Dangme language

Dangme

language, modern language

Subclass of	Ga–Dangme
Country	Ghana
Indigenous to	Volta Region
Writing system	Latin script
Ethnologue language status	4 Educational

A Dangme kɔkɔre, meŋ naŋ e Dangme bee Adaŋgbi, e la Kwa kɔkɔre Dangme noba (Dangmeil) naŋ yele Ghana south-eastern poɔ. A Dangmeli poɔ la a Ga-Dangme zage kpoŋ na poɔ. Klogbi e la kɔkɔ-kpɛglɛ, Kloli (Klo bee Krobo Noba) naŋ yele. Kropp Dakubu (1987) la a kɔkɔre merɛ naŋ tori senne.

Zagere

Dangme e la Kwa Kɔkɔre, naŋ poɔ a Niger–Congo yideme. One Ga taa la baaloŋ, lɛ la ka a lantaa mɛ a Ga–Dangme gbɛre a Kwa eŋɛ.

Gyɔgarapi tɔroo

Ba yele la Dangme Ghana poɔ ta ŋa 800,000 noba 2004 poɔ.

O e la a Ghana kɔkɔre kaŋa Ada, Osudoku, Manya Krobo, Yilo Krobo, Shai, Ningo, Prampram ane Kpone noba naŋ yele Ghana, Togo ane Benin poɔ. Dangme ne Ga taa la baaloŋ, a lɛ na ba wono la taa yelyaga, ane kyɛre fĩĩ Ewe eŋɛ. Ane a lɛ zaa, Dangme noba meŋ yele la bee wono la a kɔkɔɛ ŋa kaŋa, naŋ wulo a baaloŋ ba tuuruŋ. Dangme naŋ e sakuuri yelnyɔger-zannaa kaŋa, wulo la ziiri Dangme deme naŋ be.

A baaloŋ boorɔ ŋa teŋgane yɔlle yi la a Greater Accra Irigyiŋ te tɔ a Ghana Eastern Irigyiŋ, o north seŋ kyaare la a Akwapim tanne, kyɛ ka a Dangme teŋgane zaa be a east ane a Ga ka o meŋ be a west seŋ. Bawaleshi, naŋ ta ŋa 4.8 kilometers Dodowa southwest, la a Dangme tembaaraa naŋ peɛle Akwapim ane a Ga toribogiri. Kɔkɔ-kpɛglɛ zuri ayɔbo la laŋ bo eŋ boŋyeni. A mane noɔre kɔkɔ-kpɛglɛ la; Ada, Ningo ane Prampram (Gbugbla). A dondole kɔkɔ-kpɛglɛ meŋ la; Shai (Sɛ), Krobo (Klo) ane Osudoku.

Fonologyi

Sɛgebidaare

Sɛgebidaare voonoo

		Nɔgbɛmɛ	Tamanyi	Palatal	Talambaaloŋ	Nɔgbɛmɛ/Talambaaloŋ
Nyɔ-ɛremɛ		m	n	ɲ	ŋ	ŋ͡m
Puridaayi/ Fooroo	Bavoonoo	p	t	t͡ʃ	k	k͡p
	Voonoo	b	d	d͡ʒ	ɡ	ɡ͡b
Fooroo	Bavoonoo	f	s
	Voonoo	v	z
Vafonnuu			l	j		w

• /m, p, b/ boɔlɔ sagera la nɔgbɛmɛ, ka /f, v/ meŋ boɔlɔ sagera nɔgbɛmɛ/nyemɛ.
• /p, b, t, d, k, g/ e la puridaayi sɛgebidaare, /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/ e la puridaayi-fooroo (stops with a strong fricative release), ka /k͡p, ɡ͡b/ e la puridaayi sɛgebikpare.
• /l/ maŋ kyili la o meŋɛ a tamanyin fooroo [l] ane a tamanyin vaarafonno [r] sogaŋ
• /j/ taa la fooroo kyiluu voone [ʒ].

Sɛgebinyaŋene

Dangme vowel chart

Adangme taa la nɔpoɔ sɛgebinyaŋene ayoɔpõĩ 7 ane nyɔ-ɛremɛ sɛgebinyaŋene anuu 5.

	Niŋe		Puori
	nɔpoɔ	nyɔ-ɛroŋ	nɔpoɔ	nyɔ-ɛroŋ
Pɔgre	i	ĩ	u	ũ
Pɔge-gbɔge	e		o
Yuo-gbɔge	ɛ	ɛ̃	ɔ	ɔ̃
Yuori	a	ã

• A niŋe sɛgebinyaŋene ba toorɔ, kyɛ ka a puori sɛgebinyaŋene toorɔ.
• /i, u/ maŋ yuo la fĩĩ gaŋ /ĩ, ũ/.
• /e, o/ maŋ pɔge la gbɔge [e, o]. A ba taa nyɔ-ɛroŋ.
• /ɛ̃, ɔ̃/ e la yuo-gbɔge [ɛ̃, ɔ̃], kyɛ ka /ɛ, ɔ/ maŋ sigi fĩĩ (peɛle yuobo) [æ, ɔ̞].
• A nyɔ-ɛroŋ /ã/ e la niŋe sɛgebinyaŋ-yuoraa [ã], kyɛ ka a nɔpoɔ /a/ maŋ leɛ tage gaa puori fĩĩ (peɛle-niŋe) [a̠].

Kɔkɔgaale

Adangme taa la kɔkɔgaale ata: kɔkɔgaale duoraa, kɔkɔgaale gbɔge ane kɔkɔgaale sigraa. Aŋa West African kɔkɔɛ yaga, o taa la kɔkɔgaale tuubo.

Kɔkɔtɛge

O Kɔkɔtɛge iruŋ iruŋ tutaaloŋ la; V, CV, bee CCV zie a sɛgebidaare ayi soba naŋ e /l/.

Sɛgere tuuruŋ

Ba sɛgerɛ la Adangme ne Latin sɛgebie, a paale a sɛgebie ɛ, ɔ, ane ŋ. Gbɛɛ yaga ba ba sɛgerɛ ne kɔkɔgaale.

Sɛgebo ane voonoo mannoo mine la:

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

Sɛgere waaloŋ

A sɛgere ŋa naŋ tu e la a Universal Declaration of Human Rights Atekele 1.

Adesahi tsuo ɔ, a bɔ mɛ nɛ nɔ fɛɛ nɔ e ye e he, nɛ nɔ tsuaa nɔsɔ ngɛ odehe si himi kɛ he blɔhi a blɔ fa mi. A bɔ mɛ kɛ nɔ́ se kɔmi kɛ he nule juɛmi, nɛ e hia kaa nɔ fɛɛ nɔ nɛ e na nyɛmi suɔmi kɛ ha nɔ tsuaa nɔ.