Anyin, also known as Agni, Agny, and Anyi, is a
Niger-Congo language spoken mainly in
Côte d'Ivoire
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
and
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...
. It is a
Kwa language of the
Central Tano branch, forming a
dialect continuum
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...
with
Baoulé, and is closely related to
Nzema and
Sehwi.
Its dialects, divided into Northern and Central dialect areas, include Sannvin, Abé, Ano, Bona, Bini, and Barabo in the Northern area and Ndenye and Juablin in the Central area. In Côte d'Ivoire, there are approximately 1.45 million native speakers of Anyin, along with 10,000 second-language users; in Ghana, there are approximately 66,400 speakers.
Morofo, spoken by 300,000 in southeastern Côte d'Ivoire, is sometimes classified as a dialect of Anyin, but may also be classified as a separate language.
Phonology
Consonants
Vowels
Of these vowels, five may be nasalized: /ĩ/, /ɪ̃/, /ã/, /ũ/, and /ʊ̃/.
Tones
Anyin has two level tones, high and mid; two contour tones, high-low and low-high; and one neutral tone.
Tones are distinguished orthographically only to distinguish minimal pairs and grammatical constructions, or when two otherwise identical vowels with differing tones co-occur: cf. ⟨baá⟩ (
à á "child") vs. ⟨ba⟩ (
á "to arrive", "to come").
Grammar
Pronouns
Anyin uses the following pronouns:
See also
*
Baoulé language
Baoulé, also known as Baule or Bawule, is a language spoken in central and southern Ivory Coast, including in the regions of Lacs, Lagunes, Gôh-Djiboua, Sassandra-Marahoué, Vallée du Bandama, Woroba, and Yamoussoukro, by approximately 4 ...
*
Nzema language
*
Sehwi language
Sehwi, also known as Sefwi, Esahie, and Asahyue, is a Niger-Congo language spoken by 305,000 across southwestern Ghana, principally in the Western Region. It is a Kwa language of the Central Tano branch, closely related to Anyin, and mutually ...
References
External links
PanAfriL10n page on Anyi & Baule
Central Tano languages
Languages of Ivory Coast
Languages of Ghana
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