The Place of Dangme in the Multilingual Context of Kpone, Greater Accra, Ghana

Abstract

This study investigates the language situation in the Kpone speech community in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Kpone is a Dangme community belonging to the Kwa language group. The study gives a broader view of the language situation of Kpone. This is done with focus on the place of Dangme in the multilingual context of Kpone. Unstructured interviews and questionnaires were instruments employed to gather data for the study. Data was gathered from homes, churches, schools and market in Kpone. The results of the questionnaire data were analyzed using the SPSS. The study shed light on the multilingual nature of kpone speech community due to the presence of languages like Akan, Ga and English. Because of this, inhabitants in the Kpone speech community make use of different languages to aid their communicative needs. The findings establish that though Dangme has lost its domains in Kpone to languages such as Akan, Ga and English, it is still preferred in the home domain between participants and their parents.