Etymology of Some Words in Akan, Dangme and Ewe Languages Which Showed the Co-Existence of These Three Nationals in the Past

Abstract

This study examines how some words occur in some three Ghanaian Languages. These languages are Akan, Dangme and Ewe. It is unclear which of the three languages owns the etymology of these words. The focus of this study is to prove that some factions of these three language groups have ever co-existed before. A lot of studies have been conducted by other researchers about the origin of these three language groups but none of the studies shows that these three language groups have ever co-existed. This necessitated the study into this study to find out the converging point of these three language groups and this makes the study very significant. The researchers depended heavily on interviews to gather data for the study. They used library and internet facilities also. They used Manya and Yilo Krobo national areas for the study and used purposeful sampling procedure. They used forty-five (45) people for the study. These people were carefully selected through canvassing and leading information. The people selected included the traditional leaders, Dangme and non-Dangme historians, family heads, and opinion leaders of the Zonal Councils of the three nationals i.e. Akan, Dangme and Ewe. The authors identify fourty (40) words of which eighteen (18) words representing fourty-five percent (45%) belong to all the three languages.The study showes thatfifteen (15) words representing thirty-seven point five percent (37.5%) belong to Akan and Dangme languages. This means that Akans and Dangmes have ever co-existed. Again, seven (7) words representing precent (17.5%) are words that belong Dangme and Ewe languages which means that Akans and Dangmes have ever co-existed. It is important to note that apart from the 18 words that belong to all the three languages, there are no words that belong excusively to Akan and Ewe as we have for Akan and Dangme and Dangme and Ewe. This means that Akans and Ewes havenever co-lived.