Twi

For other uses, see TWI (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Tiwi language.

Twi ([tɕᶣi]) is the common name of the Akan without Fante.^[2][3] Effectively, it is a synonym for 'Akan' that is not used by the Fante people. It is not a linguistic grouping, as Akuapem Twi is more closely related to Fante dialect than it is to Asante Twi.^[4] Twi generally subsumes the following Akan dialects: Ahafo, Akuapem, Akyem, Asante, Asen, Bono, Dankyira and Kwawu, which have about 4.4 million speakers in southern and central Ghana.^[5][6][7]

Twi
Pronunciation	[tɕᶣi]
Native to	Ghana
Region	Ahafo Region, Ashanti Region, Bono Region, Bono East Region, Central Region, Eastern Region[1]
Ethnicity	Asante Akuapem Bono
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Kwa Potou–Tano Tano Central Tano Akan Twi
Dialects	Akuapem Asante Bono
Writing system	Latin
Official status
Regulated by	Akan Orthography Committee
Language codes
ISO 639-1	tw
ISO 639-2	twi
ISO 639-3	twi (see [aka] for Ethnologue description)
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Etymology

The name "Twi" is derived from the name of a Bono king, Nana Baffuor Twi.^[8][9]