Bono Language

Bono, also known as Abron, Brong, and Bono Twi, is a dialect cluster within the Akan dialect continuum that is spoken by the Bono people. Bono is spoken by approximately 1.2 million people in Ghana, primarily in the Bono Region, Bono East Region, and by over 300,000 in eastern Côte d'Ivoire.

The Bible Society of Ghana commenced the translation of the Bono Twi Bible in 2017 and had completed the translation of the 27 books of the New Testament. The overall project will be completed in 2027 with the translation of the Old Testament.

Relationship with other dialects of Akan

Intelligibility can be difficult between the different dialects of Bono. For the most part, Bono is mutually intelligible with other dialects of Akan, but the degree of intelligibility varies with geographical distance. Most speakers of Bono are bidialectal in Asante.

Bono and Wasa are the most divergent dialects of Akan. Along with Fante, Bono is also one of the most conservative, retaining features such as the third-person plural pronoun ''bɛ'' that have since been lost elsewhere.

Differences from other dialects of Akan

Phonological

* Bono tends to use /h/ where Asante has palatalized it to ''hy'' (/ɕ/) and ''hw'' (/ɕʷ/): cf. Bono ''hia'' vs. Asante ''hyia'' ("to meet").
* Bono has and in free variation, where Asante has only /r/ or only /l/. As Akan generally has in complementary distribution with there are some Bono words with and in free variation, e.g. ''fiela''/''fiera''/''fieda'' ("Friday"). A similar process may be found in some varieties of Asante, e.g. ''akɔlaa''/''akɔraa''/''akɔdaa'' ("child").
* In most Akan dialects, the emphatic particle ''nà'' is pronounced with a low tone, whereas in Bono it is ''né'', with a high tone.
* Unlike other varieties of Akan, and most Kwa languages in general, which have nominal vowel prefixes, many Bono nouns have either a homorganic nasal prefix or no nasal prefix at all: cf. Bono ''pɔnkɔ'' vs. Asante ''ɔpɔnkɔ'' ("horse"). Conversely, while most dialects have lost the nominal vowel suffix, Bono as well as Asante have retained it: cf. Bono ''nsuo'' vs. Asante ''nsu'' ("water"). Asante is the only dialect to have retained both vowel prefix and suffix: cf. Bono ''wuo'', Asante ''owuo'', and Asante ''owu'' ("death").

Grammatical

* The most characteristic feature of Bono is its use of the third-person plural pronoun ''bɛ'', not found in any other Akan dialect. It was likely an old pronoun retained in Bono but not elsewhere in Akan.
* Akan subject markers are usually only used when a subject is not made explicit, and are only ever used alongside an explicit subject in emphatic sentences. However, in Bono, an explicit subject is almost always used alongside a subject marker, whether the sentence is emphatic or not: cf. Asante ''Kofi kɔe'' ("Kofi went", with explicit subject and without subject marker) and ''ɔkɔe'' ("He went", with subject marker) vs. Bono ''Kofi ɔkɔe'' (literally "Kofi he went", with explicit subject and subject marker). Similarly, Bono requires a possessor as well as a possessive pronoun, e.g. ''Kofi ne dan'' (literally "Kofi his house"), although this is a feature found in Fante and Akuapem.
* In Bono, the first-person singular prefixes ''me-'' reduce to a homorganic syllabic nasal when they occur immediately before a consonant, e.g. ''mbaeɛ'' ("I came"), whereas other Akan dialects do not reduce it, e.g. ''mebae'' ("I came").
* Bono does not distinguish the third-person singular animate ''ɔ-'' and inanimate ''ɛ-'' possessive prefixes common to other Akan dialects, instead using ''ɔ-'' (sometimes pronounced ''wɔ-'') for both: cf. Bono ''ɔkɔ'' ("he/she/it has gone") vs. Akuapem ''ɔkɔ'' ("he/she has gone") and ''ɛkɔ'' ("it has gone").

Grammar

Pronouns

References

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Languages of Ghana
Akan language
Bono East Region