1. Osei Tutu Tawiah "These are some of the Akan words I heard some Maroon Jamaicans speak when I met them in Grand Anse Beach in Grenada.
1. Bommo = Cloth used as menstrual pad in ancient Akan.
2. Abe = Palm Tree๐ด or Palm nut.
3. Aben = Flute
4. Ananse = Spider
5. Odum = Hardwood Tree
6. Afu = Farm
7. Adru = Herbal Medicine
8. Kokobe = Leprosy
9. Bafan = Crawler
10. Opete = Vulture
11. Patu = Owl
12. Nyam = Grind
13. Mumu = Dummy
Nyam means to eat and all the other ones are not used in Jamaica at all." ** Reply 7. Osei Tutu Tawiah, 2022 "Please, we're not talking about the everyday street language in Kingston or Mobay. I've visited Jamaica twice and I know these words are not in your everyday Jamaican Patois. You maybe Jamaican but you may be too young and not a Maroon if you say you've never heard the word Anansi before. If nothing at all you've heard the word Bombo Clat which is the patois slang for Bombo Cloth or Menstrual Cloth. You need to do your research well. Ask the older heads from places like Accompong Town and Nanny Town in the Maroon land if they don't know that Anansi is a spider and Aben is a Flute. Some older Maroons can speak a different version of Patois and please don't forget they're also Jamaicans." ** Reply 8. Shammy M, 2022 "@Osei Tutu Tawiah You're gonna try to tell me about a place where I grew up? Go sit down and don't try to school me about my own culture. I am not a Maroon, why do you people think a tiny village as any impact on the majority of Jamaicans. How silly does one have to be to believe that .
A spider is a spider we don't call spiders that๐คฆ๐พ♀️ and I've never heard this "aben" ever. You're just making up stories at this point saying that swear word comes from you. The point is your entire comment is a made up lie." ** Reply 9. Osei Tutu Tawiah, 2022 "@Shammy M Massa, I don't care if you're the only Jamaican on the planet. If you say you've not heard the words Bombo Clat and Anansi before, then you're a big time liar." ** Reply 10. C D, 2022 "@Osei Tutu Tawiah You are absolutely right!! I am Jamaican, and I am very impressed with your knowledge of Jamaica! The person saying these words are not used don’t know the true Jamaican culture and history. I am from Portland and my grandparents and people of that generation used these words all the time. My ancestors were maroons from Moore town on the eastern side of the island and they were bought to Jamaica from Ghana. They were Akan and Ga people, and even after three hundreds years when I meet Ghanaian they tell me that I look like I am from there!," ** Reply 11. johnjackissorryinfrench, 2022 "@Shammy M I think you might have to understand that have historically been different types of regional patois spoken over the years in Jamaica. It is maybe only recently that a single type of emerging patois is dominant. If you look into the historical archives you'll see that old patois was very similar to West African Pidgin. I have seen footage of old Jamaicans using words like 'waka' which means 'to walk' and 'sabi' which means 'to know' (from savoir), 'buckra' which meant white man. But Nobody uses those terms now.
During Sam Sharpe's uprising when the British set up all those kangaroo courts to condemn hundreds of Jamaicans to death, one of the judges famously quipped "You sabi dat?" when frustrated that the condemned person did not understand English. This account is given in the book "Island on Fire" and the book's author describes the judge sarcastically switching to
Jamaican Patois to say "I am sentencing you to death, Do you understand that then?". My point is it is possible that these phrases exist or survive in remote areas across the island.
