Anufo language

Anufɔ
Chakosi
Anufɔ
Region	Ghana, Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast
Ethnicity	Anufo people
Native speakers	180,000 (2013)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Kwa Potou–Tano Tano Central Tano (Akan) Bia North Anufɔ
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Benin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	cko
Glottolog	anuf1239

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 (9) clan groups, Anufɔ is spoken with dialectical distinction although mutually intelligible.

Population and land boundaries

According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census in Ghana, the Anufɔ in northeast Ghana, especially those in the Chereponi District numbered 87,176 with more females of (44,342) representing 50.9 percent than males being (42,834) constituting 49.1 percent.^[2] 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.^[2]

Phonology

Consonants^[3]

		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

Vowels

	Oral		Nasal
	Front	Back	Front	Back
Close	i	u	ĩ	ũ
Close-mid	e	o
Open-Mid	ɛ	ɔ	ɛ̃	ɔ̃
Open	a		ã

Syntax of Anufᴐ

Basically, Anufᴐ 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).

Writing

Anufɔ is written in the Latin alphabet, with the addition of the letters Ɛ ɛ, Ɱ ɱ, Ŋ ŋ and Ɔ ɔ.^[4]

References

1. Anufɔ at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019)
2. "Chereponi District".
3. "Phoible 2.0 -".
4. Anufo Workbook - Oral Proficiency Learning. Lomé: Peace Corp. p. 5.