Outline

Nnianim (Introduction) There are two types of families among the Akans. These are the nuclear family (na-ne-agya abusua) and the extended family (abusuasanten). The nuclear family is made up of the mother, father and children. This family type is an adaptation from the western culture. This type of family is more recognized and take precedent over the extended family among educated and city dwellers perhaps due to economic constraints. The extended family is what comes to mind of any Akan at the mention of the word “family”. The extended family still plays a dominant role among the Akans especially in the rural areas as a result of the desire to keep particular lineages. Most Akans, with the exception of the Akuapims practice matrilineal inheritance. All children belong to their mother’s family (clan). An important feature of the extended family is that children do not inherit their father but uncles and aunts in the case of women. The Akans believe that a human being is formed from the blood of the mother and the spirit of the father. The child inherits courage, talents and wisdom from the father. The father and other members of the nuclear family do not belong to the same extended family. There are eight clans (extended families) in the Akan community. These are Asona, Agona, Aduana, ɔyoko, Asenee, Biretuo, koɔna and Asakyiri. Each clan is headed by a family head known as abusua pinyin who is both the spiritual and physical representative. Members of the same family are believed to trace their lineage to one ancestor. Members of the same clan do not marry each other; it is a taboo. Though there has been constitutional intervention (PNDC Law) to give children and mothers the right to inherit their father’s property, the matrilineal system still prevails. There is always close ties between the members of the extended family and the nuclear family. The Akans do not have a vocabulary for cousins but brothers and sisters. The Akans value mother-brother and mother-children relationships.

The Akan (Twi) language alphabet/sound system is made up of VOWELS and

CONSONANTS. Orthographically, the alphabets are a, e, ɛ, i, o, u, ɔ  (vowels) and b, d, f, g, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, u, w, y (consonants). In addition to these, there are diagraphs which include ky, gy, hy, ny, dw, tw, kw, hw, nw.

Counting is essential in the daily life of a person, especially among the Akans. We need numbers to indicate the quantity of items we have or we want, to be able to transact business, to buy and sell, to tell the time, to get dress made, to measure, to tell dates, and to make appointments. We also need numbers to talk about our itinerary and our daily routines. Among the Akans, counting is done in tens. When we do not want to use specific numbers we use non-specific quantifiers. Counting from one to ten for humans is done differently from counting objects. In this unit, we will be looking at ordinals, cardinals, fractions, percentages, and frequency.

The first time people meet, they try to find out some background information about each other. Among the Akans, they will want to know among other things your name, where you come from and where you are staying, your occupation, your parents’ names, your interest, and likes and dislikes. When you have finished reading this chapter you must be able to introduce your self and others (your parents, brothers, friend or teacher).

After working your way through this chapter you must be able to:

1. Say and write about eight sentences about yourself
2. Talk about another person (brother/sister, friend, teacher etc.)
3. Use possessive pronouns appropriately. 

After you have met a friend or visited a friend and finished your conversation, you ask permission to leave. The one asking permission to leave must sound polite in order not to offend the other. You need to have a good reason or excuse to explain why you are leaving to avoid being seen as arrogant or disrespectful. It is customary for the host to reject a first time request by the guest to leave. This indicates that he/she is not in a hurry to send the guest away no matter how unwanted the visit is. The host normally says: twεn kakra (twεn = wait, kakra = little) (stay/wait a little). As a host, you need to see your guest off sometimes to the bus stop or his/her car if she/brought one or outside the house. It is rude to just say goodbye to your guest and close the door after him/her. Unlike in the US where you need to call to friend to arrange a visit if even you live in the same neighborhood, among the Akans, one visits a friend living in the same neighborhood or community or neighboring village without necessarily making arrangements first. People just visit to see how friends are doing or if they have not seen them for a while. But note that when you want to have an interview with somebody make sure you make some arrangement before you visit. When you visit there is exchange of greetings, you are offered water and a seat. This is followed by the host asking “amandeε/amanneε? (What is your mission?). The guest replies “bk” (its cool) but if there is a serious issue at stake he/she replies “εnyε” (its not good) or “εmu yε den” (it is difficult/its bad news) After working your way through this chapter you must be able to 1. visit a friend and ask permission to leave 2. receive a host and see him/her off 3. Use personal interrogative pronouns appropriately.

Counting is essential in the daily life of a person especially the Akans. We need numbers to indicate the quantity of items we have, to be able to transact business, to buy and sell, to tell the time, and to make appointments. We need numbers to talk about our itinerary and our daily time table. In Akan, counting is done in tens. When we do not want to use specific numbers we use quantifiers. Counting from 1-10 for humans is different from counting objects. After working your way through this chapter you must be able to: a. Count from one to thousand and beyond b. Express the quantity of items they have c. Express the quantity of nouns

Testing Twi

The Akans like most groups have seven days in a week. The first day is Sunday (Kwasiada) and the last day is Saturday (Memeneda). Though the Akans have seven day in a week, the week is referred to as nnawɔtwe (eight days) or dapεn. The days of the week are very essential to the Akans because one takes his first name from the day on which one was born. For example, a boy born on Sunday is Akwasi and a girl born on the same day is called Akosua. The days are also special to Akans because certain rituals are performed on particular days. For example if an individual is sick and needs some rituals to be performed, it is done on the day the individual was born. An interesting cultural point about the days of the week worth knowing is that they are divided in “male days” and “female days”. The female days are believed to be fertile days so most marriage activities or rituals about prosperity are performed on these days. There are also twelve months in the year. Mmotae(ε) (Objectives) 1. Identify the days of the week 2. Identify male and female names for people born on a particular day. 3. Identify the months 4. Use coordinating conjunctions effectively.