Your description of Maroons as 'one village' is dismissively inaccurate. Jamaica had 2 broad Maroon groups called Leeward and Windward Maroons and within that there were several other groups, so they were significant in number, at least more than a 'tiny village'. And when you question how an insignificant group of people could impact the majority of Jamaicans, I implore you to go and research the origins of Jerk cooking in Jamaica. I think you'll find the Maroons in there somewhere." ** Reply 12. Chambers United, 2022 " @Osei Tutu Tawiah Ignore that fool. She clearly can’t read. You stated that you heard this spoken by Maroons!!! and I have heard a lot of jamaicans call spider Anansi." ** Reply 13. Kwekwe, 2022 "@Shammy M I don't think he's suggesting ananse (anansi) is used as an everyday word for spider, I assume he means as in the folk tales "brah (brother) Anansi" which are told not just in Jamaica but all over the Caribbean"
dem nevah hear anansi story lol...afu is a yam ...aben might be flute but we know Abeng which is conch shell ...to blow warning etc ....bafan mean clumsy etc ...dem say bullfrog will spray kokobe pon yuh lol ...nyam a eat ...but what about fenke fenke and pickney and dut and
potto potto....lol ....the Akan people are 2 groups ...the Ashanti and the Fanti..these 2 groups coexisted peacefully...the Fanti on the coast and Ashanti inland.....they went to war in Africa ever since the outsiders visited the African shore."
-snip-
"fenke fenke" = "puny, frail, weak" (definition from https://jamaicans.com/fenke-fenke/#:~:text=fenke%20fenke%20(Phrase),Description%3A%20puny%2C%20frail%2C%20weak Learn the Jamaican Patois Word – fenke fenke, published by staff reporter, 2018
**
Reply 16. Misspoundcake, 2022 "@Osei Tutu Tawiah I’m a Jamaican born on the island but left the there as a very young girl when my mom went to the USA. I must say! From I left Jamaica since Which is over 50 years now at an early age I’m still familiar with the words (Duppy) (Anansy) (bombo claat or pu**y claat) so if anyone say that they never heard or know those words are clowns, trying only to impress themselves ๐๐๐๐๐๐my mom often used the word ( nyam) especially when we were young and didn’t like to eat certain things, she would get impatient and started yelling “nyam the food”๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐" ** Reply 17. Kay Carter, 2022 "@Shammy M if i may interject, your opinion on the matter of spider at least is ill informed. Whilst the word spider may be generally used. In Jamaican folklore Ananse or Nancy stories are widely known Jamaica and in fact many parts of the world where the African diaspora was taken (Brer rabbit in some cases). In Akan these tales are known as Anansesem or Ananse stories, where Anansi means SPIDER!!!
So it may be that it is used without the knowledge of what the word actually means but never the less is widely known, you may be one of the few who is unaware of this.
I think i recall reading somewhere the significance of these Anansesem where such that they often conveyed hidden messages of resistance and often were used to ridicule those who caused people to suffer in bondage."
I acknowledged that the english word spider is used but i also add that unknowingly the word Ananse (which means spider) or variants of it are used to describe the character in folklore.
There are other words too such as Obeah, ackee, susu
Tell me those are not used in the Jamaican vernacular
Obeah from Obeyie - a person said to have mystical powers
Ackee- ankye a fruit and tree that came from West Africa
Susu to whisper or gossip
Beyond words the syntax of sentences also correspond with African languages" ** Reply 20. Kay Carter, 2022 "@Shammy M i cant see your question in the thread but no i am not Jamaican
However; look at what other people have responded who claim to be Jamaican and they all say they are familiar with the word Anansi. You seem to be the very rare exception.
Are you also going to deny the other examples i.e. obeah are not widely used in J.A. ?" ** Reply 21. Shammy M, 2022 "@Kay Carter I didn't read any of those comment my entire point is that we don't call spiders that. The op is saying spider translates to that which is incorrect. It's always non Jamaicans that never lived in or been to Jamaica with the most to say." ** Reply 22. Kay Carter, 2022 "@Shammy M but you can concur that without knowing it when referring to what we call Kwaku Ananse the Jamaicans correctly use the Akan word for spider Ananse even if the meaning of it has been lost , this word for spider is widely used in certain context." ** Reply 23. Kay Carter, 2022 "@Shammy M it has been demonstrated that the word Ananse means spider in both Akan and in Jamaican vernacular can you give a coherent and sound explanation of why in Jamaican folklore they refer to a character who can transform between a man and a spider as Ananse it cant be just coincidence especially when considering other words in Jamaican lexicon which also have African origin - and there are many. If you can produce an alternative it can be considered but you havent. Surely every word has an origin ?
