Ewe language

Ewe (Èʋe or Èʋegbe [èβeɡ͡be])[5] is a Niger–Congo language spoken in

Ewe
southeastern Ghana by approximately 6 million people as a first language and a
million or so more as a second language.[1] Ewe is part of a cluster of related Èʋegbe
languages commonly called Gbe; the other major Gbe language is Fon of Benin. Native to Ghana, Togo
Like many African languages, Ewe is tonal. Region Southern Ghana east of
the Volta River
The German Africanist Diedrich Hermann Westermann published many dictionaries
Ethnicity Ewe people
and grammars of Ewe and several other Gbe languages. Other linguists who have
Native (5 million cited 1991–
worked on Ewe and closely related languages include Gilbert Ansre (tone, syntax),
speakers 2013)[1]
Herbert Stahlke (morphology, tone), Nick Clements (tone, syntax), Roberto Pazzi
(anthropology, lexicography), Felix K. Ameka (semantics, cognitive linguistics),
Language Niger–Congo
family
Alan Stewart Duthie (semantics, phonetics), Hounkpati B. Capo (phonology, Volta–Congo
phonetics), Enoch Aboh (syntax), and Chris Collins (syntax). Volta–Niger
Gbe
Ewe
Contents
Writing Latin (Ewe alphabet)
Dialects system Ewe Braille
Sounds Language codes
Consonants
ISO 639-1 ee
Vowels
Tones ISO 639-2 ewe
Pragmatics ISO 639-3 Variously:
Orthography ewe – Ewe

Naming system wci – Waci

kef – Kpesi
Grammar
Status
Glottolog ewee1241 Ewe[2]
kpes1238 Kpessi[3]
References
waci1239 Waci Gbe[4]
Bibliography
External links

Dialects
Some of the commonly named Ewe ('Vhe') dialects are Aŋlɔ, Tɔŋu (Tɔŋgu),
Avenor, Agave people, Evedome, Awlan, Gbín, Pekí, Kpándo, Vhlin, Hó,
Avɛ́no, Vo, Kpelen, Vɛ́, Danyi, Agu, Fodome, Wancé, Wací, Adángbe (Capo).
Gbe languages
Ethnologue 16 considers Waci and Kpesi (Kpessi) to be distinct enough to be
considered separate languages. They form a dialect continuum with Ewe and
Gen (Mina), which share a mutual intelligibility level of 85%;[6] the Ewe varieties Gbin, Ho, Kpelen, Kpesi, and Vhlin might be
considered a third cluster of Western Gbe dialects between Ewe and Gen, though Kpesi is as close or closer to the Waci and Vo
dialects which remain in Ewe in that scenario. Waci intervenes geographically between Ewe proper and Gen; Kpesi forms a Gbe
island in the Kabye area. Ewe is itself a dialect cluster of Gbe. Gbe languages include Gen, Aja, and Xwla and are spoken in an area
that spans the southern part of Ghana into Togo, Benin, and Western Nigeria. All Gbe languages share a small degree of intelligibility
with one another. Some coastal and southern dialects of Ewe include: Aŋlɔ, Tongu (Tɔŋu), Avenor, Dzodze, and Watsyi. Some inland
dialects indigenously characterized as Ewedomegbe include: Ho, Kpedze, Hohoe, Peki, Kpando, Liati, Fódome, Danyi, and Kpele.
Though there are many classifications, distinct variations exist between towns that are just miles away from one another
.

Sounds

Consonants

Labial-
Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
velar
voiceless p t k k͡p
Stop
voiced m~b d ɳ~ɖ ɲ~j ŋ~ɡ ɡ͡b
voiceless t͡s
Affricate
voiced d͡z
voiceless ɸ f s x
Fricative ɣ~ɰ~ ʁ~ʕ~
voiced β v z
w ɦ
Approximant l~l
Tap (ɾ ~ ɾ̃)

H is a voiced fricative which has been described asuvular, [ʁ], pharyngeal, [ʕ], or glottal [ɦ].

The nasal consonants [m, n, ɲ, ŋ] are not distinctive, as they only appear before nasal vowels. Ewe is therefore sometimes said to
have no nasal consonants. However, it is more economical to argue that nasal /m, n, ɲ, ŋ/ are the underlying form, and are
denasalized before oral vowels. (See vowels below
.)

[ɣ] occurs before unrounded (non-back) vowels and[w] before rounded (back) vowels.

Ewe is one of the few languages known to contrast [f] vs. [ɸ] and [v] vs. [β]. The f and v are stronger than in most languages, [f͈] and
[ɸ] and [β].[7]
[v͈ ], with the upper lip noticeably raised, and thus more distinctive from the rather weak

/l/ may occur in consonant clusters. It becomes[ɾ] (or [ɾ̃]) after coronals.

