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Bono dialect
View on Wikipedia| Bono | |
|---|---|
| Abron | |
| Native to | Ghana, Ivory Coast |
| Ethnicity | Bono |
Native speakers | 1.4 million (2013)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | abr |
| Glottolog | abro1238 |
Bono, also known as Abron, Brong, and Bono Twi, is a dialect cluster within the Akan dialect continuum that is spoken by the Bono people.[2][3] Bono is spoken by approximately 1.2 million people in Ghana, primarily in the Bono Region, Bono East Region, and by over 300,000 in eastern Côte d'Ivoire.[4]
The Bible Society of Ghana commenced the translation of the Bono Twi Bible in 2017 and had completed the translation of the 27 books of the New Testament. The overall project will be completed in 2027 with the translation of the Old Testament.[5][6]
Relationship with other dialects of Akan
[edit]Intelligibility among the different dialects of Bono can be difficult. Bono is mutually intelligible with neighboring dialects of Akan such as Asante, but the degree of intelligibility drops off with geographical distance, and Fante is effectively a different language.[7] Most speakers of Bono are bidialectal in Asante.[8]
Bono and Wasa are the most divergent dialects of Akan. Along with Fante, Bono is also one of the most conservative, retaining features such as the third-person plural pronoun bɛ that have since been lost elsewhere.[9][8][10]
Differences from other dialects of Akan
[edit]Phonological
[edit]- Bono tends to use /h/ where Asante has palatalized it to hy (/ɕ/) and hw (/ɕʷ/): cf. Bono hia vs. Asante hyia ("to meet").[9]
- Bono has [l] and [r] in free variation, where Asante has only /r/ or only /l/. As Akan generally has [d] in complementary distribution with [r], there are some Bono words with [l], [r], and [d] in free variation, e.g. fiela/fiera/fieda ("Friday"). A similar process may be found in some varieties of Asante, e.g. akɔlaa/akɔraa/akɔdaa ("child").[9]
- In most Akan dialects, the emphatic particle nà is pronounced with a low tone, whereas in Bono it is né, with a high tone.[9]
- Unlike other varieties of Akan, and most Kwa languages in general, which have nominal vowel prefixes, many Bono nouns have either a homorganic nasal prefix or no nasal prefix at all: cf. Bono pɔnkɔ vs. Asante ɔpɔnkɔ ("horse"). Conversely, while most dialects have lost the nominal vowel suffix, Bono as well as Asante have retained it: cf. Bono nsuo vs. Asante nsu ("water"). Asante is the only dialect to have retained both vowel prefix and suffix: cf. Bono wuo, Asante owuo, and Asante owu ("death").[9]
Grammatical
[edit]- The most characteristic feature of Bono is its use of the third-person plural pronoun bɛ, not found in any other Akan dialect. It was likely an old pronoun retained in Bono but not elsewhere in Akan.[9]
- Akan subject markers are usually only used when a subject is not made explicit, and are only ever used alongside an explicit subject in emphatic sentences. However, in Bono, an explicit subject is almost always used alongside a subject marker, whether the sentence is emphatic or not: cf. Asante Kofi kɔe ("Kofi went", with explicit subject and without subject marker) and ɔkɔe ("He went", with subject marker) vs. Bono Kofi ɔkɔe (literally "Kofi he went", with explicit subject and subject marker). Similarly, Bono requires a possessor as well as a possessive pronoun, e.g. Kofi ne dan (literally "Kofi his house"), although this is a feature found in Fante and Akuapem.[9]
- In Bono, the first-person singular prefixes me- reduce to a homorganic syllabic nasal when they occur immediately before a consonant, e.g. mbaeɛ ("I came"), whereas other Akan dialects do not reduce it, e.g. mebae ("I came").[9]
- Bono does not distinguish the third-person singular animate ɔ- and inanimate ɛ- possessive prefixes common to other Akan dialects, instead using ɔ- (sometimes pronounced wɔ-) for both: cf. Bono ɔkɔ ("he/she/it has gone") vs. Akuapem ɔkɔ ("he/she has gone") and ɛkɔ ("it has gone").[9]
Grammar
[edit]Pronouns
[edit]| Independent | Subject | Possessive | Object | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First sing. | me | me- | me- | m |
| Second sing. | wo | wo- | wo | w |
| Third sing. | ɔno | wɔ- | ɔ-; ne | no |
| First pl. | yɛ | yɛ- | yɛ | yɛ |
| Second pl. | hõ | hõ- | hõ | hõ |
| Third pl. | bɛ | bɛ- | bɛ | bɛ |
| Unspecified | ɛ- |
References
[edit]- ^ Abron at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
- ^ "Kwame Arhin A Profile of Brong Kyempim". Scribd. p. 89. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ "The languages of the Akan peoples". d.lib.msu.edu. p. 12. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ "Akan". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
- ^ "An Akan (Bono-Twi) Mother-Tongue Commentary on the Second Letter of John". ResearchGate. Archived from the original on 2024-12-13. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
- ^ "Bono-Twi dialect New Testament Bible completed". Graphic Online. 2024-07-11. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
- ^ Florence Abena Dolphyne, 1988, The Akan (Twi-Fante) Language Its Sound Systems and Tonal Structure, p 54
- ^ a b Dolphyne, Florence (1982). "Language use among the Brong of Ghana". Journal of West African Languages. 12. Archived from the original on 2021-10-25. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Dolphyne, Florence (1979). Arhin, Kwame (ed.). "The Brong (Bono) dialect of Akan" (PDF). Brong Kyempim. Accra: Afram: 88–118.