Argument, you say, but you were fine to contradict the initiator of this thread.
Again i ask can we dismiss several others who claim to be Jamiacan and recognise the use of the word and that it relates to a spider character ? ...
Ananse when originally used in Jamaica referred to this Spider character because it means spider and it was introduced by enslaved people who brought some of the folklore with them." ** Reply 24. Kay Carter, 2022 "@Mark Springer i think you are right about Abeng Obeng as there is a horn not a flute called Obeng/Abeng. Flute is atษntษbษn, quite similar wind instruments. The Abeng has a similar use in Ghana." ** Reply 25. Shammy M, 2022 "@Kay Carter It makes no sense to aruge with a non Jamaican about Jamaican culture, seriously. There's more important and serious issues in life. Caribbeans have a different culture from Africans." ** Reply 26. Kay Carter, 2022 "@Shammy M or maybe that is being evasive?
I think it is good to debate to get to the truth or arrive at some understanding.
But you havent articulated your points at all for them to be convincing.
Yes i am at a disadvantage by not being Jamaican but this can be compensated by my contact and interactions with countless Jamaicans and also reading.
Yes the culture is distinct but heavily influenced by a plethora of African ideas. Sometimes that diffference came about because of environment not choice. Let us not also forget the deliberate erosion of the culture by europeans to reduce the threat of uprisings.
Do you think it is coincidence that those who retained African culture such as Maroons often had uprisings. Or look at Haiti which had a succesful uprising in 18th century making it an independent nation.
There is a lot more connecting us" ** Reply 27. Shammy M, 2022 "@Kay Carter But you cannot speak on a culture you don't know. Just how I cannot speak on your culture. The Maroons are not the majority in Jamaica. Too many of you base your information off of them and you can't believe everyone who claims to be Jamaican. I've come across so many people who lie. I doubt any of those people who tagged me are Jamaican. Most of the information on Wikipedia written about us is false. With the first as people referring to us as "afro-Jamaican". There's no such thing as afro-Jamaican lol. We don't call ourselves that. I first heard that made up term on social media." ** Reply 28. Osei Tutu Tawiah, 2022 "@Shammy M Who told you Anansi doesn't mean Spider? Anansi is the Akan word for Spider. So, Anansi means Spider ๐ท, period."
I am a Jamaican, bawn/born in d 80's & grow up inna d hills of St. Catherine & still live ya, so I have authority to speak on my culture. I am familiar with alot of those words. As a child, whenever we see a spider, we used to call it anansi spider (si wan 'nansi spider deh). We used to hear alot of Anansi stories too.
Wi still from time to time use words like nyam, fenke fenke (like how yu look so fenke fenke?), plaka plaka (da food de plaka plaka eeh?), bafan etc... Patois is a dynamic dialect so depending on the part of the island that we live, there are variations to it.
