← English for Akan (Twi) Speakers
Introduction: In this first lesson we study "the", the most frequent word in English. "The" is the definite article. It stands in front of a noun and tells the listener: "you know which one I mean". English speakers use it all the time: "the book", "the dog", "the food", "the chief".
Akan has no word that stands in front of the noun in this way. This is the first thing for an Akan speaker to notice, and it is a good place to start, because Akan does have a way to say "you know which one I mean". It puts the small word no after the noun: nwoma no (the book), kraman no (the dog), aduane no (the food), ɔhene no (the chief). English puts "the" before the noun. Part A below shows no beside "the" in every sentence, and this is the most important thing in the lesson: the Akan word comes at the end, and the English word comes at the front.
The lesson is mostly about the places where the two languages part:
- Akan "no" comes after the whole noun phrase, not before the noun: nwoma foforo no, "the new book", where English says "the" first, then the adjective, then the noun. - Akan has no word for "a" or "an". It uses the noun alone (Mepɛ nwoma, "I like books") or, if it means "a certain one", the word bi after the noun (nwoma bi, "a certain book"). English must say "a book" or "the book" every time it counts one thing. - Akan has no word like "the" for unique things. In the first verse of the Akan Bible, "the heaven and the earth" is ɔsoro ne asase, with nothing at all before or after each noun. English needs "the" in both places. - The word no has other jobs besides "the": it is also "him", "her" and "it" when it follows a verb, and it can mean "that". English uses three different words. - The sound is new. English "the" begins with the sound /ð/, which Akan does not have, and the word is weak and unstressed. Akan no is a full word with a high tone.
English uses "the":
- when the thing has been mentioned before: "a book" the first time, "the book" after that (Akan: nwoma bi, nwoma no) - when there is only one of it: the sun, the sky, the earth - when the situation shows which one: "The dog bit me" (the dog that is there) - when the rest of the sentence shows which one: "the man who lives here" - before superlatives and ordinal numbers: the first lesson, the biggest town - before the names of rivers, seas and oceans, and of a few countries and regions: the Volta River, the Gulf of Guinea, the Atlantic Ocean
English does not use "the" before the names of people, before most names of countries and towns (Ghana, Kumasi, Accra), or before the names of languages (English, Twi). Akan does the same: Kofi, Ama, Kumasi, Twi.
Etymology: "the" comes from an Old English demonstrative (se, sēo, þæt, later þe) that meant something like "that one". Over the centuries the word grew weak and became an article. This is not far from Akan: the word no is both a pointing word and a marker of a known thing, and so it does the work of "that" and "the" together.
"The" has a partner: the indefinite article "a" or "an" ("a book", "an egg"), which introduces something new. "A" and "an" have their own lesson; in this lesson they appear only in the examples.
What does "the" mean in Akan? There is no word for it. The nearest is no, which stands after the noun. When English points to something it says "this" or "that", and Akan says nwoma yi ("this book") or nwoma no ("that book", or "the book").
Key Takeaways:
- "The" stands before the noun, never after it: "the book", not "book the" (Akan nwoma no). - "The" never changes. It is the same for one thing or many: the dog, the dogs, the child, the children. - English needs "the" or "a" before a single countable noun. "I have book" is wrong; say "I have a book" or "I have the book". - Akan no is not only "the". After a verb, no is "him", "her" or "it": "Ama fetched water for her" (Ama saa nsuo maa no). - Say /ðə/ before a consonant sound and /ði/ before a vowel sound, with the tongue between the teeth. Not "de", and not with a high tone.
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Pronunciation Guide:
the — before a consonant sound /ðə/: the book /ðə ˈbʊk/, the dog /ðə ˈdɒɡ/; before a vowel sound /ði/: the egg /ði ˈɛɡ/, the hour /ði ˈaʊə/; with stress, meaning "the famous one, the real one", /ðiː/.
The first sound of "the", /ð/, does not exist in Akan. Put the tip of the tongue lightly between the teeth, or just behind the upper front teeth, and let the air pass with voice, so that the throat buzzes. It is not "d". Many learners use d and say "de book"; it will be understood, but it is not the standard sound. Notice that English has two "th" sounds: the voiced /ð/ of "the", "this" and "that", and the voiceless /θ/ of "thank", "think" and "earth". Akan has neither, so practise them apart: "the" and "this" with a buzz, "thank" and "think" with air only.
