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 woman", "the child", "the house".
Ewe has a word that does much of the same work, and this is the first thing for an Ewe speaker to notice. It is la, and it is a small word that stands after the noun: agbalẽ la (the book), nyɔnu la (the woman), ɖevi la (the child). It can also be joined to the end of the noun as -a: agbalẽa, ɖevia, aƒea (the house). English puts "the" before the noun, never after it and never joined to it. Part A below shows la or -a beside "the" in every sentence, and this is the most important thing in the lesson: the Ewe 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:
- Ewe la and -a come after the whole noun phrase, adjective included: aƒe gã la, "the big house", where English says "the" first, then the adjective, then the noun. - Ewe has no word for "a" or "an". It uses the noun alone (Melɔ̃ agbalẽ, "I like books" or "I like a book") or, if it means "a certain one", the word aɖe after the noun (ɖevi aɖe, "a certain child"). English must say "a child" or "the child" every time it counts one thing. - Ewe does not always put la where English puts "the". In the first verse of the Ewe Bible, "the heaven and the earth" is dziƒo kple anyigba, with nothing after either noun. English needs "the" in both places. - Ewe la has another job besides "the": after a whole opening phrase it can mark that phrase as the setting of what follows, with no meaning of "the" at all (Section F). English uses a comma. - The sound is new. English "the" begins with the sound /ð/, which Ewe does not have, and the word is weak and unstressed. Ewe la is a full word with its own tone.
English uses "the":
- when the thing has been mentioned before: "a child" the first time, "the child" after that (Ewe: ɖevi aɖe, ɖevi la) - when there is only one of it: the sky, the earth, the world - when the situation shows which one: "The dog is here" (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 regions: the Volta River, the Gulf of Guinea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Volta Region
English does not use "the" before the names of people, before most names of countries and towns (Ghana, Togo, Lomé, Ho), or before the names of languages (English, Ewe). Ewe does the same: Kofi, Aku, Lomé, Eʋegbe.
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 Ewe, which has its own pointing words, sia (this) and ma (that), and puts them after the noun, in the same place as la: agbalẽ sia, agbalẽ ma.
"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 Ewe? The nearest is la, which stands after the noun and can be joined to it as -a: agbalẽ la, agbalẽa. When English points to something it says "this" or "that", and Ewe says agbalẽ sia ("this book") or agbalẽ ma ("that book").
Key Takeaways:
- "The" stands before the noun, never after it: "the book", not "book the" (Ewe agbalẽ la). - "The" never changes and is never joined to the noun. It is the same for one thing or many: the child, the children (Ewe ɖevia, ɖeviawo). - English needs "the" or "a" before a single countable noun. "I saw child" is wrong; say "I saw a child" or "I saw the child". - English must say "the sky" and "the earth", where Ewe dziƒo kple anyigba has nothing. - Say /ðə/ before a consonant sound and /ði/ before a vowel sound, with the tongue between the teeth. Not "de", and not with the tone of Ewe la.
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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 Ewe. 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". Ewe 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. Ewe has full vowels (a, e, ɛ, i, o, ɔ, u) and no reduced vowel of this kind. Do not say "the" like the Ewe word la, as a full word with its own high tone. Before a consonant sound let the vowel shrink and run into the next word: the_book, the_child. 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 Ewe yeye).
Do not add a word after the noun. An Ewe speaker's ear expects the marker at the end, and a sentence such as "book the" or "the book la" can slip out. English has the word before the noun, and nothing comes after it.
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Part A (English and Ewe text, word by word):
1.1 The la→ book agbalẽ.
1.2 The la→ woman nyɔnu.
1.3 The la→ man ŋutsu.
1.4 The la→ child ɖevi.
1.5 The -a→ house aƒe.
1.6 The -a→ children ɖevi-wo.
1.7 The la→ book agbalẽ is-good nyo.
1.8 The la→ water tsi is-good nyo.
1.9 I-like Melɔ̃ the la→ book agbalẽ.
1.10 The la→ dog avu is-at le here afisia.
1.11 I-saw Mekpɔ a – child ɖevi aɖe→.
1.12 This sia→ book agbalẽ is-good nyo.
1.13 The la→ man ŋutsu made wɔ a – big house aƒe gã.
1.14 The la→ new yeye book agbalẽ is-at le in me→ the la→ big gã house aƒe.
1.15 I-saw Mekpɔ that be the -a→ children ɖevi-wo are-at le in me→ the -a→ house aƒe.
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Part B (Full English sentence followed by the Ewe translation):
1.1 The book. Agbalẽ la.
1.2 The woman. Nyɔnu la.
1.3 The man. Ŋutsu la.
1.4 The child. Ɖevi la.
1.5 The house. Aƒea.
1.6 The children. Ɖeviawo.
1.7 The book is good. Agbalẽ la nyo.
1.8 The water is good. Tsi la nyo.
1.9 I like the book. Melɔ̃ agbalẽ la.
1.10 The dog is here. Avu la le afisia.
1.11 I saw a child. Mekpɔ ɖevi aɖe.
1.12 This book is good. Agbalẽ sia nyo.
1.13 The man made a big house. Ŋutsu la wɔ aƒe gã.
1.14 The new book is in the big house. Agbalẽ yeye la le aƒe gã la me.
1.15 I saw that the children are in the house. Mekpɔ be ɖeviawo le aƒea me.
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Part C (English text only):
1.1 The book.
1.2 The woman.
1.3 The man.
1.4 The child.
1.5 The house.
1.6 The children.
1.7 The book is good.
1.8 The water is good.
1.9 I like the book.
1.10 The dog is here.
1.11 I saw a child.
1.12 This book is good.
1.13 The man made a big house.
1.14 The new book is in the big house.
1.15 I saw that the children are in the house.
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Part D (Grammar explanation):
These are the grammar rules for "the" in English:
1. "The" comes first; Ewe la comes last. Every Ewe noun in this lesson ends its noun phrase with la or -a: Agbalẽ la, Nyɔnu la, Ŋutsu la (1.1, 1.2, 1.3). English reverses this: the book, the woman, the man. In Part A the arrow in la→ shows this: the Ewe word is written beside "the", but in real Ewe 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 la stands behind it. In Ewe the adjective follows the noun and la follows the adjective: aƒe gã la (house big the) in 1.14, and agbalẽ yeye la (book new the). English puts "the" first and the noun last: the big house, the new book. The order is the same for "the small child", "the old man". Never say "house big the".
3. "The" is always a separate word. Ewe can join the word to the noun: aƒea (1.5), ɖevia, agbalẽa. English cannot do this: never "bookthe", never "housea". The plural shows the same difference. Ewe puts -a in front of the plural ending -wo: ɖeviawo (1.6, 1.15), "the children". English puts "the" in front of the plural noun, unchanged: the children.
4. English needs "a" or "the"; Ewe can use the bare noun. Ewe Melɔ̃ agbalẽ means "I like books" or "I like a book", with nothing after the noun. English cannot do this with one thing: "I saw child" is wrong, and so is "Man made house". Say "I saw a child" (1.11) when it is new to the listener, "the child" when the listener knows it, and "the man" when it is the man that is there (1.13). Ewe has a word that looks like this: aɖe, "a certain one", after the noun (ɖevi aɖe, 1.11). It is close to "a", but Ewe does not have to use it. English always has to. In 1.13, Ewe aƒe gã has no word for "a" at all: English must say "a big house".
5. "The" is not the same as "this" and "that". Ewe has sia after the noun for "this": Agbalẽ sia nyo (1.12), "This book is good". The word ma is "that": aƒe ma (that house). Ewe puts la, sia or ma in the same place, one after the noun, and English does the same with one word in front: never "the this book". 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 Ewe. The Ewe Bible says dziƒo kple anyigba for "the heaven and the earth" (Part F). The same is true for other things that are the only one: the sky, the world, the moon. Say "the sky is blue", not "sky is blue". Ewe names the thing alone.
7. "The" never changes for the plural; the noun does. English "the" is the same word for one child and many: the child, the children (1.4, 1.6, 1.15). Ewe does the same with -a and puts the plural in the noun by an ending: ɖevi, ɖeviwo (child, children); avu, avuwo (dog, dogs). English puts the plural on the noun too, mostly with -s: dog, dogs; book, books. Never "the childrens" and never "the child-s". "Children" is already plural.
8. Names and general ideas take no "the". English does not say "the Kofi" or "the Aku" (Genre Section): Kofi, Aku. Languages take none either: "He speaks English", "He speaks Ewe". Ewe gives these nouns no la 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. Ewe la has another job, and English "the" does not. In Section F, Le gɔmedzedzea me la, Mawu wɔ dziƒo kple anyigba has la after the whole phrase "in the beginning". Here la is not "the": it closes the phrase and makes it the setting of the sentence. English needs no word for this, only a comma: "In the beginning, God created…". Do not translate this la with "the".