It is very unfortunate that alot of the younger Jamaicans did not get the kind of exposure we did to the richer part of our culture." ** Reply 30. Mark Springer, 2022 "@Shammy M well have you ever considered the fact that maybe the use of ackee as food was lost to the other islands ? In Hait, the leaves are used as a detergent ...in Jamaica too when there was a shortage on laundry soap. So maybe the knowledge of ackee has been lost to the other islands but survived in Jamaica. Also the African diaspora in the Caribbean is so diverse as some sub cultures may not see it as food source.Ackee in South America is more likely among Brazilians. Brazil has the largest population of Africans outside of Africa." ** Reply 31. Mark Springer, 2022 "@Shammy M aren't you the one that don't know the word ANANSI ....you know miss Lou...I don't know where your from but you're NOT JAMAICAN...go ahead and practice cultural imperialism and try to control narratives of cultures ..." ** Reply 32. Crystal Washington, 2022 "@Mark Springer I was thinking the same thing...that this rude young lady must have been borned in the 90's or 2000's to know so little about our culture. Or maybe not b'cuz I know persons born within that period who knows that Anansi is in reference to a spider. Maybe her exposure is limited to not know about Anansi." ** Reply 33. SlimThickaz, 2022 "@Shammy M You sure you never heard the term Anansi?" ** Reply 34. Shammy M, 2022 "@SlimThickaz I heard it, I heard the stories as a child but I've never heard my parents or grandparents ever refer to a spider as "Anansi". " ** Reply 35. SlimThickaz, 2022 "@Shammy M It's more of the older generation so I understand where you're coming from but you shouldn't say we don't because many of us do." ** Reply 36. Shammy M, 2022 "@SlimThickaz Both of my parents were Rasta and I've never heard them refer to a spider like that. I asked my husband and he said it's more of the old school ones from the country (he's from Sandy Bay). So it's probably the older generation of Jamaicans who use it. I've never heard it and lot of those terms mentioned aren't used much less Jamaican like "mumu"." ** Reply 37. SlimThickaz, 2022 " @Shammy M I like to come at people with respect. If you genuinely didn't hear your elders use it then that's not your fault. I'm sorry all of these people are attacking you. It is used but language changes overtime. Yeah, mumu is Nigerian." ** Reply 38. Shammy M, 2022 "@SlimThickaz Yeah ignorant man is still talking about me.
This is how our people stay that's why we can't ever rise. 3 hours later and he's chatting me but yeah you're right. There's many terms that aren't used anymore." ** Reply 39. Mark Springer, 2022 "@SlimThickaz nobody was attacking her ...she admitted now that she has never heard the word anansi applied to a spider...and that's fine ...it's when most Jamaicans and others are surprised that she's not familiar with it and then she's insisting that everyone else is wrong because SHE NEVER HEAR HER GRANDPARENTS CALLED IT THAT ...and that is her reasoning to refute facts ...arrogant !" ** Reply 40. Shammy M "@Errol Taylor Not once did I say I didn't hear the word Anansi. I said I never heard my parents refer to a spider as Anansi. I also said I heard Anansi stories as child. Many similarities but many more differences as well." ** Reply 41. Michael Miller, 2022 "@Shammy M everybody inna jamdung kno dem ting de wey yu com from? Dis is a learning moment for you. Tek it an gwaan." -snip- This is a very condensed version of that sub-thread. There are a number of comments from Shammy and replies to her that I didn't included in this compilation. In one of those comments, Shammy wrote that she lives in Canada. The comment that is given as #41 is the last comment from that particular sub-thread of this discussion thread as of August 19, 2022 when I published this pancocojams post. ** 42. Albert Mac "Shan , “Patu” is owl from Akan (Twi). — this is so true all the Akan and twi words in English are true… I’m glad. I’m an Akan (a Kwahu or Kwawu). I decided to learn history this month and I’m seeing many things omg. I want to learn patwa … may be you are even part of my lineages still living in Jamaica. ๐" ** 43. kwabena Poku "Thanks a lot for the informative blog. Aben or the horn in akan,I believe is also in Jamaican patois. "Jama maka" (Maybe am stuck here) in Akan could be one." ** 44. Kwaku Adusei "Very informative but I'm from ghana ๐ฌ๐ญ and an Ashanti one thing I will like to point out is the name accompong. In ghana we say acheampong and it's a name given to the male thanks" ** Reply 45. Osei Tutu Tawiah "No, Accompong is different from Acheampong. The name Accompong is usually found in Denkyira and Assin while the name Acheampong is very common in Ashanti. Anytime you see the word "pong", it means great or big. For instance, Oppong means the big or great one. Akropong means the big or great town. Manpong means the big or great state. So, Accompong from the word Ako ( war) means the great warrior while Acheampong from the word Okyeame or Akyeame (assistant ) means a great assistant. The true Akan spelling for Accompong and Acheampong are Akompong and Akyeampong. In Twi, KY is pronounced CH like Chinese and HY is pronounced SH like Shanghai or Shoe while the letter C as in the word Capital or Cape, is written as K." ** Reply 46. nathaniel wood "@Osei Tutu Tawiah ooh nice. Didn't know" ** Reply 47. C D, 2022 "@Osei Tutu Tawiah Wow, thanks for the input! You really know your stuff!!" ** Reply 48. J Moseley, 2022 "@Osei Tutu Tawiah I wish I had someone like you to teach me Twi. Your last name is my ex-husband's middle name. He was born after twins!" ** Reply 49. Kay Carter, 2022 "@Osei Tutu Tawiah you may be right on this one
But we must also be mindful that often the words are usually corruptions made by non native speakers.
