Adja language

Not to be confused with Aja language (Nilo-Saharan).

The Aja language is a Gbe language spoken by the Aja people of Benin, Togo, Ghana, Nigeria and Gabon. In Gabon, they are mostly migrants.

Aja
Adja, Hwè
Native to	Benin, Togo, Ghana, Nigeria, Gabon
Ethnicity	Aja people
Native speakers	1.28 million (2012–2021)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Kwa Gbe Aja
Dialects	Dogbo Hwe Tado Sikpi Tala
Writing system	Latin
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Benin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ajg
Glottolog	ajab1235
The distribution of the major Gbe dialect areas (after Capo 1988, 1991)

it is closely related to other Gbe languages such as Ewe, Mina, Fon, and Phla Phera. Adja is the mother tribe from which the other Gbe people are descended.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Post-alv./ Palatal	Velar	Labial- velar	Uvular
Nasal		[m]	[n]		[ɲ]	ŋ
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t		t͡ʃ	k	k͡p
	voiced	b	d	ɖ	d͡ʒ	ɡ	ɡ͡b
Fricative	voiceless	f	s		ʃ			χ
	voiced	v	z			ɣ		ʁ
Approximant			l ~ [r]		j		w

• Voiced consonants /b, ɖ, j/ are heard as nasal sonorant sounds [m, n, ɲ] when followed by a nasal vowel.
• /l/ is heard as a rhotic trill [r] when after alveolar, retroflex or post-alveolar consonants.
• Sounds /s/ and /z/ are heard as post-alveolar [ʃ], [ʒ] when preceding /i/.
• Approximant sounds /l, w/ may also be nasalized as [l̃, w̃] when preceding or following nasal vowels.
• Some linguists have also attested the nasal sound [ɲ], and labialized uvular sounds, [χʷ] and [ʁʷ], as separate phonemes.

Vowels

Oral vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		a

• /u/ when before /i/ is heard as a labio-palatal [ɥ]. It is then nasalized as [ɥ̃] when in nasal position.

Nasal vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	ĩ		ũ
Open-mid	ɛ̃		ɔ̃
Open		ã

Comparison

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Aja

Agbetɔwo pleŋu vanɔ gbɛmɛ ko vovoɖeka gbeswɛgbeswɛ, sɔto amɛnyinyi ko acɛwo gomɛ; wo xɔnɔ susunywin ko jimɛnywi so esexwe. Wo ɖo a wa nɔvi ɖaɖa wowo nɔnɔwo gbɔ.

Ewe

Wodzi amegbetɔwo katã ablɔɖeviwoe eye wodzena bubu kple gomekpɔkpɔ sɔsɔe. Susu kple dzitsinya le wo dometɔ ɖesiaɖe si eyata wodze be woanɔ anyi le ɖekawɔwɔ blibo me.

English

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.