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Ga language

May 11, 2023

Not to be confused with Gaa language, Kaansa language, or Gan Chinese.
For the language with ISO 639-1 code "ga", see Irish language.

Ga is a Kwa language spoken in Ghana, in and around the capital Accra. There are also some speakers in Togo, Benin and Western Nigeria. It has a phonemic distinction between three vowel lengths.

Ga
Gã
Pronunciation[ɡã]
RegionSouth-eastern Ghana, around Accra
EthnicityGa
Native speakers
745,000 (2016)[1]
Latin (Ga alphabet)
Ghanaian braille
Official status
Official language in
None. Government sponsored language.
Language codes
ISO 639-2gaa
ISO 639-3gaa
Glottologgaaa1244
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
Samuel speaking Ga.

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, Nortey, Aryee, Poku, Lamptey, Tetteh, Ankrah, Tetteyfio, Laryea, Ayitey, Okine, Bortey, Quarshie, Quaye, Quaynor, Ashong, Kotei, Clottey, Nai, Sowah, Odoi, Maale, Ako, Adjetey, Annang, Addo, Yemoh, Abbey and Adjei.

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.

Consonant phonemes
  Labial Dental Postalveolar
and palatal 		Velar Labial-
velar 		Glottal
Plain Labialized Plain Lab.v Plain Lab.
Nasal m n ɲ   ŋ   ŋ͡m  
Stop p b t d tʃ dʒ tʃʷ dʒʷ k ɡ kʷ ɡʷ k͡p ɡ͡b  
Fricative f v s z ʃ   ʃʷ               h hʷ
Approximant   l j ɥ     w  
  • [ŋʷ] is an allophone of /w/ which occurs before nasals and is represented with its own digraph in writing.
  • /l/ may be realised as [ɹ] when between a consonant and vowel
  • /j/ has an allophone [ɲ] 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).

Monophthongs
Front Central Back
oral nasal oral nasal oral nasal
Close i ĩ     u ũ
Close-mid e       o  
Open-mid ɛ ɛ̃     ɔ ɔ̃
Open     a ã    

Tones

Ga has two tones, high and low. Like many West African languages, it has tone terracing.

Phonotactics

The syllable structure of Ga is (C)(C)V(C), where the second phoneme of an initial consonant cluster can only be /l/ 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.[2][3][4][5] 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.[6][7][8][9] 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 /b/):

  • J j - /d͡ʒ/
  • Y y - /j/

Digraphs and trigraphs:

  • Gb gb - /ɡ͡b/
  • Gw gw - /ɡʷ/
  • Hw hw - /hʷ/
  • Jw jw - /d͡ʒʷ/
  • Kp kp - /k͡p/
  • Kw kw - /kʷ/
  • Ny ny - /ɲ/
  • Ŋm ŋm - /ŋ͡m/
  • Ŋw ŋw - [ŋʷ] (an allophone rather than a phoneme)
  • Sh sh - /ʃ/
  • Ts ts - /t͡ʃ/
  • Shw shw - /ʃʷ/
  • Tsw tsw - /t͡ʃʷ/

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Ga at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
  2. ^ Smith, Noel. "Christian Jacob Protten". dacb.org. Retrieved 2018-10-14.
  3. ^ Dreydoppel, Otto. "Christian Jacob Protten". dacb.org. Retrieved 2018-10-14.
  4. ^ Sebald, Peter (1994). "Christian Jacob Protten Africanus (1715-1769) - erster Missionar einer deutschen Missionsgesellschaft in Schwarzafrika". Kolonien und Missionen. (in German): 109–121. OCLC 610701345.
  5. ^ "This Month in Moravian History: Christian Protten - Missionary to the Gold Coast of Africa" (PDF). Moravian Archives. Bethlehem, PA. (74). June 2012. (PDF) from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Johannes Zimmerman". dacb.org. from the original on 2017-11-24. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  7. ^ . www.johannes-rebmann-stiftung.de. Archived from the original on 2017-11-24. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  8. ^ Reindorf, Carl Christian (1895). 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. The author. ISBN 9780598937520.
  9. ^ Reindorf, Carl Christian (2018-04-21). History of the Gold Coast and Asante (Classic Reprint). LULU Press. ISBN 9781330819852.

References

  • M. E. Kropp Dakubu, ed. (1977). West African Language Data Sheets Vol 1. West African Linguistic Society.
  • M. E. Kropp Dakubu, ed. (1988). The Languages of Ghana. London: Kegan Paul International for the International African Institute. ISBN 0-7103-0210-X.
  • M. E. Kropp Dakubu (1999). Ga-English dictionary with English-Ga Index. Accra: Black Mask Ltd. ISBN 9964-960-50-6.
  • M. E. Kropp Dakubu (2002). Ga Phonology. Legon: Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana.
  • Bureau of Ghana Languages (1995). Ga Wiemɔ Kɛ Ŋmaa. Accra:Bureau of Ghana Languages. ISBN 9964-2-0276-8.
  • A. A. Amartey (1989). Beginners' Ga. Ga Society.
  • Campbell, Akua Asantewaa (2017). A Grammar of Gã (Doctor of Philosophy thesis). Rice University. hdl:1911/102269.