Vowels

Front Back
Close i, ĩ u, ũ
Close-mid e, ẽ o, õ
Open-mid ɛ, ɛ̃ ɔ, ɔ̃
Open a, ã

The tilde (˜) marks nasal vowels, though the Peki dialect lacks /õ/. Many varieties of Ewe lack one or another of the front mid
vowels, and some varieties in Ghana have the additional vowels/ə/ and /ə̃/.

Ewe does not have a nasal–oral contrast in consonants. It does, however, have a syllabic nasal, which varies as [m n ŋ], depending on
the following consonant, and which carries tone. Some authors treat this as a vowel, with the odd result that Ewe would have more
nasal than oral vowels, and one of these vowels has no set place of articulation. If it is taken to be a consonant, then there would be
the odd result of a single nasal consonant which could not appear before vowels. If nasal consonants are taken to underlie [b ɖ ɡ],
however, then there is no such odd restriction; the only difference from other consonants being that only nasal stops may be syllabic,
a common pattern cross-linguistically.

Tones
Ewe is a tonal language. In a tonal language, pitch differences are used to distinguish one word from another. For example, in Ewe
the following three words differ only in their tones:

tó 'mountain' (High tone)

tǒ 'mortar' (Rising tone)
tò 'buffalo' (Low tone)
Phonetically, there are three tone registers, High, Mid, and Low, and three rising and falling contour tones. However, in most Ewe
dialects only two registers are distinctive, High and Mid. These are depressed in nouns after voiced obstruents: High becomes Mid
(or Rising), and Mid becomes Low. Mid is also realized as Low at the end of a phrase or utterance, as in the example 'buf
falo' above.

In writing, tones are marked by acute accent, grave accent, caron, and circumflex. They may be used along with the tilde that marks
nasal vowels.[8]

Pragmatics
Ewe has phrases of overt politeness, such asmeɖekuku (meaning "please") andakpe (meaning "thank you").[9]

Orthography
The African Reference Alphabet is used when Ewe is represented orthographically, so the written version is somewhat like a
[8]
combination of the Latin alphabet and the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Aa Bb Dd Ɖɖ Dz dz Ee Ɛɛ Ff Ƒƒ Gg Gb gb Ɣɣ
/a/ /b/ /d/ /ɖ/ /d͡z/ /e/, /ə/ /ɛ/ /f/ /ɸ/ /ɡ/ /ɡ͡b/ /ɣ/
Hh Ii Kk Kp kp Ll Mm Nn Ny ny Ŋŋ Oo Ɔɔ Pp
/h/ /i/ /k/ /k͡p/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /ɲ/ /ŋ/ /o/ /ɔ/ /p/
Rr Ss Tt Ts ts Uu Vv Ʋʋ Ww Xx Yy Zz
/l/ /s/ /t/ /t͡s/ /u/ /v/ /β/ /w/ /x/ /j/ /z/

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 pronounwò 'you' is marked low to distinguish it from the third person plural pronounwó 'they/them'

ekpɔ wò [ɛ́kp
͡ ɔ̀ wɔ̀ ] — 'he saw you'
ekpɔ wo [ɛ́kp͡ ɔ̀ wɔ́ ] — 'he saw them'

Naming system
The Ewe use a system of giving the first name to a child, based on the day of the week that the child was born. This arises from a
belief that the real name of a child can only be determined after the child has shown its character. However, as a child is a person, not
an object, the child must be referred to by some name in the interim, so a name is provided based on the day of birth. A final name is
given at a naming ceremony, seven days after the date of birth.

As a matter of pride in their heritage, since (especially), the 1970's, many educated Ewe, who were given Western names, have
dropped those names, formally/legally or informally
, and use their birthday name as their official name.
The Ewe birthday-naming system is as follows:

Day Male Name Female Name

Dzoɖagbe (Monday) Kɔdzo, Kwadzo, Kojo, Kudjoe Adzo, Adzowɔ
Braɖagbe, Blaɖagbe (Tuesday) Kɔmla, Kɔbla, Kwabla Abra, Abla, Brã
Kuɖagbe (Wednesday) Kɔku, Kwaku, Awuku Aku, Akuwɔ
Yawoɖagbe (Thursday) Yao, Yaw, Ayao, Kwawu Yawa, Awo
Fiɖagbe (Friday) Kofi Afua, Afi, Afiwa, Afiwɔ
Memliɖagbe (Saturday) Kɔmi, Kwami, Kormi Ama, Ami
Kɔsiɖagbe (Sunday) Kɔsi, Kwasi Akɔsia, Akɔsua, Kosiwor, Esi, Awusi

Often, people are called by their birthday name most of the time; the given name being used only on formal documents. In such
cases, children with the same birth name are delineated by suffixes: -gã meaning big, -vi meaning little. So for example, after the
birth of another Kofi, the first child called Kofi becomes Kofigã, and the new child Kofi. A subsequent Kofi, would be Kofivi, or
(Kofitse mostly among Wedome and Tɔngu Ewes). Sometimes this renaming happens twice, as the second Kofi might have
originally been called Kofivi, while the eldest retained Kofi, thereby necessitating that they both be renamed on the birth of a third
Kofi.