The vowel of "the" before a consonant, /ə/, is a short, weak sound with no stress. Akan has full vowels (a, e, ɛ, i, o, ɔ, u) and no reduced vowel of this kind. Do not say "the" like the Akan word no, as a full word with its own high pitch. Before a consonant sound let the vowel shrink and run into the next word: the_book, the_dog. Only before a vowel sound does the vowel become /i/, as in the egg /ði ˈɛɡ/.
Remember that the rule depends on the sound, not the letter: the hour /ði ˈaʊə/ (the h is silent, so the word begins with a vowel sound), but the university /ðə ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsəti/ (the word begins with the sound /j/, like y in Akan yɛ).
Do not add a word after the noun. An Akan speaker's ear expects the marker at the end, and a sentence such as "book the" or "the book no" can slip out. English has the word before the noun, and nothing comes after it.
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Part A (English and Akan text, word by word):
1.1 The no→ book nwoma is yɛ new foforo.
1.2 The no→ dog kraman bit kaa me me.
1.3 The no→ food aduane is yɛ delicious dɛ.
1.4 The no→ children mmofra are-playing redi-agorɔ.
1.5 The no→ bottle toa is-broken abɔ.
1.6 I-like Mepɛ the no→ book nwoma.
1.7 I-am-reading Merekenkan the no→ book nwoma.
1.8 The no→ beautiful fɛfɛɛfɛ woman ɔbaa is-asleep ada.
1.9 The no→ big kɛse dog kraman is-here wɔ-ha.
1.10 This yi→ book nwoma is yɛ new foforo.
1.11 I-have Mewɔ a bi→ book nwoma. The no→ book nwoma is yɛ new foforo.
1.12 Ama Ama fetched saa water nsuo for maa her no.
1.13 The no→ chief ɔhene lives-in te Kumasi Kumasi.
1.14 The no→ children mmofra go-to kɔ school sukuu.
1.15 The no→ man ɔbarima who a lives-here ɔte-ha speaks ka English Borɔfo.
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Part B (Full English sentence followed by the Akan translation):
1.1 The book is new. Nwoma no yɛ foforo.
1.2 The dog bit me. Kraman no kaa me.
1.3 The food is delicious. Aduane no yɛ dɛ.
1.4 The children are playing. Mmofra no redi agorɔ.
1.5 The bottle is broken. Toa no abɔ.
1.6 I like the book. Mepɛ nwoma no.
1.7 I am reading the book. Merekenkan nwoma no.
1.8 The beautiful woman is asleep. Ɔbaa fɛfɛɛfɛ no ada.
1.9 The big dog is here. Kraman kɛse no wɔ ha.
1.10 This book is new. Nwoma yi yɛ foforo.
1.11 I have a book. The book is new. Mewɔ nwoma bi. Nwoma no yɛ foforo.
1.12 Ama fetched water for her. Ama saa nsuo maa no.
1.13 The chief lives in Kumasi. Ɔhene no te Kumasi.
1.14 The children go to school. Mmofra no kɔ sukuu.
1.15 The man who lives here speaks English. Ɔbarima a ɔte ha no ka Borɔfo.
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Part C (English text only):
1.1 The book is new.
1.2 The dog bit me.
1.3 The food is delicious.
1.4 The children are playing.
1.5 The bottle is broken.
1.6 I like the book.
1.7 I am reading the book.
1.8 The beautiful woman is asleep.
1.9 The big dog is here.
1.10 This book is new.
1.11 I have a book. The book is new.
1.12 Ama fetched water for her.
1.13 The chief lives in Kumasi.
1.14 The children go to school.
1.15 The man who lives here speaks English.
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Part D (Grammar explanation):
These are the grammar rules for "the" in English:
1. "The" comes first; Akan no comes last. Every Akan sentence in this lesson ends its noun phrase with no: Nwoma no, Kraman no, Aduane no (1.1, 1.2, 1.3). English reverses this: the book, the dog, the food. In Part A the arrow in no→ shows this: the Akan word is written beside "the", but in real Akan it moves to the end of the noun phrase. Part B shows the true order. Never say "book the" in English.
