Ghana Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Languages=== {{main|Languages of Ghana}} [[File:Predominant tribe in the area - (Ghana) LOC 88692692.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A map of Ghana's ethno-linguistic areas.]] English is the [[official language]] of Ghana.<ref name="USA">{{cite web |title=The Bureau of Ghana Languages-BGL |url=http://www.ghanaembassy.org/index.php?page=language-and-religion |publisher=Ghana Embassy Washington DC, USA |year=2013 |access-date=11 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022204947/http://www.ghanaembassy.org/index.php?page=language-and-religion |archive-date=22 October 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=A handbook of varieties of English. 1. Phonology, Volume 2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mtd3a-56ysUC&pg=PA847 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |author=Bernd Kortmann Walter de Gruyter |year=2004 |access-date=11 November 2013 |isbn=978-3-11-017532-5}}</ref> Additionally, there are eleven languages that have the status of government-sponsored languages: *[[Akan language]]s ([[Asante dialect|Asante Twi]], [[Akuapem Twi]], [[Fante dialect|Fante]] which have a high degree of mutual intelligibility, and [[Nzema language|Nzema]], which is less intelligible with the above) *[[Adangme language|Dangme]] *[[Ewe language|Ewe]] *[[Ga language|Ga]] *[[Gua language|Guan]] *[[Kasem language|Kasem]] *[[Oti-Volta languages|Mole-Dagbani]] languages ([[Dagaare]] and [[Dagomba language|Dagbanli]])<ref name="NCA">{{cite web |title=The Bureau of Ghana Languages-BGL |url=http://www.ghanaculture.gov.gh/index1.php?linkid=331&page=2§ionid=602 |publisher=National Commission on Culture |year=2006 |access-date=11 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112001558/http://www.ghanaculture.gov.gh/index1.php?linkid=331&page=2§ionid=602 |archive-date=12 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Study of Ghanaian Languages |url=http://www.africa.upenn.edu/K-12/Study_16156.html |publisher=africa.upenn.edu |access-date=6 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112001739/http://www.africa.upenn.edu/K-12/Study_16156.html |archive-date=12 November 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Of these, Asante Twi is the most widely spoken.<ref name="Introduction To The Verbal and Multi-Verbalsystem of Akan">{{cite web |title=Introduction to the Verbal and Multi-Verbalsystem of Akan |url=http://www.ling.hf.ntnu.no/tross/osam.pdf |work=ling.hf.ntnu.no |year=2013 |access-date=16 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407085659/http://www.ling.hf.ntnu.no/tross/osam.pdf |archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref> Because Ghana is surrounded by [[List of countries and territories where French is an official language|French-speaking countries]], French is widely taught in schools and used for commercial and international economic exchanges. Since 2006, Ghana has been an associate member of the {{Lang|fr|[[Organisation internationale de la Francophonie]]}},<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jeux.francophonie.org/etats-invites/ghana |title=Ghana β Jeux de la francophonie |website=www.jeux.francophonie.org |access-date=10 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211131331/https://www.jeux.francophonie.org/etats-invites/ghana |archive-date=11 February 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> the global organisation that unites French-speaking countries (84 nations on six continents). In 2005, more than 350,000 Ghanaian children studied French in schools. Since then, its status has been progressively updated to a mandatory language in every junior high school,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lalettrediplomatique.fr/contribution_detail.php?id=20&idrub=67&idrubprod=262 |title=La Lettre Diplomatique β La revue des Relations internationales et diplomatiques depuis 1988 β La Francophonie et le Ghana |website=www.lalettrediplomatique.fr |access-date=10 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211072205/http://www.lalettrediplomatique.fr/contribution_detail.php?id=20&idrub=67&idrubprod=262 |archive-date=11 February 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and it is in the process of becoming an official language.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://qz.com/africa/1588566/ghanas-president-wants-french-as-a-second-language/ |title=Ghana's president wants to make French a formal language, but it's not a popular plan |work=QZ.com |date=7 April 2019 |last=Asiedu |first=Kwasi Gyamfi |access-date=21 June 2021 |archive-date=8 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508135708/https://qz.com/africa/1588566/ghanas-president-wants-french-as-a-second-language/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pulse.com.gh/bi/strategy/ghana-adopts-french-as-its-second-official-language/eg77s29 |title=Ghana adopts French as its second official language |website=pulse.com |date=21 March 2019 |access-date=21 June 2021 |archive-date=2 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802174130/https://www.pulse.com.gh/bi/strategy/ghana-adopts-french-as-its-second-official-language/eg77s29 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Ghanaian Pidgin English]], also known as Kru English (or in Akan, ''kroo brofo''), is a variety of [[West African Pidgin English]] spoken in Accra and in the southern towns.<ref name="Huber 1999 p139">Magnus Huber, ''Ghanaian Pidgin English in its West African Context'' (1999), page 139</ref> It can be divided into two varieties, referred to as "uneducated" or "non-institutionalized" pidgin and "educated" or "institutionalized" pidgin, the former associated with uneducated or illiterate people and the latter acquired and used in institutions such as universities.<ref name="Huber 1999 p138-153">Huber (1999), pp. 138β153</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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