Akan (Twi) has had to steal… borrow words from the English language for years. But I guess this isn’t something that’s unheard of. The English language itself from which Akan borrows some of its words is made of a ton of loanwords from different foreign languages.
In today’s lesson, I list a number of Twi words that we borrowed from English. A borrowed word usually undergoes various changes to suit the morphology of the beneficiary language. This is only a vocabulary lesson so we will not talk about the “whys” and “hows” the changes in the list below came about. It is, however, important that you acknowledge that these changes aren’t arbitrary at all; they do follow a systematic set of morphological features in Akan.
It is also worth noting that there exist actual Twi words for some of these loanwords. In the list below, you will find the actual Twi names of some of the items italicised by them.
Now let’s jump straight at it. If you have more to add, you may leave them in the comments section below the post.
List of Twi Words Borrowed from English
| TWI | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| adupire (wiemhyɛn) | aeroplane |
| amango | mango |
| asopiti (ayaresabea) | hospital |
| baage | bag |
| ban | band |
| bɔɔla | boiler |
| bɔta | butter |
| bokiti | bucket |
| daseta | duster |
| dɔkota (ɔyaresafoɔ) | doctor |
| firigyi (asukɔkyea adaka) | refrigerator |
| hankete | handkerchief |
| hyɛɛte (atadeɛ) | shirt |
| kaa (teaseɛnam; ɛhyɛn) | car |
| kɔmputa | computer |
| kɔnsɛte | concert |
| keeki | cake |
| koropɔɔto | coal pot |
| kresin | kerosene |
| lɔre (ɛhyɛn) | lorry |
| makyese (burogya) | match |
| nɛɛse | nurse |
| ntoosi (nɛnkyemɔɔno) | tomatoes |
| pateesan | partition |
| paya | pear |
| pɛn (twerɛdua) | pen |
| pɛnsere | pencil |
| pinkase (fatuo dadeɛ) | pickaxe |
| polisi | police |
| polisini | police officer |
| radio (kasafidie) | radio |
| sakre (dadepɔnkɔ) | bicycle |
| selaboso | syllabus |
| sereba | silver |
| sigarɛte | cigarette |
| sofi | shovel |
| sogyani (ɔsraani) | soldier |
| sotɔɔ | store |
| sukuu | school |
| tɛlɛbihyɛn | television |
| tikya (ɔkyerɛkyerɛni) | teacher |
| trɔsa | trousers |
| twɔɔko | chalk |
| wakye | watch |
We end here. If you have more, do add to the list by leaving them in the comments section below.
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Somebody lied to you. The English language was stolen from the Akan people. It’s a long story. It’s so unfortunate.
Interesting. Can you please tell us more? As a knowledge-sharing platform, I’m sure my readers and I will be happy to learn more in this regard. Thank you.