Ghana has a tropical climate but temperatures vary with season and elevation. The weather in Ghana is really hot but rarely humid. This makes it comfortable even when it is hot. There are two main seasons. These are the dry and wet/rainy seasons. The two rainy seasons are from April to July and from September to November. It does not raining heavily in the northern part of Ghana. The rainy season starts approximately from September to November. The southwest monsoon winds bring rains to Ghana while the north-east trade winds bring dry season to the country. There is the dry harmattan period from December to March. The wind blowing during this period is dry and dusty. It makes the body very dry. The harmattan lowers the humidity level and creates hot days and cold nights especially in the northern part of Ghana.

In time past, the Akans announced time by ringing bells at every hour. The ringing of the bell has been used as a reference point to telling time. When it was one o’clock the bell was rang once. Akans have three main divisions with the day. These are morning (anɔpa), afternoon (awia/awiabere), and evening (anwummere). Other times within the day are dawn (anɔpahema/ahomakye/anɔpa tutuutu), mid-day/noon (owigyinae/prɛmtobere), night (anadwo), midnight (ɔdasuom/anadwo krɔnkrɔn). The time in Akan is said in two forms; past (apa ho) and till/to (aka). In telling the time in Akan, the seconds (kɛkɛ - the noise the ticking makes) is not said. Note: Time is written as mmere or mmerɛ.

In the next unit we will be talking about visiting the hospital so it is appropriate to talk about the parts of the body so that we can tell the doctor. There are certain parts of the body which are not openly talked about or their names are not mentioned in public. Idiomatic expressions are used for those parts. Care must be taken so that you do not mention them in public or else people will brand you as being profane. We also do not curse with any part of the human body. People most of the time express sickness by talking about the part hurting. Illness or sickness among the Akans is not only a physical occurrence but also a social fact. When one is sick one’s relatives are all affected. Individuals are seen as bad neighbors when they do not show concern for a sick friend or relative or show concern in their recovery.  

Illness or sickness among the Akan is not only a physical occurrence but also a social fact. When one is sick one’s relatives are all affected. Individuals are seen as bad neighbors when they do not show concern for a sick friend or relative or in their recovery after a period of sickness. Sometimes, relatives pull resources together to help a sick relative to seek treatment. When people are sick they either seek traditional treatment or go to the hospital. Most people in the rural areas who have limited access to hospitals rely heavily on traditional medicine or other systems of treatment for their health needs. Even, there are some in the urban areas who still consider traditional treatment as the first option when they are sick. It is not uncommon for people to combine the two systems of healing when they are sick. I some cases, people resort to religious sects for healing.

In Ghana and among the Akans, most buying and selling activities go on in the open market. Buying and selling also goes on along the streets. There are also big market buildings where sellers have their stalls. They are mostly found in big cities. Examples are Kaneshie Market, Makola Market (in Accra), Asafo Market, Kejetia Market (in Kumasi), Kotokoraba Market (in Cape Coast) and Market Circle (in Takoradi). There are also malls or supermarkets where you can buy items. Most of the time food items are commonly sold in the open market. This does not mean other items are not found in the open market or food items are not sold in the malls or supermarkets. One advantage of buying in the open market is that there is constant bargaining. In the open market, even when items have tagged prices people still bargain. It is even customary to bargain with taxi drivers when you are going off a normal route or going to use the taxi services for a long period of time. Not bargaining is seen as a sign of affluence. It is also common to hear the seller say there is no price reduction the first time but upon insistence he/she reduces it. Sometimes you will be asked to say the price you can afford. Bargaining sometimes takes slightly a different form when it comes to buying items like fish, onions, salt and some food items in small groups. Instead of asking for reduction in price, the buyer appeals to the seller to add some of the items. Sometimes, the seller voluntarily adds some items especially if more quantities were bought. This does not happen in the malls and the supermarkets. There are special market days in some communities where farmers and buyers meet to transact business. At such places and times, items are a bit cheaper. It is worth noting that we do not use the left hand to give or receive anything. If for some reason you cannot use the right hand and want to use the left, say memma wo bankum (I don’t give you left) meaning “pardon me for my use of the left hand.” Occasionally, you will find somebody who will want to carry your items for a tip. They are call “akayafo or kayayo” Note that in the open market and sometimes in the malls items bought cannot be returned so make enquires before you buy.

Among the Akans of Ghana, the most common meal are fufu and ampesie. Fufu is prepared from cassava and eaten with any kind of soup (palm nut soup, peanut soup, light soup etc). Ampasie is boiled cassava, plantain, cocoyam or yam. If an Akan eats any food especially for supper and it is not fufu, he/she says he/she has not eaten. Others include banku (which originally is not Akan food), kenkey (made from corn) and rice. Common food items found in the market are cassava, plantain, cocoyam, yam, maize and rice. Besides, vegetables are essential in the daily meal of the Akans. These include gardens eggs/egg plant, okro, tomatoes, pepper, green leaves, agushi (pumpkin seeds), onions, peanut, beans, and many more. Other food sources are fruits like coconut, oranges, banana, mango, pawpaw, sugar cane, guava and pear. Apart from these food items, the Akans eat a lot of fish and meat. Fish are mostly got from the sea with a few from inland rivers while meat is got from poultry, goat, sheep, cow, pig and animals killed by hunters. It is common to see people selling smoked meat along the highways. Food habits of the Akans have changed over the years as a result of contact with other ethnic groups and the outside world. This has resulted in the springing up of restaurants serving exotic and local foods in addition to local chop bars which prepare traditional food. Some Akans do not eat certain foods due to religious or spiritual reasons. For example, some people do not eat pork because it is used for sacrifices. Food like mashed yam with palm oil and eggs are used as sacrificial food for the ancestors and gods.