetey, Annang, Yemoh and Abbey. | ||
==Geographic distribution== | ==Geographic distribution== | ||
| Line 163: | Line 163: | ||
==Writing system== | ==Writing system== | ||
[[File:Alphabet in Rasmus Rask, Vejledning til Akra-Sproget, 1828.png|thumb|Ga alphabet of 1828]] | [[File:Alphabet in Rasmus Rask, Vejledning til Akra-Sproget, 1828.png|thumb|Ga alphabet of 1828]] | ||
Ga was first written in about 1764, by [[Christian Jacob Protten]] (1715–1769), who was the son of a Danish soldier and a Ga woman.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|url=https://dacb.org/stories/ghana/protten-cj/|title=Christian Jacob Protten|last=Smith|first=Noel|website=dacb.org|language=en|access-date=2018-10-14}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite web|url=https://dacb.org/stories/ghana/protten-chrisjacob/|title=Christian Jacob Protten|last=Dreydoppel|first=Otto|website=dacb.org|language=en|access-date=2018-10-14}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Sebald|first=Peter|date=1994|title=Christian Jacob Protten Africanus (1715-1769) - erster Missionar einer deutschen Missionsgesellschaft in Schwarzafrika|journal=Kolonien und Missionen.|language=de|pages=109–121|oclc=610701345}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|date=June 2012|title=This Month in Moravian History: Christian Protten - Missionary to the Gold Coast of Africa|url=http://www.moravianchurcharchives.org/thismonth/12_06%20Protten.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Moravian Archives|location=Bethlehem, PA.|issue=74|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914181657/http://www.moravianchurcharchives.org/thismonth/12_06%20Protten.pdf|archive-date=14 September 2016|access-date=14 October 2018|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Protten was a [[Gold Coast Euro-Africans|Gold Coast Euro-African]] [[Moravian Church|Moravian]] missionary and educator in the eighteenth century. In the mid-1800s, the Germany missionary [[Johannes Zimmermann]] (1825–1876), assisted by the Gold Coast historian [[Carl Christian Reindorf]] (1834–1917) and others, worked extensively on the grammar of the language, published a dictionary and translated the entire Bible into the Ga language.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://dacb.org/stories/ghana/zimmermann/|title=Johannes Zimmerman|website=dacb.org|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124022931/https://dacb.org/stories/ghana/zimmermann/|archive-date=2017-11-24|url-status=live|access-date=2017-11-24}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.johannes-rebmann-stiftung.de/cms/en/missionaries/zimmermann-johannes/zimmermann-johannes-life-and-work/|title=Zimmermann, Johannes – Life and work – Johannes-Rebmann-Stiftung|website=www.johannes-rebmann-stiftung.de|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124022932/http://www.johannes-rebmann-stiftung.de/cms/en/missionaries/zimmermann-johannes/zimmermann-johannes-life-and-work/|archive-date=2017-11-24|url-status=dead|access-date=2017-11-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bzNGAAAAYAAJ&q=The+History+of+the+Gold+Coast+and+Asante|title=History of the Gold Coast and Asante, Based on Traditions and Historical Facts: Comprising a Period of More Than Three Centuries from about 1500 to 1860|last=Reindorf|first=Carl Christian|date=1895|publisher=The author|isbn=9780598937520|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QvYNswEACAAJ&q=The+History+of+the+Gold+Coast+and+Asante|title=History of the Gold Coast and Asante (Classic Reprint)|last=Reindorf|first=Carl Christian|date=2018-04-21|publisher=LULU Press|isbn=9781330819852|language=en}}</ref> The orthography has been revised a number of times since 1968, with the most recent review in 1990. | Ga was first written in about 1764, by [[Christian Jacob Protten]] (1715–1769), who was the son of a Danish soldier and a Ga woman.