Gbe languages

The Gbe languages (pronounced {{IPA|}}){{ref|gbe}} form a cluster of about 20 related languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria. The total number of speakers of Gbe languages is between four and eight million. The most widely spoken Gbe language is Ewe (3 million speakers in Ghana and Togo), followed by Fon (1.7 million, mainly in Benin). The Gbe languages belong to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo languages, and break up into five major dialect clusters: Ewe, Fon, Aja, Gen, and Phla-Pherá.

Related Topics:
Language - Ghana - Nigeria - Ewe - Togo - Fon - Benin - Kwa - Niger-Congo languages - Aja - Gen - Phla-Pherá

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Most of the Gbe peoples have come from the east to their present dwelling-places in several migrations between the 10th and the 15th century. Some of the Phla-Pherá peoples however are thought to be the original inhabitants of the area who have intermingled with the Gbe immigrants, and the Gen people probably are immigrants from the north of Ga or Fante origin. In the late 18th century, many speakers of Gbe were enslaved and transported to the New World, causing Gbe languages to play a role in the genesis of several Caribbean creole languages.

Related Topics:
10th - 15th century - Phla-Pherá - 18th century - New World - Caribbean - Creole language

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Around 1840, German missionaries started linguistic research into the Gbe languages. In the first half of the twentieth century, the Africanist Diedrich Hermann Westermann was one of the most prolific contributors to the study of Gbe. The first internal classification of the Gbe languages was published in 1988 by H.B. Capo, followed by a comparative phonology in 1991. The Gbe languages are tonal, isolating languages and the basic word order is Subject Verb Object.

Related Topics:
1840 - Diedrich Hermann Westermann - Phonology - Tonal - Isolating - Subject Verb Object

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