I am just looking at archived documents from my home Oman
And there are several variants of the name of our Kings Kaku Atta - such as Quacoe Attah, Kwaku Attah and from Kaku Kyina to Kwaku Kinnah, Quacoe Kinneh.
** Reply 50. Errol Taylor, 2022 "Naturally most of my ancestry is from Nigeria, Togo and Benine I'm over 50 percent Nigerian ,it is known that Northern Jamaicans like myself are mostly of Nigerian ancestry, I understand now why we use the word unnu, when referring to several other people" ** Reply 51. Tvs, 2022 "@Osei Tutu Tawiah great information. This is what I often tell Jamaicans who say they are Ashanti. The people being sold in the Early 1700s were mostly Fetus, Entsis, Aowins, Assin and Denkyira because they were the ones losing wars at the time but because most have only heard about Ashantis, and don't know that there are many other Akan and Guan tribes including those in Ivory Coast, everyone immediately assumes an Akan name/word means they are Ashanti descent." ** 52. Ruth-Ann Grant "I have never heard : Breechee, Kungkus, attoo, himba, djumbi, Pinda." ** Reply 53. Shan's Patwa Academy " "Popsi paisi go PINDA shell, bees ago bite yuh tenda swell”
does that ring a bell? ๐ ๐" ** Reply 54. Ruth-Ann Grant "@Shan's Patwa Academy oh yes...yuh right"
"I'm from Ghana ๐ฌ๐ญ. Akan is one of the dominant tribes in Ghana. The people of Akan speak Akan language. Twi and fante are two major dialects of Akan. Other dialects include sefwi, nzema, anyii/burosa, ahanta.
Twi has "sub-dialects": asante (not Ashanti which
is just the whiteman's corrupted version), assin, twifo, akyem, kwahu, wassa,
akwapim, bono, denkyira, akwamu, others...
Fante (better known as mfantse) also has sub-dialects: abura, guae (of Oguaa or Cape Coast) edina/komenda; gomoa, ekumfi, agona (arguably more twi than fante), enyan, breman, nkusukum, ajumako & others.
In fact, one will struggle to identify the difference with
the sub-dialects of TWI on the one hand & fante on the other.
What I'm sure about is Asanti Twi, Akwampim Twi, Abura
fantse & Oguaa fantse are the ones currently written as examinable
languages of the Akan FANTSE & TWI language in schools.
Never say asante & twi languages. It is even worse to
say ASHANTI!!
There's is a large Akan tribe in La Cote d'Ivoire."
**
56.
"In congo we mainly speak Lingala or kikongo, congo is not a language"
57.