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|url=https://dacb.org/stories/ghana/protten-cj/|title=Christian Jacob Protten|last=Smith|first=Noel|website=dacb.org|language=en|access-date=2018-10-14}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite web|url=https://dacb.org/stories/ghana/protten-chrisjacob/|title=Christian Jacob Protten|last=Dreydoppel|first=Otto|website=dacb.org|language=en|access-date=2018-10-14}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Sebald|first=Peter|date=1994|title=Christian Jacob Protten Africanus (1715-1769) - erster Missionar einer deutschen Missionsgesellschaft in Schwarzafrika|journal=Kolonien und Missionen.|language=de|pages=109–121|oclc=610701345}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|date=June 2012|title=This Month in Moravian History: Christian Protten - Missionary to the Gold Coast of Africa|url=http://www.moravianchurcharchives.org/thismonth/12_06%20Protten.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Moravian Archives|location=Bethlehem, PA.|issue=74|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914181657/http://www.moravianchurcharchives.org/thismonth/12_06%20Protten.pdf|archive-date=14 September 2016|access-date=14 October 2018|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Protten was a [[Gold Coast Euro-Africans|Gold Coast Euro-African]] [[Moravian Church|Moravian]] missionary and educator in the eighteenth century. In the mid-1800s, the Germany missionary [[Johannes Zimmermann (missionary)|Johannes Zimmermann]] (1825–1876), assisted by the Gold Coast historian [[Carl Christian Reindorf]] (1834–1917) and others, worked extensively on the grammar of the language, published a dictionary and translated the entire Bible into the Ga language.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://dacb.org/stories/ghana/zimmermann/|title=Johannes Zimmerman|website=dacb.org|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124022931/https://dacb.org/stories/ghana/zimmermann/|archive-date=2017-11-24|url-status=live|access-date=2017-11-24}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.johannes-rebmann-stiftung.de/cms/en/missionaries/zimmermann-johannes/zimmermann-johannes-life-and-work/|title=Zimmermann, Johannes – Life and work – Johannes-Rebmann-Stiftung|website=www.johannes-rebmann-stiftung.de|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124022932/http://www.johannes-rebmann-stiftung.de/cms/en/missionaries/zimmermann-johannes/zimmermann-johannes-life-and-work/|archive-date=2017-11-24|url-status=dead|access-date=2017-11-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bzNGAAAAYAAJ&q=The+History+of+the+Gold+Coast+and+Asante|title=History of the Gold Coast and Asante, Based on Traditions and Historical Facts: Comprising a Period of More Than Three Centuries from about 1500 to 1860|last=Reindorf|first=Carl Christian|date=1895|publisher=The author|isbn=9780598937520|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QvYNswEACAAJ&q=The+History+of+the+Gold+Coast+and+Asante|title=History of the Gold Coast and Asante (Classic Reprint)|last=Reindorf|first=Carl Christian|date=2018-04-21|publisher=LULU Press|isbn=9781330819852|language=en}}</ref> The orthography has been revised a number of times since 1968, with the most recent review in 1990. | ||
The writing system is a [[Latin script|Latin]]-based [[alphabet]] and has 26 letters. It has three additional letter symbols which correspond to the [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] symbols. There are also eleven digraphs and two trigraphs. Vowel length is represented by doubling or tripling the vowel symbol, e.g. 'a', 'aa' and 'aaa'. Tones are not represented. Nasalisation is represented after [[oral consonant]]s where it distinguishes between [[minimal pairs]]. | The writing system is a [[Latin script|Latin]]-based [[alphabet]] and has 26 letters. It has three additional letter symbols which correspond to the [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] symbols. There are also eleven digraphs and two trigraphs. Vowel length is represented by doubling or tripling the vowel symbol, e.g. 'a', 'aa' and 'aaa'. Tones are not represented. Nasalisation is represented after [[oral consonant]]s where it distinguishes between [[minimal pairs]]. | ||