2. "The" stands in front of the adjective, and no stands behind it. In Akan the adjective follows the noun and no follows the adjective: ɔbaa fɛfɛɛfɛ no (woman beautiful the) and kraman kɛse no (dog big the) in 1.8 and 1.9. English puts "the" first and the noun last: the beautiful woman, the big dog. The order is the same for "the new book", "the small bottle". Never say "dog big the".
3. "The" stands in front of a long noun phrase, and no stands at the very end of it. In 1.15 the Akan relative clause is Ɔbarima a ɔte ha no, "man who lives here the". The word no closes the whole group. English opens the group: "The man who lives here". The same holds for any clause that tells you which one: "the book that I read", "the woman who sells the food".
4. English needs "a" or "the"; Akan can use the bare noun. Akan Mepɛ nwoma means "I like books", with nothing before the noun. English cannot do this with one thing: "I have book" is wrong, and so is "Dog bit me". Say "I have a book" (1.11) when it is new to the listener, "the book" when the listener knows it (1.11, second sentence), and "the dog" when it is the dog that is there (1.2). Akan has a pair of words that look like this: nwoma bi ("a certain book", 1.11) and nwoma no (the book). They are close to "a" and "the", but Akan does not have to use them. English always has to.
5. "The" is not the same as "this" and "that". Akan has yi after the noun for "this": Nwoma yi yɛ foforo (1.10), "This book is new". The word no can be "the" or "that": Nwoma no yɛ foforo is "The book is new" or "That book is new". English must choose. If the book is near you and you want to point, say "this book". If it is a book you both know, say "the book". If you point to it from far, say "that book".
6. Unique things take "the" in English, and nothing in Akan. The Akan Bible says ɔsoro ne asase for "the heaven and the earth" (Part F). The same is true for other things that are the only one: the sun, the sky, the moon, the world. Say "the sun rises", not "sun rises". Akan names the thing alone.
7. "The" never changes for the plural; the noun does. English "the" is the same word for one dog and many: the dog, the dogs; the child, the children (1.4, 1.14). Akan does the same with no and puts the plural in the noun by a prefix: abofra, mmofra (child, children); kraman, nkraman (dog, dogs). English puts the plural on the noun too, mostly with -s: dog, dogs; book, books. Never "the dog-s" in two places, and never "the childrens". "Children" is already plural.
8. Names and general ideas take no "the". English does not say "the Kumasi" (1.13) or "the Ama" (1.12): Kumasi, Ama, Kofi. Languages take none either: "He speaks English" (1.15), "He speaks Twi". Akan gives these nouns no no too. A general idea takes none: "I like books", "Children like food". The exceptions are the names of rivers, seas and oceans: the Volta River, the Gulf of Guinea, the Atlantic Ocean. 9. The word no has other jobs. Akan speakers often learn English "the" and Akan no as one pair, but no also means "him", "her" or "it" after a verb: Ama saa nsuo maa no, "Ama fetched water for her" (1.12). In this sentence no is the object. Do not say "Ama fetched water for the". Compare 1.2, Kraman no kaa me: there no is the "the" of the dog, and "me" is me.
10. English needs "is", "are", and "it". Akan uses yɛ ("is, be, do") before an adjective, and the verb carries the subject: Aduane no yɛ dɛ (1.3), "The food is delicious". In English the verb "to be" must be said: "The food is delicious", never "The food delicious". Akan ɛyɛ (it is) has the subject ɛ on the verb. English must say "it": "Yes, the book is new, and it is big" (1.25). Never "Is new" for ɛyɛ foforo. Akan uses wɔ for place: Kraman kɛse no wɔ ha (1.9); English uses the same "is": "The big dog is here". The same holds for the "-ing" form: redi agorɔ (1.4) and merekenkan (1.7) correspond to "are playing" and "am reading", which need "are" or "am".
11. How Part A reads. A hyphen in the English gloss joins the English words that translate one Akan word: I-like Mepɛ, is-asleep ada. A hyphen in the Akan joins words that stand apart in the real sentence: redi-agorɔ (redi agorɔ) is "are playing", and wɔ-ha is "is here". The arrow in no→, yi→, bi→ and mu→ shows a word that follows its noun in Akan but is written before it in the English line: nwoma no is "book the" in the real Akan sentence, and dan no mu is "house the in" (1.21 in the Genre Section). A dash (–) marks an Akan word with no English counterpart.
