Gen (also called Gɛ̃, Gɛn gbe, Gebe, Guin, Mina, Mina-Gen, and Popo) is a Gbe language spoken in the southeast of Togo in the Maritime Region. Like the other Gbe languages, Gen is a tonal language.
| Gen | |
|---|---|
| Mina, Popo, Arda | |
| gɛn | |
| Native to | Togo Benin[1] |
Native speakers | 620,000 (2019–2021)[1] |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gej |
| Glottolog | genn1243 |
 Map showing the distribution of the major Gbe languages in 1991 (Gen is shown in orange, mainly around Aného). | |
History
editThe Gen language is spoken by the Gen-Mina people, who originated from Accra and Elmina in Ghana and then moved to modern-day Togo. The Mina from Elmina migrated because of the Denkyira wars of aggression, while the Gen came over from Accra after their defeat in the Akwamu wars. The two groups intermingled with the indigenous Ewe, resulting in their Ewe dialect having words borrowed from Fanti, Gã and various European languages.[citation needed]
The Gen language is mutually intelligible with Ewe and is considered to be one of the many dialects of Ewe.[citation needed]
There were 476,000 Gen-speakers in Togo in 2019, and 144,000 in Benin in 2021.[1]
Phonology
editOrthography
editThe orthography is defined in the Alphabet des langues nationales of Benin. In the 1990 edition, Gen shared its alphabet with Waci.[3] In the 2008 edition, Gen has its own alphabet (without F with hook ⟨ƒ⟩).
| Uppercase | A | B | C | D | Ɖ | E | Ɛ | F | G | GB | Ɣ | H | X | I | J | K | KP | L | M | N | NY | Ŋ | Ɔ | P | S | T | U | Ʋ | V | W | Y | Z |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase | a | b | c | d | ɖ | e | ɛ | f | g | gb | ɣ | h | x | i | j | k | kp | l | m | n | ny | ŋ | ɔ | p | s | t | u | ʋ | v | w | y | z |
Nasalisation is indicated with a n after the vowel (⟨an ɔn ɛn in un⟩).
Misidentification with South American Arda language
editMina has in the past misidentified as the 'Arda' language isolate of South America.[5]
References
edit- 1 2 3 Gen at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
- ↑ Ako, Léopold (1969). Grammaire Mina: complète (in French).
- ↑ Centre national de linguistique appliquée (CENALA) (1990). Alphabet des langues nationales (2 ed.). Cotonou: CENALA. hdl:10625/6700.
- ↑ Centre national de linguistique appliquée (CENALA) (2008). Alphabet des langues nationales béninoises (6 ed.). Cotonou: CENALA avec le concours de l'Initiative francophone pour la formation à distance des maîtres (IFADEM).
- ↑ Campbell, L. (2024). "Phantom, False, and Spurious Languages of South America". The Indigenous Languages of the Americas: History and Classification. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-767346-1. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
Sources
edit- Kangni, Atah-Ekoué (1989) La syntaxe du Gẽ: étude syntaxique d'un parler Gbe: le Gẽ du Sud-Togo. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
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