The Bible Society of Ghana commenced the translation of the Bono Twi Bible in 2017 and had completed the translation of the 27 books of the New Testament. The overall project will be completed in 2027 with the translation of the Old Testament.[5][6]
Relationship with other dialects of Akan
Intelligibility can be difficult between the different dialects of Bono. For the most part, Bono is mutually intelligible with other dialects of Akan, but the degree of intelligibility varies with geographical distance. Most speakers of Bono arebidialectal in Asante.[7]
Bono andWasa are the most divergent dialects of Akan. Along with Fante, Bono is also one of the most conservative, retaining features such as the third-person plural pronounbɛ that have since been lost elsewhere.[8][7][9]
Differences from other dialects of Akan
Phonological
Bono tends to use /h/ where Asante has palatalized it tohy (/ɕ/) andhw (/ɕʷ/): cf. Bonohia vs. Asantehyia ("to meet").[8]
Bono has [l] and [r] in free variation, where Asante has 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").[8]
In most Akan dialects, the emphatic particlenà is pronounced with a low tone, whereas in Bono it isné, with a high tone.[8]
Unlike other varieties of Akan, and mostKwa languages in general, which have nominal vowel prefixes, many Bono nouns have either ahomorganic nasal prefix or no nasal prefix at all: cf. Bonopɔnkɔ vs. Asanteɔpɔnkɔ ("horse"). Conversely, while most dialects have lost the nominal vowel suffix, Bono as well as Asante have retained it: cf. Bononsuo vs. Asantensu ("water"). Asante is the only dialect to have retained both vowel prefix and suffix: cf. Bonowuo, Asanteowuo, and Asanteowu ("death").[8]
Grammatical
The most characteristic feature of Bono is its use of the third-person plural pronounbɛ, not found in any other Akan dialect. It was likely an old pronoun retained in Bono but not elsewhere in Akan.[8]
Akan 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. AsanteKofi kɔe ("Kofi went", with explicit subject and without subject marker) andɔkɔe ("He went", with subject marker) vs. BonoKofi 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.[8]
In Bono, the first-person singular prefixesme- reduce to a homorganic syllabic nasal when they occur immediately before a consonant, e.g.mbaeɛ ("I came"), whereas other Akan dialects do not reduce it, e.g.mebae ("I came").[8]
Bono does not distinguish the third-person singular animateɔ- and inanimateɛ- possessive prefixes common to other Akan dialects, instead usingɔ- (sometimes pronouncedwɔ-) for both: cf. Bonoɔkɔ ("he/she/it has gone") vs. Akuapemɔkɔ ("he/she has gone") andɛkɔ ("it has gone").[8]