"It is not really Kungkus but Kunggusa meaning to criticise
or gossip about"
Reply
58. Matthew Dackers
"@Obeahman I am a Maroon and yes we say Kongkosa= Gossip. ๐ฏ๐ฒ"
**
Reply
59. Wilson Gyimah
"@Matthew Dackers I’m a Ghanaian ( specifically an Asante) living in Canada. In our Twi language, we say KONKONSA and it means GOSSIP. This is further proof that indeed some the early so-called AFRICANS in Jamaica originated from Ghana. So as you can see, Jamaicans and Ghanaians are actually one people. Needless to say that it was due to European illegal invasion of the so-called AFRICA that separated our people."
**
Reply
60. Matthew Dackers
"@Wilson Gyimah that was my point as above but slight spelling or pronunciation differences in which I understood but not all people in "Jamaica" know that and barely anyone my age speak "AKAN KASA" as sadly many prefer other languages over there own....
Yes many of us are aware of our "Asante" and
"Fante" ancestry along with various other "African "
peoples... Medase pa for the reply.๐ฏ๐"
-snip-
Read the comment in this pancocojams post's comment section about the term "Akan Kasa" and the difference between the Akan language and Twi.
**
Reply
61. Wilson Gyimah
"@Matthew Dackers Indeed the maroons of Jamaica did very well
for keeping their Akan identity alive. I mean the fact that you can use the
expression “AKAN KASA” and “ Medase pa” is a testament to the fact that
Jamaicans and Ghanaians are actually one people. Many prefer other languages
over their own original Akan language because they have been conditioned to
feel that preservation of the Akan culture and traditions are no longer
relevant. Same thing is going on in Ghana to a certain extent. For example,
some people of Akan background prefer to communicate with each other in English
instead of Twi, the native language of Akan. This is not common in Ghana
though. But it does exist. By the way, Me nso da woase or daase for your quick response.
Take care my brother."
**
Reply
62. Matthew Dackers
"@Wilson Gyimah Yes, we are, more than a tribe, but one
family in many places... You are right on how many of us feel conditioned to
speak the language of others in preference to our own but I believe a day will
come when our language will meet a higher standard and our people will reunite
and I could go on with this little hope and dream of mine for a better future
for our people. Again, I express much gratitude and as many elder Maroons of Jamaica
say
**
63. Emmanuel Etuk
"Mbakara meaning colonial master, colonialists, white man, white people, European in Efik & Ibibio languages of Nigeria."
**
64. George Dzacka
"Voodoo is Ewe language which means spiritism"
**
65. Dori Aqua
"Photo poto is a GA word spelt Kpoto Kpoto or morto. The Akan word, for muddy is peche."
**
66. Irene, queen supreme
"Not sure where it’s from but the Krio word in Sierra Leone fro child is pikin (pee-keen) and in JA it’s pikney of course.sounds the same"
**
Reply
67. Durodami Lisk
"Many of these words are in the Krio language of Sierra Leone. Poto poto for example. Also the word chaka chaka meaning untidy is also a krio word."
**
Reply
68. Atlas24gh
"the krio are decendants of ex slaves from the Caribbean so it makes sense"
**
69. Kafanga slam banguni
"Hello Shan.... Great stuff hahhah actually the Djumbi = Zombie came from nzambi with the small n' and the Nzambi is the good one'' the Creator per say.. the the be nzambie nzambie is to refer to small gods etc.. spirits , Interesting and how much do you know about the 'KUMINA'"
**
Reply
70. Dane Taylor
"Kumina is a dance we do In Jamaica at a wake or nine night to invoke the ancestors."
**
71. Desmond Brown
"Chaka Chaka. Is Ga. And it means messy as it does in Jamaica ๐ฏ๐ฒ"
**
72. ERUPTED
"Chaka chaka is used around West Africa( Ivory
Coast,Ghana,Nigeria to be specific)."
**
73. MissBabyloved
"Kyakakyaka or potopoto is Twi/Akan meaning messy"
**
Reply
74. eKinematics
"@MissBabyloved Poto poto is Twi? I'm just hearing this for
this first time. Also I saw mumu listed as Akan.. mmmh. Guess all west African
languages are related because this is so Nigerian too and I hear it more from
Nigerians than Ghanaians."
