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A Very Basic Introduction to the Ewe Language
Travelling to the Volta region of Ghana or Togo? Here are some basic phrases and vocabulary that you should find useful. Please note that this is not meant to be comprehensive and complete accuracy is not guaranteed, but if you want to be able to say a few things, which will be hugely appreciated by Ewe speakers, this should help.

Ewe is a tonal language so I have used accents to indicate where the tone of the voice should go down, for example �Nd�, meaning �afternoon�, and �Mej�, meaning �I am leaving�. You might find the spellings here different to any other language resources you might find � here the intention is to spell words phonetically rather than as they will be written. Just remember that all letters should be pronounced, including e�s on the end of words. For example, �Yaye� should be �ya-yay�.

Also, of course, pronunciation will be much easier when you can hear it being said � just ask someone when you�re here! They will be more than happy to help.

I hope you find this useful! If you have any additions or suggestions please email
etordomedevelopment(at)yahoo.com.

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Greetings

Woezo � welcome
Y�o � ok (response)

(Note: In Ghana and in Ewe, people don�t say thankyou as much as in the UK, for example. Ok is a more typical response. Only say thankyou if you have been given something or if someone has done something for you.)

But for when you do need it�
Akpe � thankyou
Akpe meli o � no thanks needed

Ndi naw� � good morning (to one person)
Ndi nami � good morning (to more than one person)
Ndi � response to �good morning� � meaning �morning�

Nd� naw� � good afternoon (to one person)
Nd� nami � good afternoon (to more than one person)
Nd� � response to �good afternoon� � meaning �afternoon�

Fienyi naw� � good evening (to one person)
Fienyi nami � good evening (to more than one person)
Fienyi � response to �good evening� � meaning �evening�

Femetode? or Apwemeto? � how is it?
Ed� � fine

Efo�? � how are you?
Ee � fine

(Note: So, the standard greeting exchange would go something along the lines of:
�Ndi naw�
�Ndi, femetode?�
�Ed�, efo�?�
�Ee� 
probably followed, especially if you are a white person, by raucous laughter!)

Ayikoo � greeting to someone coming back from working
Yaye � response to this � meaning �the work is good�

More basic phrases, food, numbers, and more...
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