Ewe (pronounced like "ay-way") is a Niger-Congo language spoken in Ghana and Togo by approximately three million people (Capo 1991). Ewe is part of a dialect continuum commonly called Gbe, stretching from eastern Ghana to Western Nigeria. Other Gbe languages include Fon, Gen, Aja and Gũ.
Ewe is one of the better documented languages of Africa, partly due to the massive work of Diedrich Hermann Westermann, who published many dictionaries and grammars of Ewe and several other Gbe languages. Other linguists that have worked on Ewe include Gilbert Ansre (tone, syntax), Hounkpati B. Capo (phonology, phonetics), Herbert Stahlke (morphology, tone), Roberto Pazzi (anthropology, lexicography), Felix K. Ameka (semantics, cognitive linguistics) and Alan Stewart Duthie (semantics, phonetics).
Ewe uses the following alphabet in the orthography
A a
B b
D d
Ð ɖ
E e
Ɛ ɛ
F f
Ƒ ƒ
G g
Ɣ ɣ
H h
I i
J j
K k
L l
M m
N n
Ŋ ŋ
O o
Ɔ ɔ
P p
R r
S s
T t
U u ũ
V v
Ʋ ʋ
W w
X x
Y y
Z z
References
- Ameka, Felix Kofi (2001) 'Ewe'. In Garry and Rubino (eds.), Fact About the World's Languages: An Encyclopedia of the World's Major Languages, Past and Present, 207-213. New York/Dublin: The H.W. Wilson Company.
- Capo, Hounkpati B.C. (1991) A Comparative Phonology of Gbe, Publications in African Languages and Linguistics, 14. Berlin/New York: Foris Publications & Garome, Bénin: Labo Gbe (Int).
- Pasch, Helma (1995) Kurzgrammatik des Ewe Köln: Köppe.
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