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ENSusf^t Mlv^ '' 1. WM. E. WELMERS 143 Girard Avenue Hartford 5, Connecticut Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2007 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/englislitsliiasantOOevaniala A DICTIONARY ENGLISH-TSHI (ASANTE) » e:ivvIi^e: I-TTW^i nsem-asekyere-nhoma. EJniTED BY THED BASEL MISSIOTSIARY SOCIETY. SECOND EDITION. REVISED AND ENLARGED. BASEL 1909. PRINTED FOR THE BASEL EVANG. MISSIONARY SOCIETY. SOLD AT BASEL MISSION BOOK-DEPOT. ACCRA, AND AT EVERY BASEL MISSION HEAD-STATION ON THEGOLD-COAST, W. AFRICA. *""* SRIF fwt' PREFACE. ^^4 1^0^ I / This book, originally compiled as a ''Vocabulary of the Akra- or Ga-Language", was edited in three languages as an "English- Tshi-Ga-Dictionary" in 1872 by the Eev. J. G. Christaller. Since about 15 years the first edition had been out of print, and the deficiency of an English-Vernacular Dictionary for the English learning scholars was the longer the more strongly felt. The undersigned, having withdrawn from the Goldcoast, felt it a pleasure to render some help to those still actively engaged in Mission- and Schoolwork by revising and enlarging this book, which is now published in two languages. He is greatly indebted to Eev. J. Lochmann, then Manager of the Grammar-School at Akropong, who did the preparatory work with the aid of Rev. Th. Opoku, Eev. Ph. Kwabi, Mr. Dan. Akwa and Mr. J. Gyampo and to late Eev. A. Bauer at Kumase and Eev. Erwin Nothwang at Akropong, who both had the kindness to send their suggestions & corrections, of which ample use was made. It is not too much to say that this little book meets a great requirement of Government Ofiicers and Merchants as well as of the educated native population on the Goldcoast, and it is sure to command an extensive circulation throughout this Colony. Kirchheim-Teck, Germany, Afl. Th. MOhF. in May 1909. NB. When searching for a word, always refer to the Appendix, page 221—247. j Introduction, I. On the Pronunciation of the Tshi Words. The words of the Tshi Language contained in this book are written according to the "Standard Alphabet for reducing unwritten languages &c. to a uniform orthography" by Dr. Lepsius, London, Williams and Norgate; Berlin, W. Hertz, 1863. The Vowels a e i u have their German or Italian pronunciation, which is also often the same in English {past, far, best, mist, postpone, full, rule). This pronunciation is kept through the whole ofthese introductory remarks. Accessory vowel- sounds and signs are the following: a has a thin sound, like the English a in fat, before i, u, gya, nya, twa, and the full e & o; e & are in many cases not full, but have a sound approach- ing to i & u; e & are sounded open and broad as in where, there, not, nor, laiv; a e i 6 11 ara nasal vowels; a e e ... a e ... are long vowels a e i 6 ii are very short. Diphthongs sound always as their single letters import, e.g.: ae, ae, ai, ee, ei, oe, oe, 6e, ui, ui. In this book the compound VOWels aw, ew, ew, iw, ow, are written as they sound, e. g. au, eu, eu, iu, ou. VI Ex. au = ou, ow in Jiouse, now: asaii, a fishing net; asau, a dance; eu and eu are pronounced e-u, g-u: kyereu, to write; ten, to tear; iu = ew in dew. tin, to pursue; ou = o-u; gpou, politeness. The final W of bisyliabiC words has, generally, been dropped. Ex, sesaw, sesa; fotow, foto; susuw, susu; ahosepew, aho- sepe; titiriw, titiri. The final W of monosyllables, however, was either changed into an u, e. g. saw = sau, to dance; tew = ten, to plant; tew = ten, to tear; pow = pou (ho), to polish etc. or it was dropped and the vowel lengthened. Ex. tow kyene = to ky., to throw; — sow so (aha), to bear fruit. Tones, low, high or middle, are inherent in every syllable of every word, independent of the stress laid on single (high or low-toned) syllables. These tones may be marked thus high : tone: a e i ... , low tone: a e i ..., high and low tone: a e e ..., low and high tone a' a' ae .... Middle tones, being variations of high tones, are only found after preceding high tones and have the same mark. Unmarked syllables have the tone of the preceding mark, or the low tone, if there be no previous mark. E. g. in "adaka no so" the successive tones are low, high (to- gether with the stress), middle, middle, low (1, 3, 2; 2; 1). In the Bible and other books the tones are left unmarked, except where distinction is necessary. In this dictionary, however, many words are marked according to their tones, for the benefit of foreigners wishing to learn the language. In spelling or in reciting the alphabet the single letters are not named by their English names, but the vowels are named by their own sound, and the consonants are sounded with the addition of a short e, or, where e does not agree with the con-