**
Reply
75. MissBabyloved
"@eKinematics in Twi, mmumu or mumu means deaf or deaf and
dumb but because of the sensitive nature of it Ghanaians don’t normally use it
as insult, potoo, potopoto means dirty or muddy and also poto or potopoto means
grinding wet substances like grinding wet vegetables and derived a food called
Mpotompoto which is Cocoyam or Yam porridge."
**
76. madewithrealdiamonds
"I like the references but some of these pronunciations are
off. I'd be lost, if anyone said them like this, since I'd never heard some of
these words pronounced the way you did. I'm from MoBay."
**
77. Adama Janko
"Poto-poto and Nyam which means mud and to eat are also
Senegambia origins"
78.
"No no no haahahaha. Doti is pidgin English from
west Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone etc and it is derived from the
English word ‘Dirty’ but we say Doti or Dutti or Dutty. Period!"
**
79. Taha DEUX
"Nyam means eat in fula not in wolf when a Fula say ar nyam
he is telling you to came eat lรจck means eat In wolf poto poto In wolf means
mud or muddy too"
**
80. ragwar kanisa
"Poto almost mean the same thing in my traditional language?
Also nyam mean the same thing am from Kenya."
**
81. bface1873
"yes kaba kaba is yoruba. u are correct. Oni kaba kaba kebe
kebe. unserious unreliable"
**
82. migf27
"Adope in ga is dwarf not ghost. Sisa is ghost in
ga."
**
83. Abdoulie Jammeh
"My brother I am from Gambia,aรฏne means lunch and nyam means
food from wollof people."
**
84. Abdoulie Jammeh
"Serer people of Senegal and Gambia also use nyam as eat.my
ancestoral tribe are Mandinka,Serer and Wollof."
**
85. Gladstone Fuller
"Thanks for this video. It reminds me of some of the
words my grandmother and people of my community used during my childhood years
in Jamaica. One example is the word “jumbi”, which means ghost. One inescapable
fact is that Jamaicans descend from the countries which make up West Africa
today. Back in the day, before the enslavers and colonizers divided up Africa,
West Africa was a region with kingdoms or peoples. I have always maintained
that one can see the various peoples of West African countries in the Jamaican
population. Some think we have connections with only Ghana, but it goes much
wider."
**
However, the good thing is how they were able to retain the original meaning. it's also an eye opener on some words we thought came from the West.
We also use Doti in Igbo to refer to dirt. The Efik call it Mbakara which you corrupted to Backra. Chinchi is bed bug. That BREECHEE was something else. Its a tribal mark you put on the forehead of those who have matured to adulthood, as a sign of nobility. So in Igbo is called IGBU ICHI." ** 87. Abdoulie Jallow " "Nyam" is a Fulani or Serer word meaning "eat". These are two different languages though. The Wolof word for "eat" is "lecka" and "leck" in Gambian and Senegalese dialects respectively. A lot of Serer people in both Gambia and Senegal have generally become a Wolofized population but nevertheless, it is a distinct language in its own right.." ** Reply 88. J Wills "Exactly. .I learnt Akans gave the name Jamaica ja/gya...ma ...yaka (meaning....maybe we are not coming come hack) ....to the motherland.
