Ewe language
| Ewe | |
|---|---|
| Èʋegbe | |
| Native to | Ghana, Togo, Benin |
| Region | Southern Ghana east of the Volta River, southern Togo |
| Ethnicity | Ewe people |
|
Native speakers
|
(3.6 million cited 1991–2003) |
|
Latin (Ewe alphabet) Ewe Braille |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | ee |
| ISO 639-2 | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously: ewe – Ewe wci – Waci kef – Kpesi |
| Glottolog |
ewee1241 (Ewe)kpes1238 (Kpessi)waci1239 (Waci Gbe)
|
Ewe (Èʋe or Èʋegbe [èβeɡ͡be]) is a Niger–Congo language spoken in southeastern Ghana, southern Togo and Benin by over three million people. Ewe is part of a cluster of related languages commonly called Gbe; the other major Gbe language is Fon of Benin. Like many African languages, Ewe is tonal.
The German Africanist Diedrich Hermann Westermann published many dictionaries and grammars of Ewe and several other Gbe languages. Other linguists who have worked on Ewe and closely related languages include Gilbert Ansre (tone, syntax), Herbert Stahlke (morphology, tone), Nick Clements (tone, syntax), Roberto Pazzi (anthropology, lexicography), Felix K. Ameka (semantics, cognitive linguistics), Alan Stewart Duthie (semantics, phonetics), Hounkpati B. Capo (phonology, phonetics), Enoch Aboh (syntax), and Chris Collins (syntax).
Oral history tells of a migration of the Gbe people from Ketu in present-day Benin. It is believed that the Ewes settled first at Notsie in Togo and then moved to southeastern Ghana due to the cruelty of Togbe Agorkoli. The Ewe went through several mass exoduses beginning in the 11th century and placing current Ewe peoples in Togo, Ghana, and Benin from 15th to 17th century. The most famous of these is their migration from Notsie under the reign of King Agorkoli I. In the oral stories passed down through storytelling traditions, King Agorkoli was very cruel, as such the Ewe devised a plan to escape. Every night, the women would throw water on the walls of the kingdom which was made of mud, glass, rock, and thorns. Eventually the wall softened and they were able to cut a hole through a section of it and escape during the night. The men soon followed and walked backwards so that their footsteps would seem to lead into the kingdom.
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Wikipedia