Kwa branch of Niger–Congo

E652510
language family branch subgroup of Niger–Congo languages

The Kwa branch of Niger–Congo is a major subgroup of West African languages spoken primarily in southern Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, and Benin, known for its tonal systems and rich noun-class and aspectual distinctions.

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Statements (66)

Predicate Object
instanceOf language family branch ⓘ
subgroup of Niger–Congo languages ⓘ
classificationStatus classification debated among linguists ⓘ
glottologCode kwaa1272 ⓘ
hasAlternativeName Kwa branch ⓘ
Kwa languages NERFINISHED ⓘ
hasCharacteristic advanced tongue root vowel harmony in many languages ⓘ
basic SVO word order ⓘ
complex verb aspect systems ⓘ
isolating to mildly agglutinative morphology ⓘ
lexical and grammatical tone ⓘ
limited or reduced noun-class systems compared to Bantu ⓘ
rich aspectual distinctions ⓘ
serial verb constructions ⓘ
tonal language systems ⓘ
use of postpositions or serial verbs instead of many adpositions ⓘ
use of preverbal particles for tense and aspect ⓘ
hasSubgroup Avikam–Alladian languages ⓘ
Ga–Dangme languages NERFINISHED ⓘ
Gbe languages subgroup ⓘ
Ka-Togo languages ⓘ
Na-Togo languages NERFINISHED ⓘ
Nyo languages (in some classifications) ⓘ
Potou–Tano languages NERFINISHED ⓘ
Tano languages NERFINISHED ⓘ
historicalNote term Kwa originally proposed based on shared lexical items like the word for ‘people’ ⓘ
includesLanguage Ahlon NERFINISHED ⓘ
Aja NERFINISHED ⓘ
Akan NERFINISHED ⓘ
Akebu NERFINISHED ⓘ
Alladian NERFINISHED ⓘ
Anii NERFINISHED ⓘ
Anyin NERFINISHED ⓘ
Avikam NERFINISHED ⓘ
Baoulé NERFINISHED ⓘ
Dangme ⓘ
Ewe ⓘ
Fante ⓘ
Fon NERFINISHED ⓘ
Ga NERFINISHED ⓘ
Gbe languages NERFINISHED ⓘ
Gen ⓘ
Ikposo NERFINISHED ⓘ
Krobu NERFINISHED ⓘ
Lelemi NERFINISHED ⓘ
Nzema NERFINISHED ⓘ
Phla–Pherá languages NERFINISHED ⓘ
Sefwi ⓘ
Sehwi NERFINISHED ⓘ
Twi NERFINISHED ⓘ
partOf Niger–Congo language family NERFINISHED ⓘ
primaryRegion Benin NERFINISHED ⓘ
Côte d’Ivoire NERFINISHED ⓘ
Togo NERFINISHED ⓘ
southern Ghana ⓘ
region West Africa ⓘ
spokenIn Benin NERFINISHED ⓘ
Burkina Faso NERFINISHED ⓘ
Côte d’Ivoire NERFINISHED ⓘ
Ghana NERFINISHED ⓘ
Nigeria ⓘ
Togo NERFINISHED ⓘ
subfamilyOf Atlantic–Congo languages NERFINISHED ⓘ
typologicalFeature frequent use of serial verb constructions in clause chaining ⓘ
strong use of tone for grammatical distinctions ⓘ
usedInField African linguistics NERFINISHED ⓘ

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ga–Dangme languages → partOf → Kwa branch of Niger–Congo ⓘ