The British may have turned it to Jamaica because all the gya in Ghana are written as Ja"
**
89. African Child
"Patuo - owl in Akan
Nyam - means grind in Akan
Dukunu is dokono in Akan ( popular term is kenkey)" ** 90. Kirky Nachulus "More Patois/Patwa words that is from Ghana:
plaka plaka (pleki pleki)/ muddy, woie woe/a place far away, susumba (susumuoa) green round bean. Please forgive my spellings." ** 91. Ancient House Video Production "There are many words from the fulani language not just Juk but pian means to shoot, Duppa and jiny or jinal mean ghost,MI and mimi means I and ey mean yes ,Nyam mean to eat not grind,Bouy mean to leave bolo means only like bolo slush, ah mean a question,buttu mean fat.The tonation, pitch and pattern is fulani in general with some exception.hall and pullup "Hal Pulaar " meaning pulaar people Etc only name a few." ** 92. DnB Brett #M22 "In South Africa The Nguni languages uDoti meaning dirt especially Ndebeles, Zulu although there are other words like “ukungcola” meaning Dirt" ** 93. Beyoutiful Thatfasttravel "Susu means savings in Akan language. Susu has a different mean in patois though." ** 94. BLESS VIKU "Ewes never call spider Ananse, rather Ayi"
** 95. Achuil Ajak "Nyam Nyam is also a Dinka and Nuer word eating or someone assume to eat people.Dinka and Nuer are in South Sudan and there are Nuer in Ethiopia as well." ** 96. Meek Aghogho "Attoo or Ato for chewing stick is an Urhobo word (Deltan/Edoid). Thank you."
** 97. Superblack "I think you missed "soso"... an Igbo word meaning "only" or "just"
some other words i heard as part of the koromanteng language
abeng is akan for horn
obroni is also akan for foreigner" ** 100. MadSolja Trukka "๐ฏ๐ฒ a Bafan in St Mary is someone who is slight, not very handy, clumsy." ** 101. Takyi Foster Edem "'Kaba-kaba' in the Ewe language means 'fast', 'quick' or 'swift'. Please correct that๐" **** Thanks for visiting pancocojams. Visitor comments are welcome.
Here's an excerpt from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twi about the difference between the Akan language and Twi:
ReplyDelete"Twi (Akan: [tษแถฃi]), also known as Akan kasa, or Akan-speak, is a dialect 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 17–18 million speakers in total, including second-language speakers; about 80% of the Ghanaian population speaks Twi as a first or second language.[6][3] Like other West African languages, Twi is a tonal language.[7]
Twi ... is also spoken by the people of southeastern Cรดte d'Ivoire.[11][9][12]
Etymology
The name "Twi" is derived from the name of a Bono king, Nana Baffuor Twi.[13]"....
Here's an excerpt from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fante_dialect about the Fante dialect:
ReplyDelete"Fante (Akan: [หfษnti]), also known as Fanti, Fantse, or Mfantse, is one of the three principal members of the Akan dialect continuum, along with Asante and Akuapem, the latter two collectively known as Twi, with which it is mutually intelligible.[2] It is principally spoken in the central and southern regions of Ghana as well as in settlements in other regions in western Ghana.[3]
Fante is the common dialect of the Fante people, whose communities each have their own subdialects, such as Agona, Anomabo, Abura, and Gomoa,[4] all of which are mutually intelligible.... A standardized form of Fante is taught in primary and secondary schools.[3] Many Fantes are bilingual or bidialectal and most can speak Twi.[5]
[…]
Today Fante is spoken by over 6 million people in Ghana primarily in the Central and Western Regions. It is also widely spoken in Tema, where majority of the people in that city are native Fante speakers who were settled after the new port was built.
One striking characteristic of the Fante dialect is the level of English influence, including English loanwords and anglicized forms of native names, due both to British colonial influence and "to fill lexical and semantic gaps, for reasons of simplicity and also for prestige". Examples of such borrowings include rษkษso ("records"), rษba "rubber", nษma ("number"), kolapuse "collapse", and dษkuleti "decorate".[13] Native names are occasionally anglicized, such as "Mฮตnsa" becoming "Mensah" or "Atta" becoming "Arthur".[14]"...
You’re very intelligent my Great grandparents are full maroon, it took me a long time to understand the language And I’m from Kingston born and raise
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Anonymous.
DeleteThe information in this post is from online sources.