Cameroon

Ghana

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Uganda

Ghana

Like many other countries along the African coast, Ghana has had substantial influence from European colonizers. Dating back as early as the 15th century, the Portuguese were the first to establish outposts in what was then called the Gold Coast, today’s Ghana. Language influence during the 150 years did not penetrate far inlands. However, somewhat of a lingua franca derived from Portuguese emerged near the coast. In the 16th century, two more sea-faring nations arrived in the area: the Dutch and English. English interest was at first reserved, however, intensified in the 17th century. Over the next decades, the influence of the English language as a trade language increased, slowly replacing the Portuguese-lexified jargon, even in the hinterlands. Like the Portuguese, the English also operated out of fortified trade posts, from which the spread of English slowly commenced.

The English variety spoken in Ghana, being part of the West African Pidgin continuum, shares many similarities with other varieties spoken in the same region (e.g. Cameroon, Nigeria). It is embedded in a linguistically complex environment in which up to 45-50 languages are spoken. English became the official language, which means that it is used for all official purposes. It also dominates the educational system, in which it is the language in which all subjects are taught from grade four onwards.

While many commercials and radio stations are broadcasted in a variety of other Ghanaian languages, most entertainment shows, news on tv and movies are in English. Ghana can therefore be considered a diglossic speech community, in which English established its role as the high variety.

Some of the phonological features of Ghanaian Pidgin English include the omission of consonants such as /n, d, t, l/ at the end of words. Examples include opi (from open) and stan (from stand). Syllables are often simplified by weakening or dropping individual consonants. “Words” would therefore be realized as wes. The consonants /l/ and /r/ are often interchanged (e.g. botru for ‘bottle’). Ghanaian Pidgin English generally is non-rhotic, however, may use the /r/ to link two words together. Vowel length distinction is very often lost, especially with the /i/ (e.g. pin and six may be pronounced with /i:/ ) and /u/ (e.g. good and hook are often realized with /u:/ )

In terms of morphology and syntax, deviations from British English occur mainly in spoken language rather than in writing. Some examples of differences occur in the use of articles, prepositions and phrasal verbs. Some of these are either omitted or substituted. With modal auxiliaries, the past tense is often used where British English uses the present tense. Additionally, adjective forms may be used adverbially and mass nouns as count nouns. Nevertheless Ghanaian English is syntactically close to British English.

Many Ghanaianisms, i.e. borrowings, are derived from English, and are also primarily used in verbal communication. Just like in other English varieties, a large number of word formation processes are also at work in Ghanaian English. Some of these are semantic extensions, shifts and restrictions of individual lexical items.

Reviews of available literature on books dealing with this English variety can be found here