10. English needs "is" and "it". Ewe nyo is a verb that means "be good", so Agbalẽ la nyo (1.7) has no word for "is" at all. In English the verb "to be" must be said: "The book is good", never "The book good". Ewe le means "be at" and is the "is" of place: Avu la le afisia (1.10), "The dog is here". Ewe also carries "it" on the verb: enyo (it is good). English must say "it": "Yes, it is good", never "Is good".
11. English puts "in" before the noun; Ewe puts me after it. In 1.14 the Ewe is aƒe gã la me (house big the in). English puts "in" first and then "the big house". The English preposition comes first; the Ewe one comes last, as la does. The same holds for "on the table" and "under the tree": the preposition goes in front of "the".
12. How Part A reads. A hyphen in the English gloss joins the English words that translate one Ewe word: I-like Melɔ̃, is-good nyo, is-at le. In the Ewe, ɖevi-wo shows the plural ending apart; the real word is ɖeviwo, and with the article it is ɖeviawo. The arrow after la, -a, sia, aɖe and me marks a word that follows its noun in the real Ewe sentence; Part A puts it beside the English word it answers, so Part B must be read for the true Ewe order. A dash (–) marks an English word with no Ewe counterpart, as in 1.11 and 1.13, where English needs "a".
Common mistakes:
- ✗ Book the is good. ✓ The book is good. (Ewe: Agbalẽ la nyo.) - ✗ I like book the. ✓ I like the book. - ✗ House big the is here. ✓ The big house is here. - ✗ Bookthe, housea. ✓ The book, the house. - ✗ I saw child. ✓ I saw a child. / I saw the child. - ✗ Man made house. ✓ The man made a big house. - ✗ The this book is good. ✓ This book is good. - ✗ In beginning God created heaven and earth. ✓ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. - ✗ The book good. ✓ The book is good. - ✗ Is good. ✓ It is good. - ✗ The Kofi. ✓ Kofi. - ✗ The childrens. ✓ The children. - ✗ I like the books. (when you mean books in general) ✓ I like books. - ✗ de book, di child, the-la book ✓ the book /ðə/, the egg /ði/
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Part E (Cultural context):
Ewe is spoken in the Volta Region of Ghana, in southern Togo and in parts of Benin, and English meets its speakers in different ways. In Ghana, English is the official language and the language of the school, the law courts and the newspapers, and English "the" is therefore everywhere around an Ewe speaker: the Daily Graphic, the Volta Region, the Gulf of Guinea. In Togo the official language is French, and English is learnt as a foreign language, often after French. In both countries the learner brings Ewe la with them. Because Ewe has a word that does almost the work of "the", an Ewe speaker is closer to the English article than a speaker of a language with none, and this is a help. But Ewe puts it after the noun and leaves it out where English needs it, so "the" is often dropped or misplaced, as in "I bought book" or "book the". This is not a sign of poor English; it is a natural carry-over from Ewe. 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 Ewe names in this lesson are day-names. Kofi is a boy born on a Friday and Aku is a girl born on a Wednesday. A person's day-name is one of the most common names among the Ewe, and it takes no "the" in English or in Ewe.
Ewe is written in a standard form and has many dialects. The two Bible translations used in this lesson, the Agbenya La and the older Ewe Revised Version, differ in small things. The Agbenya La writes Le gɔmedzedzea me la, and the older text has Le gɔmedzedzea me; the Agbenya La writes kekeli la, "the light", and the older text has kekelia. These are two spellings of the same word, la apart or -a joined, as in Part D, rule 3. When a book uses the other spelling, it is not an error.
The Ewe word Ŋdi ("morning") is used as the morning greeting in the Genre Section. In both languages the greeting is a short fixed phrase that is answered with a greeting in return, and the person's name may follow it: "Good morning, Kofi."
When speaking, remember that English "the" is almost always unstressed. Ewe speakers who give it the full pitch of the Ewe la, 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); Ewe text from the Agbenya La. The older Ewe Revised Version (1913) has the same sentence without the second la: Le gɔmedzedzea me Mawu wɔ dziƒo kple anyigba.
F-A (English and Ewe text, word by word):
"In le the -a→ beginning gɔmedzedze me→ – la God Mawu created wɔ the – heaven dziƒo and kple the – earth anyigba."
F-B (Original text followed by the Ewe translation):
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
"Le gɔmedzedzea me la, Mawu wɔ dziƒo kple anyigba."
