Twi

Twi is a variety of the Akan language spoken in southern and central Ghana by several million people, mainly of the Akan people, the largest of the seventeen major ethnic groups in Ghana. Twi has about 4.4 million speakers.

Twi is a common name for mutually intelligible former literary dialects of the Akan language of Bono, Asante and Akuapem. Akuapem, as the first Akan variety to be used for Bible translation, has become the prestige dialect as a result. It is also spoken by the people of southeastern Côte d'Ivoire. It generally subsumes the following dialects: Ahafo, Akuapem, Akyem, Asante, Asen, Dankyira and Kwawu.

Etymology
The name 'Twi' is derived from the name of a Bono king, Nana Baffuor Twi.

Vowels
Front vowels additionally show a distinction in duration, where –ATR front vowels are shorter than their +ATR counterparts.

Tone
Twi has at least 5 tones:


 * High tone: H
 * Mid tone: M
 * Low tone: L
 * Rising tone: R
 * Falling tone: F

However, when writing Twi using the Latin script, tone marks are not used.

Diphthongs
Twi contains the diphthongs, , , , , , , and.

Orthography
The letters C, J, Q, V, X and Z are also used, but only in loanwords.

Naming system
The Akan peoples use a common Akan (Ghana) naming system of giving the first name to a child, based on the day of the week that the child was born. Almost all the tribes and clans in Ghana have a similar custom.