Fante language
| Fantse | |
|---|---|
| Fantse | |
| Native to | Ghana |
| Ethnicity | Fantse people |
|
Native speakers
|
1.9 million (2004) |
| Official status | |
| Regulated by | Akan Orthography Committee |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | fat |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | fant1241 |
Fantse (Mfantse, Fante, Fanti) is one of the three formal literary dialects of the Akan language. It is the major local dialect in the Central Region of Ghana as well as in settlements in other regions from mid to southern Ghana. One such community is Fante New Town in Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
Fantse is the common language of communication among the several kingdoms of the Fantse people, though each has its own (sub)dialect: Agona, Anomabo, Abura, Gomua, Oguaa. Many Fantses are bilingual. Notable speakers include John Atta Mills, Maya Angelou, Peter Turkson and Kofi Annan.
One striking characteristic of Fantse is the level of influence from the English language. This is exemplified by the constant mixing of the two languages even among uneducated folks. Example, in the phrase "Ofi mber tu mber", literally meaning "from time to time", the word "tu" is used in the same way an English speaker would use the word "to".
Fantse has many more such examples. It has been a particular source of concern to those Ghanaians who believe that the trend may adversely affect the language and thus lead to its extinction. However, proponents of the mix say that over the centuries, it has helped to encourage the Fantses to like and learn to speak, read and write the English language well.
The language uses a variety of the Twi alphabet with vowels such as ɛ and ɔ.
Fantses use a system of giving the first name to a child, based on the day of the week that the child was born.
The Fantse birthday-naming system is as follows:
Children may also be named according to the sequence in which they are born. The names given are as follows:
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