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 Ewe. Here Ewe and English meet in one place only, and the rest parts.
- the beginning ↔ gɔmedzedzea: here Ewe has -a, joined to the noun and after it, exactly as in Part D, rules 1 and 3. This is the one place where English "the" and Ewe -a meet. Notice that English "in" has two Ewe words around the noun in this verse: le in front and me behind, so that the phrase is le gɔmedzedzea me. The English preposition comes first, and the Ewe postposition comes last (Part D, rule 11). - la after me: this is the second job of la, in Part D, rule 9. It does not mean "the" here. It closes the whole phrase "in the beginning" and marks it as the setting of the sentence. English puts a comma there. This is why Part A has a dash before la: it has no English word. The older Ewe Revised Version leaves this la out. - God ↔ Mawu: a name, so no "the" in English and no la in Ewe. - created ↔ wɔ: the verb, which follows its subject Mawu directly. - the heaven ↔ dziƒo and the earth ↔ anyigba: here English has "the" twice and Ewe has nothing at all. This is Part D, rule 6. The sky and the earth are unique, and Ewe does not mark them with la. English must. - and ↔ kple: kple joins two nouns, "heaven and earth".
The same Bible has la doing the work of "the" in the fourth verse, Mawu kpɔ be kekeli la nyo, "And God saw the light, that it was good". The word kekeli (light) has la after it: the light that God has just made, now known to both the speaker and the listener. The older Ewe text has kekelia, joined, in the same verse. The King James "the heaven" is singular; modern English versions often say "the heavens".
The Ewe text is quoted as it is printed in the Agbenya La.
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A visitor describes a big house in the morning. Kofi and Aku are two of the children who live there. The visitor speaks in 1.16, 1.17, 1.27, 1.28, 1.29 and 1.30, and describes what the family are doing in 1.18 to 1.26.
Part A (English and Ewe text, word by word):
1.16 Good-morning Ŋdi!
1.17 The la→ big gã house aƒe is-at le here afisia.
1.18 The la→ man ŋutsu and kple the la→ woman nyɔnu are-at le in me→ the -a→ house aƒe.
1.19 The -a→ children ɖevi-wo are-at le in me→ the la→ room xɔ.
1.20 Kofi Kofi is le the la→ new yeye book agbalẽ reading xlẽm.
1.21 Aku Aku saw kpɔ the la→ dog avu.
1.22 Aku Aku likes lɔ̃ the la→ dog avu.
1.23 The la→ dog avu is-good nyo.
1.24 The la→ woman nyɔnu ate ɖu-nu.
1.25 The la→ man ŋutsu said gblɔ that be the la→ food nuɖuɖu is-good nyo.
1.26 Kofi Kofi said gblɔ that be the la→ water tsi is-good nyo.
1.27 I-saw Mekpɔ that be the -a→ children ɖevi-wo are-at le in me→ the la→ room xɔ.
1.28 I-like Melɔ̃ this sia→ house aƒe.
1.29 This sia→ book agbalẽ is-at le in me→ that ma→ room xɔ.
1.30 Thanks Akpe, Kofi Kofi!
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Part B (Full English sentence followed by the Ewe translation):
1.16 Good morning! Ŋdi!
1.17 The big house is here. Aƒe gã la le afisia.
1.18 The man and the woman are in the house. Ŋutsu la kple nyɔnu la le aƒea me.
1.19 The children are in the room. Ɖeviawo le xɔ la me.
1.20 Kofi is reading the new book. Kofi le agbalẽ yeye la xlẽm.
1.21 Aku saw the dog. Aku kpɔ avu la.
1.22 Aku likes the dog. Aku lɔ̃ avu la.
1.23 The dog is good. Avu la nyo.
1.24 The woman ate. Nyɔnu la ɖu nu.
1.25 The man said that the food is good. Ŋutsu la gblɔ be nuɖuɖu la nyo.
1.26 Kofi said that the water is good. Kofi gblɔ be tsi la nyo.
1.27 I saw that the children are in the room. Mekpɔ be ɖeviawo le xɔ la me.
1.28 I like this house. Melɔ̃ aƒe sia.
1.29 This book is in that room. Agbalẽ sia le xɔ ma me.
1.30 Thanks, Kofi! Akpe, Kofi!
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Part C (English text only):