External links

 
Ga language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator
  • My First GaDangme Dictionary kasahorow
  • Short tutorial on counting in the Ga language
  • Young boy speaking about Ghanaian tribes in Ga language

May 11, 2023
language, confused, with, language, kaansa, language, chinese, language, with, code, irish, language, this, article, lead, section, short, adequately, summarize, points, please, consider, expanding, lead, provide, accessible, overview, important, aspects, arti. Not to be confused with Gaa language Kaansa language or Gan Chinese For the language with ISO 639 1 code ga see Irish language This article s lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article September 2015 Ga is a Kwa language spoken in Ghana in and around the capital Accra There are also some speakers in Togo Benin and Western Nigeria It has a phonemic distinction between three vowel lengths GaGaPronunciation ɡa RegionSouth eastern Ghana around AccraEthnicityGaNative speakers745 000 2016 1 Language familyNiger Congo Atlantic CongoVolta CongoKwaGa DangmeGaWriting systemLatin Ga alphabet Ghanaian brailleOfficial statusOfficial language inNone Government sponsored language Language codesISO 639 2 span class plainlinks gaa span ISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code gaa class extiw title iso639 3 gaa gaa a Glottologgaaa1244This article contains IPA phonetic symbols Without proper rendering support you may see question marks boxes or other symbols instead of Unicode characters For an introductory guide on IPA symbols see Help IPA source Samuel speaking Ga Contents 1 Classification 2 Geographic distribution 3 Phonology 3 1 Consonants 3 2 Vowels 3 3 Tones 3 4 Phonotactics 4 Writing system 5 See also 6 Footnotes 7 References 8 External linksClassification EditGa 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 Nortey Aryee Poku Lamptey Tetteh Ankrah Tetteyfio Laryea Ayitey Okine Bortey Quarshie Quaye Quaynor Ashong Kotei Clottey Nai Sowah Odoi Maale Ako Adjetey Annang Addo Yemoh Abbey and Adjei Geographic distribution EditGa 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 EditConsonants Edit Ga has 31 consonant phonemes Consonant phonemes Labial Dental Postalveolarand palatal Velar Labial velar GlottalPlain Labialized Plain Lab v Plain Lab Nasal m n ɲ ŋ ŋ m Stop p b t d tʃ dʒ tʃʷ dʒʷ k ɡ kʷ ɡʷ k p ɡ b Fricative f v s z ʃ ʃʷ h hʷApproximant l j ɥ w ŋʷ is an allophone of w which occurs before nasals and is represented with its own digraph in writing l may be realised as ɹ when between a consonant and vowel j has an allophone ɲ before nasal vowelsVowels Edit 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 Monophthongs Front Central Backoral nasal oral nasal oral nasalClose i ĩ u ũClose mid e o Open mid ɛ ɛ ɔ ɔ Open a a Tones Edit Ga has two tones high and low Like many West African languages it has tone terracing Phonotactics Edit The syllable structure of Ga is C C V C where the second phoneme of an initial consonant cluster can only be l 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 EditGa was first written in about 1764 by Christian Jacob Protten 1715 1769 who was the son of a Danish soldier and a Ga woman 2 3 4 5 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 6 7 8 9 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 ZzThe following letters represent sounds which do not correspond with the same letter as the IPA symbol e g B represents b J j d ʒ Y y j Digraphs and trigraphs Gb gb ɡ b Gw gw ɡʷ Hw hw hʷ Jw jw d ʒʷ Kp kp k p Kw kw kʷ Ny ny ɲ Ŋm ŋm ŋ m Ŋw ŋw ŋʷ an allophone rather than a phoneme Sh sh ʃ Ts ts t ʃ Shw shw ʃʷ Tsw tsw t ʃʷ See also EditGa people Languages of Ghana Christian Jacob Protten Carl Christian Reindorf Johannes ZimmermannFootnotes Edit Ga at Ethnologue 25th ed 2022 Smith Noel Christian Jacob Protten dacb org Retrieved 2018 10 14 Dreydoppel Otto Christian Jacob Protten dacb org Retrieved 2018 10 14 Sebald Peter 1994 Christian Jacob Protten Africanus 1715 1769 erster Missionar einer deutschen Missionsgesellschaft in Schwarzafrika Kolonien und Missionen in German 109 121 OCLC 610701345 This Month in Moravian History Christian Protten Missionary to the Gold Coast of Africa PDF Moravian Archives Bethlehem PA 74 June 2012 Archived PDF from the original on 14 September 2016 Retrieved 14 October 2018 Johannes Zimmerman dacb org Archived from the original on 2017 11 24 Retrieved 2017 11 24 Zimmermann Johannes Life and work Johannes Rebmann Stiftung www johannes rebmann stiftung de Archived from the original on 2017 11 24 Retrieved 2017 11 24 Reindorf Carl Christian 1895 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 The author ISBN 9780598937520 Reindorf Carl Christian 2018 04 21 History of the Gold Coast and Asante Classic Reprint LULU Press ISBN 9781330819852 References EditM E Kropp Dakubu ed 1977 West African Language Data Sheets Vol 1 West African Linguistic Society M E Kropp Dakubu ed 1988 The Languages of Ghana London Kegan Paul International for the International African Institute ISBN 0 7103 0210 X M E Kropp Dakubu 1999 Ga English dictionary with English Ga Index Accra Black Mask Ltd ISBN 9964 960 50 6 M E Kropp Dakubu 2002 Ga Phonology Legon Institute of African Studies University of Ghana Bureau of Ghana Languages 1995 Ga Wiemɔ Kɛ Ŋmaa Accra Bureau of Ghana Languages ISBN 9964 2 0276 8 A A Amartey 1989 Beginners Ga Ga Society Campbell Akua Asantewaa 2017 A Grammar of Ga Doctor of Philosophy thesis Rice University hdl 1911 102269 External links Edit Ga language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator My First GaDangme Dictionary kasahorow Short tutorial on counting in the Ga language Young boy speaking about Ghanaian tribes in Ga language Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ga language amp oldid 1138493877, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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