THE HISTORY OF THE AHANTA LANGUAGE AND ITS DIALECTS
Ahanta is a central Tano language rooted within the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family. linguistically, the people of Ahanta spoke Ahanta as their primary language and Fantse and Twi as their secondary languages respectively. There were three main dialects of the Ahanta language. We had the Akwidaa dialect which was spoken and adopted by the people of Akwidaa and its surrounding towns and villages, Apowa dialect also spoken mainly by the people of Apowa and its surrounding communities like Apremdo, Adjuah, Funko, New Amanful and the Busua dialect which was the original version of the Ahanta language. The distinction between these dialects is that the Akwidaa dialect has no vowel harmony whilst the rest have. Second, the Apowa dialect introduced the use of nasal vowel, and it was more diluted than the rest due to its proximity to the fantse immigrants in Takoradi. For example, “face” which is translated into the original dialect as “anyunumi” is spelt and pronounced “anwulumi” according to the Apowa dialect.
CENTRE FOR NATIONAL CULTURE
AHANTA WEST MUNICIPAL