Penn Language Center

The Twi language is one of the major languages of the Akan language family in West Africa. It is spoken predominantly in Ghana, West Africa, by about 85 percent of the Ghanaian population (both native and non-native speakers). Native Twi speakers constitute about 45 percent of the population of Ghana, whereas native Akan speakers, in general, form about 60 percent of that country's population.

The Twi language was first recorded in the 1840s by European Presbyterian missionaries using the Latin alphabet. Since then, many research books and articles have been written in Twi by both Ghanaian and European authors. Twi is a language of scholarship as well as research in African studies. The linguistic beauty of Twi lies not only in its tonal system and its effect on the meanings of words and phrases, but also in the literal meanings of roots which derive such words and phrases.

Source: African Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania