Thank you, Mr. Frank Henry Bonsi, for your interesting and informative story about the celebration by the Volta Region of its first paragliding festival. I'm, however, disappointed about the spelling of the name of the waterf ... read full comment
Thank you, Mr. Frank Henry Bonsi, for your interesting and informative story about the celebration by the Volta Region of its first paragliding festival. I'm, however, disappointed about the spelling of the name of the waterfall, viz., 'Wadjekli' or 'Wadjakli'. I'm not sure whether or not it's your own spelling or the official one of the word, but whether your own or not, both are wrong. There's no 'j' in the Ewe alphabet and must therefore not be introduced in the spelling of Ewe words. The correct spelling in Ewe should be 'Wadzekli' or 'Wadzakli'. Spelling this word with 'j' is shameful and it only demonstrates our passion for blind copying, our indiscriminate borrowing of things foreign and our feeling of inferiority complex. It's this kind of mentality, the mentality of not being proud of our language, nay, our culture, that has led many Ewes to be making strenuous efforts to turn Ewe words into English or French. How disgusting!
Just consider these two names, Blagoogee and Adajawah. Do they in any way look like Ewe names at all? The problem is even compounded when the bearers themselves of such names pronoune them. They sound so foreign that their beautiful meanings are completely lost. Blagoogee is the corrupted, anglicized version of Blagodzi, meaning, 'gird your loin' while Adajawah is also the corrupted form of Adadzawo, meaning, 'ada' (i.e., reed) has blossomed.
Ewes are in general unaware of the importance and beauty of their language, a language that the great German philologist, Dr. Diedriech Westermann, who had lived in the former Gold Coast and British Togoland as a missionary and worked on the development of the Ewe, Ga, Twi and other African languages in the first decade of the 20th century, after which he become the director of the International Language Institute in London, England, dubbed 'Africa's Latin'.
Today's Ewes are unfortunately mentally enslaved and are therefore greatly and urgently in need of mental liberation.
I. O. Boateng, New York 9 years ago
The people of Likpe are not Ewes; they are Guans. The Ewes have corrupted the languages, names and cultures of the Guans because Ewes are opportunistic and domineering. They have systematically destroyed our core cultures, al ... read full comment
The people of Likpe are not Ewes; they are Guans. The Ewes have corrupted the languages, names and cultures of the Guans because Ewes are opportunistic and domineering. They have systematically destroyed our core cultures, all because the educated Guans have sat back and allowed them to do so. The Ewes know that the Volta Region comprises about four major ethnic groups, but they deliberately project the region as an all-Ewe people just to serve their parochial political ends. So as you read, the name of the people and place is Sekpele but you Ewes have corrupted it and you call it Likpe. If you care to know ask for the original word of every ewe-like word and you'll get to know the kind of damage my people the Guans have allowed you to cause to our unique cultures in that part of the region. So back off. Enough of your stupid dominance. I am from Santrokofi. That was not the original name, but it was corrupted by Ewes because Ewes are xenophobic and inward looking and so they treat everything with Ewe connotation. The original name was Saatekofi. Take for instance, the first town in my traditional area from Hohoe heading north, is called Benua, which was originally Banua. Second and third towns, both bear Ewe names. The question is why the heck should Ewe be used predominantly in our cultural settings?
C.Y. ANDY-K 9 years ago
Boateng, you are indeed a fool! He might have been wrong in his assumptions and I had just told him off but what you wrote and the insults you threw at Ewes portrays you as a hateful idiot!
Now, go to the Akan areas where ... read full comment
Boateng, you are indeed a fool! He might have been wrong in his assumptions and I had just told him off but what you wrote and the insults you threw at Ewes portrays you as a hateful idiot!
Now, go to the Akan areas where some also claim to be Guans and find out if they still speak their Guan dialect. But in the VR, the Central Togo tribes, as the non-ethnic minorities are known collectively, have retained their dialects and still speak them without any Ewes trying to impose Ewe on them, as Twi speakers try to do to all and sundry. When I was in Mawuli School, students from those ethnic groups freely speak their dialects and those of us new to them even encourage them to speak it the more.
We Ewes never portray the VR as an Ewe only region, rather, our ignorant detractors do. Some of us are very much perturbed by the deafening silence of non-Ewes in the VR when we are all being insulted, as Ewes, esp. when the culprits that elicited the insults are not even Ewes. Yes, like Obed Asamoah, Gbevlo Lartey and the multitude of non-Ewes from the VR who are enjoying nyanyafu in the NDC and we Ewes get the insults!
If you are from Santrokofi, can you tell us who those people are and where they come from? Don't worry. I shall do that pretty soon.
Anyway, is it not always the case that people call others by different names to that the others call themselves? Do you know how Germans call themselves and how people from different Europeans call them? Not same for the French, English, and all the European countries? Know how the French call the English?
Andy-K
C.Y. ANDY-K 9 years ago
Good grief! Whose z instead of j? I am reminded of the story between some Blacks about how Africa should be spelt. The so-called African patriot was insisting that it should be spelt with k, thus Afrika, and the supposed brai ... read full comment
Good grief! Whose z instead of j? I am reminded of the story between some Blacks about how Africa should be spelt. The so-called African patriot was insisting that it should be spelt with k, thus Afrika, and the supposed brainwashed bloke was arguing c was ok. A listener then asked, after all, whose K? Is it not the same Europeans who brought the k, just as the z? You have to see some old spelling of Ewe words to appreciate this. My grandfather who died in the 1950s wrote his name as Coomah, for what is now written as Kuma.
And besides, the area and name obviously is not Ewe, but rather Likpe, with their own dialect. Maybe they use j to spell. What about that? I doubt though, since they were also under the Germans.
Anyway, I welcome the news of the initiation of the event. Congrats!
one of such activity such be done in the north
Thank you, Mr. Frank Henry Bonsi, for your interesting and informative story about the celebration by the Volta Region of its first paragliding festival. I'm, however, disappointed about the spelling of the name of the waterf ...
read full comment
The people of Likpe are not Ewes; they are Guans. The Ewes have corrupted the languages, names and cultures of the Guans because Ewes are opportunistic and domineering. They have systematically destroyed our core cultures, al ...
read full comment
Boateng, you are indeed a fool! He might have been wrong in his assumptions and I had just told him off but what you wrote and the insults you threw at Ewes portrays you as a hateful idiot!
Now, go to the Akan areas where ...
read full comment
Good grief! Whose z instead of j? I am reminded of the story between some Blacks about how Africa should be spelt. The so-called African patriot was insisting that it should be spelt with k, thus Afrika, and the supposed brai ...
read full comment