I’d like to introduce you to fufu, a delicious starchy Akan dish eaten mostly in Ghana. We’ll learn the Twi names of the ingredients and other items used in preparing the dish.
The word fufu comes from the Twi language.
Click the speaker button below to hear how it is properly pronounced in Asante Twi.
NOTE: If you don’t see the speaker button, then download and install the Flash player from Adobe.
| Fufuo | Fufu |
Fufu is made from boiled cassava, cocoyam, or unripe plantain which is pounded to a starchy pulp in a big wooden mortar with a long wooden pestle. The fufu is covered with a spicy soup usually in an earthenware bowl. The most common soups served with fufu are palmnut soup, groundnut soup or light soup. Palmnut soup is made with the nuts from the palm tree, groundnut soup is made from groundnuts, while light soup is made from vegetables. Soups served with fufu almost always contain either goat meat, grasscutter, chicken or fish.
In Ghana, you can buy fufu with any of the soups mentioned above from a lot of local restaurants called chop bars in any city or town.
Now let’s learn how to say the Twi names of the ingredients and other items bolded in the article.
VOCABULARY
| Bankye | Cassava | |
| Mankani | Cocoyam | |
| Borɔdeε | Plantain | |
| Waduro | Mortar | |
| Wɔma | Pestle | |
| Nkwan | Soup | |
| Ayowa | Earthenware bowl | |
| Abεnkwan | Palmnut soup | |
| Nkatenkwan | Groundnut soup | |
| Nkaakra | Light soup | |
| Nkateε | Groundnuts (peanuts) | |
| Atosodeε | Vegetables | |
| Apɔnkyenam | Goat meat | |
| Akranteε | Grasscutter | |
| Akokɔnam | Chicken | |
| Nsuomnam | Fish |
If your pronunciations don’t quite sound like the native speaker’s, go over the words again until you get them right. I hope you enjoyed this short article. See you later for some more.
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I think that there are appropriate twi spellings for these names eg. Sap)n not sarpong. 3dweso and not Ejisu. Akyeampon and not Acheampong/Akyeampong.
My suggestion is that you try and introduce a row or column where words are first spelt appropriately. Then you can have how the Europeans spelt it as it has come to stay and then etc. If I am learning Asanti twi, dw(o,e,i) not the same as j(o,e,i).
Aside that there are alphabets that are not part of the twi alphabets and this distinction if not drawn will compromise on the true language you seek to teach and it’s quality. Thank you
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I am looking for someone to teach me this language because I am from Atlanta,Ga and my husband is from Ghana and I want to learn his language in order to communicate and talk to him. So that’s why I am asking if someone would help me learn it. And because I am disable and not able to buy the software due to not having any money nor being able to work in order to get the information that I need to get it. So if there is anyone out there who is willing to help me i would really appreciate it to the fullness of my heart. Thank you very much.