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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Notes on the linguistic situation on the coast of Ghana during the nineteenth century
Author:Dakubu, M.E. KroppISNI
Year:1985
Periodical:Research Review
Volume:1
Issue:2
Pages:192-202
Language:English
Geographic term:Ghana
Subject:African languages
Abstract:In examining the linguistic situation on the coast of Ghana during the nineteenth century, the author addresses two questions basic to a consideration of the conduct of verbal communication within and between communities. The first one is, what languages were spoken, and what were their home territories? Or, more specifically, have the boundaries between language communities shifted before, during and after the nineteenth century? The second question is, what language or languages were used for communication between linguistic communities, and at what level? Today, the languages spoken along the coast from west to east are: Nzema, Ahanta, Fante, Awutu, Ga, Dangme, Ewe. The locations of the boundaries between these languages do not seem to have changed radically during the past two hundred years, but there has been a certain amount of shifting, which seems to reflect a gradual expansion of the territories of the languages of the major centres of commerce and politics, i.e. of Fante and Ga, as the languages of Elmina and Cape Coast and of Accra respectively. Bibliogr.
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