- ^ "Archive of African Journals". digital.lib.msu.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
Bono dialect
View on GrokipediaOverview and classification
Definition and speakers
The Bono dialect, also known as Abron or Brong, constitutes a dialect cluster within the Central Tano branch of the Akan language continuum, a Niger-Congo language family. It is primarily spoken by the Bono (or Brong) people, an Akan ethnic group whose cultural and historical identity is closely tied to the language.[10][11] The dialect serves as a key marker of Bono ethnic affiliation, reflecting their traditions in regions spanning Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, where it functions as a medium for daily communication, folklore, and social practices. According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service, Bono is spoken by approximately 1.2 million people in Ghana.[12] In eastern Côte d'Ivoire, the dialect—often referred to as Abron—has over 300,000 speakers, primarily among communities maintaining cross-border ethnic ties with Ghanaian Bono groups.[13] These figures underscore Bono's role as the third-largest Akan dialect after Asante and Fante, with most speakers being bilingual or bidialectal in other Akan varieties such as Asante Twi.[14] The Bono dialect holds the ISO 639-3 code "abr" and is recognized as a stable indigenous language used as a first language by its ethnic community.[10] Linguistically, it is noted for its conservative nature within the Akan continuum, preserving archaic features such as certain pronominal forms that have evolved differently in other dialects. This retention contributes to its distinct yet mutually intelligible status among Akan varieties.Geographic distribution and dialects
The Bono dialect is primarily spoken in the Bono Region and Bono East Region of Ghana, extending into the Ahafo Region to the south, as well as across the border into eastern Côte d'Ivoire, particularly in the Bondoukou area and surrounding districts of the Zanzan Region.[15][16] This distribution reflects the historical settlement patterns of Bono-speaking communities, with concentrations around key towns such as Sunyani, Techiman, and Wenchi in Ghana, and Bondoukou as a major center in Côte d'Ivoire.[15][17] Within this range, the Bono dialect exhibits internal variations, primarily distinguished as Bono proper in central Ghana and the Abron variant in Côte d'Ivoire.[10][15] Bono proper is centered in the core areas of the Bono and Bono East Regions, while Abron, spoken by communities in the Gyaman kingdom territories, shows minor phonological and lexical differences adapted to local contexts.[10][16] Additional minor local variations occur in border zones, influenced by ongoing migration and proximity to international boundaries, leading to some lexical borrowing and mixing with adjacent Akan varieties such as Nzema in western Ghana.[15][18] The historical spread of the Bono dialect is linked to the expansion of the Bono kingdom (also known as Bonoman or Gyaman), which from the 13th to 18th centuries facilitated the migration of Akan groups northward and westward, establishing settlements that carried the dialect into present-day Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire.[16] This expansion, centered initially around sites like Bono Manso, promoted dialect continuity across the region despite later political disruptions from Asante conquests and colonial borders.[19]Phonology
Consonant system
The consonant inventory of the Bono dialect, a variety of Akan spoken in Ghana's Bono Region, consists of 30 phonemes, including stops, nasals, affricates, fricatives, approximants, and a trill.[20] All consonants can occur word-initially, although some like /r/ are restricted except in specific contexts such as progressive tense markers, while only the bilabial nasal /m/ appears word-finally, reflecting the dialect's phonotactic constraints that prohibit most consonant clusters.[20]| Place/Manner | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial-velar | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stops | p, b | t, d | k, g | kp, gb | ||||
| Nasals | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
| Affricates | pf, bv | ts, dz | tʃ, dʒ | ʨ, ʥ | ||||
| Fricatives | f, v | s, z | ʃ | ɕ | h | |||
| Approximants | w | j | ||||||
| Trill/Lateral | r, l |