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==Oral literature== | ==Oral literature== | ||
In his 1865 collection, | In his 1865 collection, ''Wit and Wisdom from West Africa'', [[Richard Francis Burton]] published over 200 Ga proverbs and sayings with English translations,<ref>Burton, Richard (1865). ''[https://archive.org/details/witandwisdomfro01burtgoog/page/n168/mode/2up?view=theater Wit and Wisdom from West Africa]''. pp. 133-175.</ref> taken from Johannes Zimmermann's ''Grammatical Sketch of the Akra Language''.<ref>[Johannes Zimmermann (1858). https://archive.org/details/agrammaticalske01zimmgoog Grammatical Sketch of the Akra Language] pp. 158-9</ref> Here are some of those sayings as recorded with its historical orthography:{{efn|In the modern orthography, these would be written as: | ||
*" | * {{lang|gaa|Tutsɔfa kɛ la yeee.}} | ||
*" | * {{lang|gaa|Kɛji na lɛ, gbɔmɛi fɛɛ diɔ.}} | ||
*" | * {{lang|gaa|Nu ni akɛbaagbe la lɛ, ataooo lɛ krɔŋkrɔŋ.}} | ||
*" | * {{lang|gaa|Akɛ hiŋmɛii enyɔ kwɛɛɛ tɔ mli.}}}} | ||
* "{{lang|gaa|Tutsofa ke la yee.}}" "Gunpowder and fire do not agree." (#7) | |||
* "{{lang|gaa|Ke dse na le, gbomei fe dio.}}" "If it is dark, all men are black." (#11) | |||
* "{{lang|gaa|Nu ni ake-bagbe la le, ataoole kronkron.}}" "Clear water is not wanted for quenching fire." (#13) | |||
* "{{lang|gaa|Ake hinmeii enyo kwee to mli.}}" "Not with both eyes people look into a bottle." (#15) | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| Line 202: | Line 206: | ||
*[[Christian Jacob Protten]] | *[[Christian Jacob Protten]] | ||
* [[Carl Christian Reindorf]] | * [[Carl Christian Reindorf]] | ||
* [[Johannes Zimmermann]] | * [[Johannes Zimmermann (missionary)|Johannes Zimmermann]] | ||
==Footnotes== | ==Footnotes== | ||
{{notelist}} | |||
{{Reflist}} | {{Reflist}} | ||
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==External links== | ==External links== | ||
{{Incubator|code=gaa}} | {{Incubator|code=gaa}} | ||
*[http://ge.kasahorow.org/app/d My First GaDangme Dictionary] kasahorow | *[http://ge.kasahorow.org/app/d My First GaDangme Dictionary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250322041615/https://ge.kasahorow.org/app/d |date=2025-03-22 }} kasahorow | ||
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzSlq2IIBzY Short tutorial on counting in the Ga language] | *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzSlq2IIBzY Short tutorial on counting in the Ga language] | ||
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvQdxopc9B0&feature=relmfu Young boy speaking about Ghanaian tribes in Ga language] | *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvQdxopc9B0&feature=relmfu Young boy speaking about Ghanaian tribes in Ga language] | ||
Latest revision as of 18:48, 15 September 2025
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Ga is a Kwa language spoken in Ghana, in and around the capital Accra, by the Ga people. There are also some speakers in Togo, Benin and western Nigeria.Template:Nvb It has a phonemic distinction between three vowel lengths.Template:Nvb
Classification
Ga is a Kwa language, part of the Niger–Congo family. It is very closely related to Adangme, and together they form the Ga–Dangme branch within Kwa.
Ga is the predominant language of the Ga people, an ethnic group of Ghana. Ethnic Ga family names (surnames) include Owoo, Lartey, Lomo, Nortey, Aryee, Lamptey, Tetteh, Ankrah, Tetteyfio, Laryea, Ayitey, Okine, Bortey, Quarshie, Quaye, Quaynor, Ashong, Kotei, Clottey, Nai, Sowah, Odoi, Maale, Ako, Adjetey, Annang, Yemoh and Abbey.
Geographic distribution
Ga is spoken in south-eastern Ghana, in and around the capital Accra. It has relatively little dialectal variation. Although English is the official language of Ghana, Ga is one of 16 languages in which the Bureau of Ghana Languages publishes material.
Phonology
Consonants
Ga has 31 consonant phonemes.
- Script error: No such module "IPA". is an allophone of Script error: No such module "IPA". which occurs before nasals and is represented with its own digraph in writing.