Common mistakes:
- ✗ Book the is new. ✓ The book is new. (Akan: Nwoma no yɛ foforo.) - ✗ I like book the. ✓ I like the book. - ✗ Dog big the is here. ✓ The big dog is here. - ✗ Man who lives here the speaks English. ✓ The man who lives here speaks English. - ✗ I have book. ✓ I have a book. / I have the book. - ✗ Dog bit me. ✓ The dog bit me. (when it is the dog that is there) - ✗ In beginning God created heaven and earth. ✓ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. - ✗ Ama fetched water for the. ✓ Ama fetched water for her. - ✗ The food delicious. ✓ The food is delicious. - ✗ Is new. ✓ It is new. - ✗ The Kumasi. ✓ Kumasi. - ✗ I like the books. (when you mean books in general) ✓ I like books. - ✗ de book, di dog, the-no book ✓ the book /ðə/, the egg /ði/
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Part E (Cultural context):
Akan is the largest language of Ghana, and English is the official language. Most Akan speakers meet English at school, in church, in the law courts, in newspapers and on the radio, and English "the" is therefore everywhere around them: the Daily Graphic, the Ghana Football Association, the Gulf of Guinea. Because Akan has no article before the noun, a speaker may leave out "the" and "a" in English, as in "I bought book". This is not a sign of poor English; it is a natural carry-over from Akan. The cure is to listen for the word and to say it, small and quick, in front of every singular noun that the listener knows.
The Akan names in this lesson are day-names. Kofi is a boy born on a Friday and Ama is a girl born on a Saturday. A person's day-name is one of the most common names in Ghana, and it takes no "the" in English or in Akan.
The word "Akan" names the language, and "Twi" and "Fante" name its main written forms. This course teaches Asante Twi, the form used in Kumasi and in the Asante Twi Bible. The Akuapem Twi Bible and the Asante Twi Bible are two translations of the same book into two neighbouring written forms, and the Part F passage below is given in the Asante text. When a word is spelled differently in Akuapem Twi, the lesson says so. For example, the word for "big" is kɛse in this lesson, and some books spell it kɛseɛ.
The Akan greeting Maakye ("good morning") is used in the Genre Section. When an English speaker greets in Akan, the usual answer is another Maakye, and it is the same politeness that English shows with "Good morning". In both languages the greeting is a short fixed phrase and the person's name comes after it: Maakye, Ama. "Good morning, Ama."
When speaking, remember that English "the" is almost always unstressed. Akan speakers who give it the full pitch of the Akan no, as if it were a word to be heard on its own, sound heavy to an English ear. Let "the" be small.
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Part F (Literary citation):
Genesis 1:1, in the English King James Version (1611); Akan text from the New Revised Asante Twi Bible (ASW), Gyenesis 1:1. The Akuapem Twi Bible (AKNA) has the same sentence in a slightly different spelling: Mfiase no Onyankopɔn bɔɔ ɔsoro ne asase.
F-A (English and Akan text, word by word):
"In - the no→ beginning Mfitiaseɛ God Onyankopɔn created bɔɔ the - heaven ɔsoro and ne the - earth asase."
F-B (Original text followed by the Akan translation):
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
"Mfitiaseɛ no Onyankopɔn bɔɔ ɔsoro ne asase."
F-C (English text only):
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
F-D (Grammar and literary commentary):
These are the first words of the Bible in the King James Version, the English translation of 1611 that has shaped the English language for four centuries. The sentence is short and plain, and "the" appears three times: the beginning, the heaven, the earth. In each place it points to one thing that the reader is to take as known and unique: not "a beginning", but the beginning; not "a heaven", but the heaven.
Now look at the Akan. There is only one no, and it is not where you might expect.
