Words and Phrases

The previous Blog post was about Christian names, second Christian names, Surnames and other words. This Blog post is about certain words within one of the Ghanaian languages. The Ghanaian Embassy [in Japan] Website lists the following greetings that are pronounced using the "Akan" Dialect. Please Mepaokyew. Good morning Maa Kye. Good afternoon Maa-ha. Good evening Maa-adjo. Good night Da-yie. Farewell Nantee-yie. Welcome Akwaaba, and Thank you Medaase. I already knew what Akwaaba meant, after reading the word on a large sign as I arrived at Kotoka International Airport. 'Thank you' was added to my vocabulary when Jeffers sent me a text with Medaase together with a string of words meaning 'how are you'. It was pretty difficult my end when that text arrived as I had no idea what was written. In fact it was worse than when I was learning the Welsh language as at least then I had a dictionary to fall back upon. Mind you; that fabulous social network site known as FACEBOOK came to my aid; and after a swift message to Jeff and a prompt response, all was revealed.