1.16 Good morning!
1.17 The big house is here.
1.18 The man and the woman are in the house.
1.19 The children are in the room.
1.20 Kofi is reading the new book.
1.21 Aku saw the dog.
1.22 Aku likes the dog.
1.23 The dog is good.
1.24 The woman ate.
1.25 The man said that the food is good.
1.26 Kofi said that the water is good.
1.27 I saw that the children are in the room.
1.28 I like this house.
1.29 This book is in that room.
1.30 Thanks, Kofi!
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Part D (Grammar explanation):
The description is mostly in the simple present and the simple past, with a few things that are happening now. Its grammatical thread is "the" with things that the visitor and the listener both know (Lesson Part D, rule 4): the big house, the man, the woman, the children, the room, the dog, the food, the water. Everyone in the scene knows which house, which room and which dog, so English says "the" every time, in front of the noun, where Ewe puts la or -a after it.
- "Good morning!" (1.16): a short fixed phrase, with no "the". Ewe Ŋdi is one word. In English the phrase is "good morning", and a name may follow: "Good morning, Kofi." - "The big house is here." (1.17): English puts "the" first, then the adjective, then the noun: the big house. Ewe puts the noun first, then the adjective, then la: aƒe gã la (Part D, rule 2). "Here" is afisia, "at this place". - "The man and the woman are in the house." (1.18): English says "the" twice, once in front of each noun, and so does Ewe, with la after each: ŋutsu la kple nyɔnu la. English "in the house" has the preposition in front, and Ewe aƒea me has me behind (Part D, rule 11). - "The children are in the room." (1.19): "The children" is plural, and "the" has not changed (Part D, rule 7). Ewe ɖeviawo has -a joined before the plural ending -wo. Compare 1.19 with 1.17: the verb le is "is" for one thing and "are" for many, and English must choose "is" or "are". Ewe le does not change. - "Kofi is reading the new book." (1.20): English uses "is" and the -ing form. Ewe uses le before the object and -m on the verb: le agbalẽ yeye la xlẽm. There is no "the" in front of Kofi, because it is a name. "The new book": English puts "the" in front of the adjective, and Ewe la behind it: agbalẽ yeye la. - "Aku saw the dog." and "Aku likes the dog." (1.21, 1.22): in English the verb has no ending for the past of "saw", and "likes" has -s in the present with "Aku". Ewe kpɔ and lɔ̃ take no ending for the subject. "The dog" is "the dog" each time, because both people know which dog. - "The dog is good." (1.23): English needs "is". Ewe nyo is itself the verb "be good" (Part D, rule 10): Avu la nyo. - "The woman ate." (1.24): English "ate" is the past of "eat". Ewe uses ɖu nu, "eat" and "thing", written as two words. There is no object, so there is no "the" after the verb. - "The man said that the food is good." (1.25) and "Kofi said that the water is good." (1.26): in English the words "that the food is good" are a second clause with its own "the". Ewe be is "that", and the clause also has its own la: be nuɖuɖu la nyo. Note that "the water" has "the" in front, and Ewe tsi la has la behind. Food and water, when they are not known, take no "the": "I like food", "Water is good". - "I saw that the children are in the room." (1.27): the verb "saw" is followed by "that" and a whole clause. English "that" can also be left out: "I saw the children are in the room" is possible in speech, but "that" is clearer. Ewe be is always there: mekpɔ be… - "I like this house." (1.28) and "This book is in that room." (1.29): "this" and "that" take the place of "the" and are never used together with it (Part D, rule 5). Ewe sia and ma stand in the same place as la. - "Thanks, Kofi!" (1.30): there is no "the" in a short fixed phrase, and no la in Akpe, Kofi.
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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 Ewe d, and the Ewe word la is not a model for the English word. Ewe la has a 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, and always a separate word. - Ewe letters to watch when you compare: Ewe ɛ is a vowel like the one in English "bed", and Ewe ɔ is a vowel like the one in British "law". Ewe ɖ, ƒ, ŋ and ʋ are separate letters from d, f, n and v. English has none of these letters. English writes the sounds with plain letters: child, house, long, very. Ewe ŋ is the sound of English "ng" in "sing", and English writes it with two letters, not one. - A nasal vowel in Ewe carries a mark, as in agbalẽ and gã. English has no such mark; nasal vowels are not a feature of English spelling. - The Ewe 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, Ewe, Akan. 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 Ewe, names such as Mawu, Kofi and Aku also begin with a capital letter. - The Ewe word la and the English word "la" are written alike only by chance: English "la" is the musical note, and is not related. Ewe la, after a noun, is "the".
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