- Script error: No such module "IPA". may be realised as Script error: No such module "IPA". when between a consonant and vowel
- Script error: No such module "IPA". has an allophone Script error: No such module "IPA". before nasal vowels
Vowels
Ga has seven oral vowels and five nasal vowels. All of the vowels have three different vowel lengths: short, long or extra long (the latter appears only in the simple future and the simple past negative forms).
Tones
Ga has two tones, high and low. Like many West African languages, it has tone terracing.
Phonotactics
The syllable structure of Ga is Script error: No such module "lang"., where the second phoneme of an initial consonant cluster can only be Script error: No such module "IPA". and a final consonant may only be a (short or long) nasal consonant, e.g. ekome, "one", V-CV-CV; kakadaŋŋ, "long", CV-CV-CVC; mli, "inside", CCV. Ga syllables may also consist solely of a syllabic nasal, for example in the first syllable of ŋshɔ, "sea".
Writing system
Ga was first written in about 1764, by Christian Jacob Protten (1715–1769), who was the son of a Danish soldier and a Ga woman.[1][2][3][4] Protten was a Gold Coast Euro-African Moravian missionary and educator in the eighteenth century. In the mid-1800s, the Germany missionary Johannes Zimmermann (1825–1876), assisted by the Gold Coast historian Carl Christian Reindorf (1834–1917) and others, worked extensively on the grammar of the language, published a dictionary and translated the entire Bible into the Ga language.[5][6][7][8] The orthography has been revised a number of times since 1968, with the most recent review in 1990.
The writing system is a Latin-based alphabet and has 26 letters. It has three additional letter symbols which correspond to the IPA symbols. There are also eleven digraphs and two trigraphs. Vowel length is represented by doubling or tripling the vowel symbol, e.g. 'a', 'aa' and 'aaa'. Tones are not represented. Nasalisation is represented after oral consonants where it distinguishes between minimal pairs.
The Ga alphabet is:
Aa, Bb, Dd, Ee, Ɛɛ, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Ŋŋ, Oo, Ɔɔ, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Yy, Zz
The following letters represent sounds which do not correspond with the same letter as the IPA symbol (e.g. B represents Script error: No such module "IPA".):
- J j - Script error: No such module "IPA".
- Y y - Script error: No such module "IPA".
Digraphs and trigraphs:
- Gb gb - Script error: No such module "IPA".
- Gw gw - Script error: No such module "IPA".
- Hw hw - Script error: No such module "IPA".
- Jw jw - Script error: No such module "IPA".
- Kp kp - Script error: No such module "IPA".
- Kw kw - Script error: No such module "IPA".
- Ny ny - Script error: No such module "IPA".
- Ŋm ŋm - Script error: No such module "IPA".
- Ŋw ŋw - Script error: No such module "IPA". (an allophone rather than a phoneme)
- Sh sh - Script error: No such module "IPA".
- Ts ts - Script error: No such module "IPA".
- Shw shw - Script error: No such module "IPA".
- Tsw tsw - Script error: No such module "IPA".
Oral literature
In his 1865 collection, Wit and Wisdom from West Africa, Richard Francis Burton published over 200 Ga proverbs and sayings with English translations,[9] taken from Johannes Zimmermann's Grammatical Sketch of the Akra Language.[10] Here are some of those sayings as recorded with its historical orthography:Template:Efn
- "Script error: No such module "Lang"." "Gunpowder and fire do not agree." (#7)
- "Script error: No such module "Lang"." "If it is dark, all men are black." (#11)
- "Script error: No such module "Lang"." "Clear water is not wanted for quenching fire." (#13)
- "Script error: No such module "Lang"." "Not with both eyes people look into a bottle." (#15)
See also
Footnotes
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Burton, Richard (1865). Wit and Wisdom from West Africa. pp. 133-175.
- ↑ [Johannes Zimmermann (1858). https://archive.org/details/agrammaticalske01zimmgoog Grammatical Sketch of the Akra Language] pp. 158-9
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References
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- Template:Cite thesis
External links
- My First GaDangme Dictionary Template:Webarchive kasahorow
- Short tutorial on counting in the Ga language
- Young boy speaking about Ghanaian tribes in Ga language
Template:Languages of Ghana Template:Kwa languages Template:Authority control