- the beginning ↔ Mfitiaseɛ no: here Akan has no, after the noun, exactly as in Part D, rule 1. This is the one place where English "the" and Akan no meet. Notice that "in" has no word of its own: Mfitiaseɛ no, "the beginning", stands alone at the head of the sentence and Akan does not need a word for "in". - God: a name, so no "the" in English and no no in Akan: Onyankopɔn. - created ↔ bɔɔ: the past of the verb, with no subject marker, because the subject Onyankopɔn is a noun that stands in front. - the heaven ↔ ɔsoro and the earth ↔ asase: here English has "the" twice and Akan has nothing at all. This is Part D, rule 6. The earth and the sky are unique, and Akan does not mark them with no. English must. - and ↔ ne: ne joins two nouns ("heaven and earth"). The word na joins two clauses (1.25 in the Genre Section).
Two translations of the same sentence are given in the two Bibles. The Asante text has Mfitiaseɛ and the Akuapem text has Mfiase: the two spellings of the same word for "beginning". In neither version is there a no or any other word for the heaven or the earth. The King James "the heaven" is singular; modern English versions often say "the heavens".
The Akan text is quoted as it is printed in the New Revised Asante Twi Bible.
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Kofi and Ama are brother and sister, and they live in Kumasi. It is early in the morning. Kofi speaks in 1.16, 1.18, 1.20, 1.22, 1.24, 1.27, 1.29 and 1.30; Ama speaks in 1.17, 1.19, 1.21, 1.23, 1.25, 1.26 and 1.28.
Part A (English and Akan text, word by word):
1.16 Kofi: "Good-morning Maakye, Ama Ama!"
1.17 Ama: "Good-morning Maakye, Kofi Kofi."
1.18 Kofi: "Where he is wɔ the no→ dog kraman?"
1.19 Ama: "The no→ dog kraman is-here wɔ-ha. The no→ dog kraman is-asleep ada."
1.20 Kofi: "Where he is wɔ the no→ book nwoma?"
1.21 Ama: "The no→ book nwoma is wɔ in mu→ the no→ house dan."
1.22 Kofi: "Who Hwan-na has ɔwɔ the no→ book nwoma?"
1.23 Ama: "Mother Maame-na has ɔwɔ the no→ book nwoma."
1.24 Kofi: "Is yɛ the no→ book nwoma new foforo - anaa?"
1.25 Ama: "Yes Aane, the no→ book nwoma is yɛ new foforo, and na it-is ɛyɛ big kɛse."
1.26 Ama: "Come Bra, Kofi Kofi, and na eat di the no→ food aduane."
1.27 Kofi: "The no→ food aduane is yɛ delicious dɛ!"
1.28 Ama: "The no→ children mmofra like pɛ the no→ food aduane."
1.29 Kofi: "The no→ dog kraman also nso likes pɛ the no→ food aduane."
1.30 Kofi: "Thank-you Medaase, Ama Ama!"
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Part B (Full English sentence followed by the Akan translation):
1.16 Kofi: "Good morning, Ama!" Kofi: "Maakye, Ama!"
1.17 Ama: "Good morning, Kofi." Ama: "Maakye, Kofi."
1.18 Kofi: "Where is the dog?" Kofi: "Kraman no wɔ he?"
1.19 Ama: "The dog is here. The dog is asleep." Ama: "Kraman no wɔ ha. Kraman no ada."
1.20 Kofi: "Where is the book?" Kofi: "Nwoma no wɔ he?"
1.21 Ama: "The book is in the house." Ama: "Nwoma no wɔ dan no mu."
1.22 Kofi: "Who has the book?" Kofi: "Hwan na ɔwɔ nwoma no?"
1.23 Ama: "Mother has the book." Ama: "Maame na ɔwɔ nwoma no."
1.24 Kofi: "Is the book new?" Kofi: "Nwoma no yɛ foforo anaa?"
1.25 Ama: "Yes, the book is new, and it is big." Ama: "Aane, nwoma no yɛ foforo, na ɛyɛ kɛse."
1.26 Ama: "Come, Kofi, and eat the food." Ama: "Bra, Kofi, na di aduane no."
1.27 Kofi: "The food is delicious!" Kofi: "Aduane no yɛ dɛ!"
1.28 Ama: "The children like the food." Ama: "Mmofra no pɛ aduane no."
1.29 Kofi: "The dog also likes the food." Kofi: "Kraman no nso pɛ aduane no."
1.30 Kofi: "Thank you, Ama!" Kofi: "Medaase, Ama!"
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Part C (English text only):
