Bono language

For the Akan ethnic group, see Bono people.

Bono
Abron
Native to	Ghana, Ivory Coast
Ethnicity	Bono
Native speakers	1.4 million (2013)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta–Congo Kwa Potou–Tano Tano Central Tano Akanic Bono
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	abr
Glottolog	abro1238

Bono, also known as Abron or Brong, is a Central Tano language common to the Bono people and closely related to the Akan language. Bono has some mutually intelligibility with Wasa. It is spoken by 1.2 million in Ghana, primarily in the Central Ghanaian region of Brong-Ahafo, and by over 300,000 in eastern Ivory Coast.

Relationship with other Akanic languages

Bono is both geographically and linguistically close to Asante. Most speakers of Bono are bilingual with Asante.

Along with Fante, Bono is one of the more conservative Akanic languages and dialects, retaining several features, such as the third-person plural pronoun bɛ, that have since been lost elsewhere.

Differences from other Akanic languages

Phonological

• Bono tends to use /h/ where other Akanic varieties have palatalized it to hy (/ɕ/) and hw (/ɕʷ/): cf. Bono hia vs. Asante hyia ("to meet").
• Bono has [l] and [r] in free variation, where other Akanic varieties have only /r/ or only /l/. As Akan generally has [d] in complementary distribution with [r], there are some Bono words with [l], [r], and [d] in free variation, e.g. fiela/fiera/fieda ("Friday"). A similar process may be found in some varieties of Asante, e.g. akɔlaa/akɔraa/akɔdaa ("child").
• In most Akanic dialects, the emphatic particle nà is pronounced with a low tone, whereas in Bono it is né, with a high tone.
• Unlike other Akanic varieties, and most Kwa languages in general, which have nominal vowel prefixes, many Bono nouns have either a homorganic nasal prefix or no nasal prefix at all: cf. Bono pɔnkɔ vs. Asante ɔpɔnkɔ ("horse"). Conversely, while most varieties have lost the nominal vowel suffix, Bono as well as Asante have retained it: cf. Bono nsuo vs. Asante nsu ("water"). Asante is the only dialect to have retained both vowel prefix and suffix: cf. Bono wuo, Asante owuo, and other Akanic owu ("death").

Grammatical

• The most characteristic feature of Bono is its use of the third-person plural pronoun bɛ, not found in any other Akanic variety. It was likely an old pronoun retained in Bono but not elsewhere among Akanic languages.
• Akanic subject markers are usually only used when a subject is not made explicit, and are only ever used alongside an explicit subject in emphatic sentences. However, in Bono, an explicit subject is almost always used alongside a subject marker, whether the sentence is emphatic or not: cf. Asante Kofi kɔe ("Kofi went", with explicit subject and without subject marker) and ɔkɔe ("He went", with subject marker) vs. Bono Kofi ɔkɔe (literally "Kofi he went", with explicit subject and subject marker). Similarly, Bono requires a possessor as well as a possessive pronoun, e.g. Kofi ne dan (literally "Kofi his house"), although this is a feature found in Fante and Akuapem.
• In Bono, the first-person singular prefixes me- reduce to a homorganic syllabic nasal when they occur immediately before a consonant, e.g. mbaeɛ ("I came"), whereas other Akanic dialects do not reduce it, e.g. mebae ("I came").
• Bono does not distinguish the third-person singular animate ɔ- and inanimate ɛ- possessive prefixes common to other Akanic dialects, instead using ɔ- (sometimes pronounced wɔ-) for both: cf. Bono ɔkɔ ("he/she/it has gone") vs. Akuapem ɔkɔ ("he/she has gone") and ɛkɔ ("it has gone").

Grammar

Pronouns

	Independent	Subject	Possessive	Object
First sing.	me	me-	me-	m
Second sing.	wo	wo-	wo	w
Third sing.	ɔno	wɔ-	ɔ-; ne	no
First pl.	yɛ	yɛ-	yɛ	yɛ
Second pl.	hõ	hõ-	hõ	hõ
Third pl.	bɛ	bɛ-	bɛ	bɛ
Unspecified		ɛ-