Language Information

Ewe, pronounced ay-way or ay-vay, is spoken on the southern coast of West Africa between the Volta River in Ghana and the Mono River in Togo. There are about 1½ million speakers in each country. Ewe belongs to the Kwa subgroup of the Niger-Congo family. The English word voodoo is of Ewe origin.

Benin, Ghana, Togo.

Family: Niger-Congo
Subgroup: Western Sudanic
Branch: Kwa

Writing Sample

Translation

"Hear a parable!" "May the parable come ." "One day an eagle swooped down upon the beautiful daughter of a chief and carried her to an island in the river. The chief looked for people to fetch his daughter away from the eagle. A thief, a hunter, and a mender came at once. The thief said he could steal the girl from the talons of the eagle. The hunter said that should the eagle see them and try to recapture the girl, he would shoot him, so that he would die at once. The mender said that should the eagle (having been shot) fall into the boat and break it, he would patch it up.
"As soon as they had started off, the thief stole the girl. As they reached the middle of the river, the eagle came to take the child. Then the hunter shot him, so that he fell into the boat, which was shattered into a thousand pieces. The mender immediately patched the boat, so that they reached home safely. Which of these three people did the most, thereby gaining the praise of the chief?"