1.16 Kofi: "Good morning, Ama!"
1.17 Ama: "Good morning, Kofi."
1.18 Kofi: "Where is the dog?"
1.19 Ama: "The dog is here. The dog is asleep."
1.20 Kofi: "Where is the book?"
1.21 Ama: "The book is in the house."
1.22 Kofi: "Who has the book?"
1.23 Ama: "Mother has the book."
1.24 Kofi: "Is the book new?"
1.25 Ama: "Yes, the book is new, and it is big."
1.26 Ama: "Come, Kofi, and eat the food."
1.27 Kofi: "The food is delicious!"
1.28 Ama: "The children like the food."
1.29 Kofi: "The dog also likes the food."
1.30 Kofi: "Thank you, Ama!"
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Part D (Grammar explanation):
The dialogue is in the simple present, with questions and short answers. Its grammatical thread is "the" with things that Kofi and Ama both know (Part D above, rule 4): the dog, the book, the house, the food, the children. Everyone in the house knows which dog, which book and which food, so English says "the" every time, in front of the noun, where Akan puts no after it.
- "Where is the dog?" (1.18): English puts the question word "where" and the verb first. Akan keeps the order of the statement and puts the question word last: Kraman no wɔ he? (dog the is where). - "The dog is here. The dog is asleep." (1.19): the dog is "the dog" each time, because both speakers know it. A second mention is always "the". Akan Kraman no is the same in both sentences. - "In the house" (1.21): English "in" is a word that stands in front of "the house". Akan has mu after the noun: dan no mu (house the in). The English preposition comes first; the Akan one comes last, as no does. - "Who has the book?" (1.22) and "Mother has the book." (1.23): Akan puts the word in focus first and adds na: Hwan na ɔwɔ nwoma no? Maame na ɔwɔ nwoma no. English does it with the word order of a plain question: "Who has the book?" "Mother has the book." There is no "the" in front of Mother (1.23), because here "Mother" is used like a name. It has a capital letter. English does the same with "Dad" and "Grandma". - "Is the book new?" (1.24): English turns the verb in front of the subject: "Is the book new?" Akan adds anaa to the end: Nwoma no yɛ foforo anaa? The dash in Part A shows that anaa has no English word. - "It is big" (1.25): English needs "it" and "is". Akan ɛyɛ kɛse carries both in one word. - "Come, Kofi, and eat the food." (1.26): the command has no subject in English. Kofi is the name of the person who is spoken to. There is no "the" in front of Kofi. Akan Bra, Kofi, na di aduane no is the same. English "the food" and Akan aduane no, with no at the end. - "The children like the food." (1.28): "The children" is plural, and "the" has not changed (Part D, rule 7). The verb has no -s: "like". But "The dog likes the food" has -s: "likes" (1.29). Akan pɛ is the same for both. - "Also" (1.29): English and Akan both put "also" after the subject and before the verb: "The dog also likes the food", Kraman no nso pɛ aduane no. The English word "too" would go at the end: "The dog likes the food too". - "Thank you, Ama!" (1.30): there is no "the" in a short fixed phrase, and no in Medaase, Ama.
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Pronunciation and Orthography Notes:
- the — /ðə/ before a consonant sound, /ði/ before a vowel sound, /ðiː/ when stressed. Unstressed, short, and joined to the next word. - /ð/ is made with the tongue between the teeth and voice in the throat. It is not Akan d, and the Akan word no is not a model for the English word. Akan no has a high tone; English "the" has no tone and no stress. - Spelling: t-h-e, always the same, for singular and plural and for every kind of noun. - Akan letters to watch when you compare: Akan ɛ is a vowel like the one in English "bed", and Akan ɔ is a vowel like the one in British "law". English has neither letter. Words such as dɛ, kɛse and ɔhene are written with them in Akan, and English writes the sounds with e and o: delicious, big, chief. - The Akan tones are not written. English has stress, which is not written either, apart from the dictionary mark ˈ. - English writes the names of languages and peoples with capital letters: English, Akan, Twi, Fante. It does not write "the" with a capital except at the start of a sentence or as the first word of a title (The Daily Graphic). In Akan, the names Borɔfo and Twi also begin with a capital. - The Akan word no and the English word "no" are written alike and are not related. English "no" means the opposite of "yes". Akan no, after a noun, is "the".
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