Typological Features Template for Akan (Twi)
University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
| Feature | Description | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Phonological Features | In this field I describe the phonological inventory of Twi. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vowel inventory | In this field I describe the vowels of Twi. See below:
Twi has ten vowels.They are /i, ι, e, ε, a, æ, ɔ, o, υ, u/Seven of them are written,//i, e, ε, a, ɔ, o, u/ but three /ι, æ, υ/ are not written. These three are normally represented by other vowel sounds autographically. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vowel harmony | In this field I describe rule based assimilations involving vowels in Twi.
Vowel harmony is one of the major processes in Twi, especially in Akuapem Twi. Most often in this dialect, the vowels in a particular lexical item type in affixes agree with the vowel type in the base. Where the vowel in the base is a plus ATR, or an advanced vowel, the sounds in the affexes must also be +ATR. If on the other hand, the base has a minus ATR or unadvanced vowels, all the affixes must also be minus ATR vowel type. Verbs inflect for tense and aspect. bu (break) has a +ATR vowel type.
æ-bu - has broken (Perfect)
rι-bu - is breaking (Continues)
be-bu - will break (Future)
bu-i - broke (Past)
bu - break (Habitual)
It must be noted that with continues,the aspect marker which is unadvanced, does not change even at the environment of an advanced vowel. ka (say) has a -ATR vowel type.
a-ka - has said (Perfect)
rι-ka - is saying (Continues)
bε-ka - will say (Future)
ka-ι - said (Past)
ka - say (Habitual)
Also, when there is a verbal with a nominal prefix there is an agreement between them. di (eat) +ATR
mi-/wu-/o-/ ye-/ mu-/ wo-di
mi-/ wu-/ o-/ ye-/ mu-/ wo-di-i
mι-/wυ-/ɔ-/ yε-/ mυ-/ wɔ- rι-di
me-di/ wu-/o-/ye-/mu-/wo-be-di
m-/wυ-/ w-/ yε-/ mυ-/ wɔ-æ-di
gyina (stand)
mi-/wu-/o-/ye-/mu-/wo-gyina
mi-/wu-/o-/ye-/mu-/wo-gyina-ι
mι-/wυ-/ɔ-/yε-/mυ-/wɔ-rι-gyina
me-/ wu-/ o-/ ye-/mu-/wo-be-gyina
m-/wυ-/w-/yε-/mυ-/wɔ-æ-gyina
mi-/wu-/o-/ye-/mu-/wo-gyina
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| Consonant inventory | In this field you describe the consonants of [your language] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tone | In this field you indicate if [your language] is a tone language and which tones are used; does [your language] have lexical tone? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Syllable Structure | In this field you indicate the basic syllable structures of [your language]. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Morpho-syntactic Features | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| morphological classification of Akan | Like all dialects of Akan also Twi is mildly inflectional. There is a noun prefix and some verbal inflection indicating tense and aspect as well as negation.
In Twi the subject and the verb do not agree, butthere is some agreement with the nominal head in noun phrases. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Plural inflection | Regular nouns build their plural by adding the prefix "n" to the noun. Nouns starting with "m", "b", "p" or "f" carry the prefix "m".
The following examples illustrate this fact:
tuatua ntokuro no nyinaa
“Seal all the holes”
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| Nominal Phrases | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| syntactic structure | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| nominal modification | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| nominal specification | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| possession | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| pronominal system | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verbal Phrases | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| word order | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TAM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| infinitival forms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| verbal constructions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adpositions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Complementation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Special Properties of [your language] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||