Anufo language
Tano language spoken in West Africa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anufo (Anufɔ), also known as Chakosi, is a Central Tano language spoken in northeast Ghana, northern Togo, northwest Benin and Ivory Coast by approximately 180,000 people. As a language, Anufɔ is tonal. It follows the subject-verb object canonical structure. It is also dialectical. Across nine clan groups, Anufɔ is spoken with dialectical distinction although mutually intelligible.
| Anufo | |
|---|---|
| Chakosi | |
| Anufɔ | |
| Region | Ghana, Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast |
| Ethnicity | Anufo people |
Native speakers | 180,000 (2013)[1] |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | cko |
| Glottolog | anuf1239 |
Population and geography
In 2003, the estimated number of speakers of Anufo was a little over 100,000 people, spread across the northern portions of Ghana (53,000), Togo (42,000), and Benin (10,000). Many speakers are multilingual, also speaking Hausa or French. It is used as a trade language in some regions as well.[2]
According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census in Ghana, the Anufɔ in northeast Ghana, especially those in the Chereponi District numbered 87,176.[3] The District covers a land size of 1,374.7 km2 with a population density of 63 persons per square kilometre. The District shares boundaries with Gushegu District to the West, Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri District to the North, Saboba Districts to the South and The Republic of Togo to the East bordered by the River Oti.[3]
Phonology
Anufo has allophonic palatalization before front vowels.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial-velar | Glottal | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | round | palatal | plain | palatal | plain | palatal | plain | round | plain | palatal | |||
| Nasal | m | mʲ | n | ɲ | ŋ | ŋm | ŋmʲ | ||||||
| Stop | voiceless | p | pʷ | pʲ | t | tʲ | c | cʲ | k | kʷ | kp | kpʲ | |
| voiced | b | bʷ | bʲ | d | dʲ | ɟ | ɟʲ | ɡ | ɡʷ | gb | gbʲ | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | fʷ | fʲ | s | ʃ | ɕᶣ | h | |||||
| voiced | z | ʑᶣ | |||||||||||
| Rhotic | r | rʲ | |||||||||||
| Approximant | voiceless | ɥ̥ | |||||||||||
| voiced | ɥ | l | lᶣ | j | w | ||||||||
Syntax
Anufo follows the canonical subject-verb-object (SVO) structure in its sentential construction like other cross-linguistic realisations.For instance, in the structure: Kojo akun baka ni (Lit. Kojo has killed the tree), the subject, Kojo (Noun) precedes the verb phrase (has killed), and the direct object (tree). In naturally occurring speech, such sentential constructions in Anufᴐ may undergo pronoun replacement such as in the construction: Kojo akun i (Kojo has killed it). Where the Anufɔ generic pronoun "i", also undefined by number, animacy and gender, is used in place of (the tree).