Grammar
Ewe is a subject–verb–object language.[10] The possessive precedes the head noun.[11] Adjectives, numerals, demonstratives and
relative clauses follow the head noun. Ewe also haspostpositions rather than prepositions.[12]

Ewe is well known as a language having logophoric pronouns. Such pronouns are used to refer to the source of a reported statement
or thought in indirect discourse, and can disambiguate sentences that are ambiguous in most other languages. The following examples
illustrate:

Kofi be e-dzo 'Kofi said he left' (he ≠ Kofi)

Kofi be yè-dzo 'Kofi said he left' (he = Kofi)
In the second sentence, yè is the logophoric pronoun.

Ewe also has a rich system ofserial verb constructions.

Status
Ewe is a national language in Togo and Ghana.

References
1. Ewe (https://www.ethnologue.com/21/language/ewe) at Ethnologue (21st ed., 2018)
Waci (https://www.ethnologue.com/21/language/wci) at Ethnologue (21st ed., 2018)
Kpesi (https://www.ethnologue.com/21/language/kef) at Ethnologue (21st ed., 2018)
2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Ewe" (http://glottolog.org/resource/languoi
d/id/ewee1241). Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History .
3. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Kpessi" (http://glottolog.org/resource/langu
oid/id/kpes1238). Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History .
4. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Waci Gbe" (http://glottolog.org/resource/lan
guoid/id/waci1239). Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History .
5. [1] (http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED028444.pdf), p. 243
6. N'buéké Adovi Goeh-Akué, 2009.Les états-nations face à l'intégration régionale en Afrique de l'ouest
 7. Venda also has this distinction, but in that case[ɸ] and [β] are slightly rounded, rather than [f] and [v] being raised.
(Hardcastle & Laver, The handbook of phonetic sciences, 1999:595)
8. Jim-Fugar, Nicholine; Jim-Fugar, M.K.N (2017). Nuseline's Ewe-English Dictionary. p. 5. ISBN 1521040184.
9. Translations of "please" and "thank you" fromOmniglot.com
Simon Ager (2015). "Useful Ewe phrases" (http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/ewe.php). Retrieved 27 June
2015.
10. Ameka, Felix K. (1991).Ewe: Its Grammatical Constructions and Illocutionary Devices
. Australian National
University: Sydney.
11. Westermann, Diedrich. (1930).A study of the Ewe language. London: Oxford University Press.
12. Warburton, Irene and Ikpotufe, Prosper and Glover, Roland. (1968). Ewe Basic Course. Indiana University-African
Studies Program: Bloomington.

Bibliography
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.
Clements, George N. (1975) 'The logophoric pronoun in Ewe: Its role in discourse'
, Journal of West African
Languages 10(2): 141-177
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 EweKöln: Köppe.
Westermann, Diedrich Hermann (1930) A Study of the Ewe LanguageLondon: Oxford University Press.

External links
Basic Ewe for foreign studentsInstitut für Afrikanistik der Universität zu Köln
https://web.archive.org/web/20111118234109/http://www .uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/afrikanistik/sprachen/ewe/Ewe being
taught at University of Cologne (Institute for African Studies Cologne)
Ewe Basic Course by Irene Warburton, Prosper Kpotufe, Roland Glover, and Catherine Felten (textbook in Portable
Digital Format and audio files in MP3 format) at Indiana University Bloomington's Center for Languageechnology
T
and Instructional Enrichment (CELTIE).
Articles on Ewe (Journal of West African Languages)
The Ewe language at Verba Africana
Ewe alphabet and pronunciationpage at Omniglot
Free virtual keyboard for Ewe languageat GhanaKeyboards.Com
[2] Recordings of Ewe being spoken.
My First Gbe DictionaryOnline Gbe(Ewe)-English Glossary
PanAfriL10n page
Ewe IPA
Ewe online grammar; in French. Apparently the text ofGrammaire ev̳ e: aide-mémoire des règles d'orthographe de
l'ev̳ e by Kofi J. Adzomada, 1980.
Nuseline's Ewe-English Dictionary

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