Subject: [Ietf-languages] Registration requests: akuapem, asante

From: Sascha Brawer <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 17 May 2017 09:29:29 +0200

LANGUAGE SUBTAG REGISTRATION FORM

1. Name of requester: Sascha Brawer
2. E-mail address of requester: [email-masked]
3. Record Requested:

Type: variant
Subtag: akuapem
Description: Akuapem Twi
Prefix: tw

4. Intended meaning of the subtag:

The two Akan dialects of Akuapem and Asante are known as Twi. They are
distinct, but mutually intelligible.

5. Reference to published description of the language (book or article):

“Speaking Akuapem Twi”. In: Esi Cleland, Kofi Oteng Gyang, Nana Kodwo
Imbeah, and Paa Kwesi Imbeah. Modern Akan. A concise introduction to the
Akuapem, Fanti and Twi language. Kasahorow, Accra, 2005. ISBN
9988-0-3767-8. Section 4.2, page 23.

http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/akua1239
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/twi.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twi

6. Any other relevant information:

-----------------------------

LANGUAGE SUBTAG REGISTRATION FORM

1. Name of requester: Sascha Brawer
2. E-mail address of requester: [email-masked]
3. Record Requested:

Type: variant
Subtag: asante
Description: Asante Twi
Description: Ashanti Twi
Prefix: tw

4. Intended meaning of the subtag:

The two Akan dialects of Akuapem and Asante are known as Twi. They are
distinct, but mutually intelligible.

5. Reference to published description of the language (book or article):

“Speaking Asante Twi”. In: Esi Cleland, Kofi Oteng Gyang, Nana Kodwo
Imbeah, and Paa Kwesi Imbeah, Modern Akan. A concise introduction to the
Akuapem, Fanti and Twi language. Kasahorow, Accra, 2005. ISBN
9988-0-3767-8. Section 4.3, pages 23–24.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asante_dialect
http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/asan1239
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twi

6. Any other relevant information:

---

From: "Don Osborn" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 17 May 2017 10:42:00 -0400

What is the current thinking re use of “ak” vs “tw” as the ISO 639 code for this group (hence prefix in the proposal)? Also I have generally heard of Akuapem, Asante, and Fante as being described as dialects primarily in their form as separate “literary standards,” which if accurate might be incorporated into the narrative (i.e., how are they distinct? My assumption being that that is primarily in writing). 

There is also a unified Akan orthography. So another question is whether this tag request might imply three other tags (unified, Asante, and Fante) under “ak” or two under “tw.”

Don Osborn

From: Ietf-languages [mailto:[email-masked]] On Behalf Of Sascha Brawer
Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2017 3:29 AM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: [Ietf-languages] Registration requests: akuapem, asante

1. Name of requester: Sascha Brawer
2. E-mail address of requester: [email-masked] <mailto:[email-masked]> 
3. Record Requested:

Type: variant
Subtag: akuapem
Description: Akuapem Twi
Prefix: tw

The two Akan dialects of Akuapem and Asante are known as Twi. They are distinct, but mutually intelligible.

“Speaking Akuapem Twi”. In: Esi Cleland, Kofi Oteng Gyang, Nana Kodwo Imbeah, and Paa Kwesi Imbeah. Modern Akan. A concise introduction to the Akuapem, Fanti and Twi language. Kasahorow, Accra, 2005. ISBN 9988-0-3767-8. Section 4.2, page 23.

1. Name of requester: Sascha Brawer
2. E-mail address of requester: [email-masked] <mailto:[email-masked]> 
3. Record Requested:

Type: variant
Subtag: asante
Description: Asante Twi
Description: Ashanti Twi
Prefix: tw

The two Akan dialects of Akuapem and Asante are known as Twi. They are distinct, but mutually intelligible.

“Speaking Asante Twi”. In: Esi Cleland, Kofi Oteng Gyang, Nana Kodwo Imbeah, and Paa Kwesi Imbeah, Modern Akan. A concise introduction to the Akuapem, Fanti and Twi language. Kasahorow, Accra, 2005. ISBN 9988-0-3767-8. Section 4.3, pages 23–24.

---

From: Sascha Brawer <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 17 May 2017 17:29:22 +0200

According to my contact (a co-author of the mentioned grammar), the unified
Akan orthography is based on Akuapem Twi. If BCP47 had defaults for
macro-languages (it doesn’t),“tw-akuapem” thus might be a reasonable
default for “ak”. This seems consistent with the Wikipedia article on
Asante Twi, which writes that Asante Twi and Akuapem Twi are mutually
intelligible, and that Akuapem Twi was the “prestige dialect”.

Regarding Fanti vs. Twi, my contact said that Fanti speakers usually
understand Twi, whereas Twi speakers typically have more difficulty
understanding Fanti. It sounds a bit like (Fanti [fat] vs. Twi) could be
compared to (Swiss German [gsw] vs. Standard German [de]), but I’m not sure
if this is a helpful comparison.

— Sascha

On Wed, May 17, 2017 at 4:42 PM, Don Osborn <[email-masked]> wrote:

> What is the current thinking re use of “ak” vs “tw” as the ISO 639 code
> for this group (hence prefix in the proposal)? Also I have generally heard
> of Akuapem, Asante, and Fante as being described as dialects primarily in
> their form as separate “literary standards,” which if accurate might be
> incorporated into the narrative (i.e., how are they distinct? My assumption
> being that that is primarily in writing).
>
>
>
> There is also a unified Akan orthography. So another question is whether
> this tag request might imply three other tags (unified, Asante, and Fante)
> under “ak” or two under “tw.”
>
>
>
> Don Osborn
>
>
>
> *From:* Ietf-languages [mailto:[email-masked]] *On
> Behalf Of *Sascha Brawer
> *Sent:* Wednesday, May 17, 2017 3:29 AM
> *To:* [email-masked]
> *Subject:* [Ietf-languages] Registration requests: akuapem, asante
>
>
>

---

From: "Doug Ewell" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 28 May 2017 17:01:01 -0600

Unfortunately I didn't get around to posting proposed records for these 
two variants until now, so the review period ends June 4 (despite 
Michael having already stated his approval).

Of course these are not final until the end of the review period, so we 
can continue to debate the Prefix thing if desired.

---

LANGUAGE SUBTAG MODIFICATION
File-Date: 2017-xx-xx
%%
Type: variant
Subtag: akuapem
Description: Akuapem Twi
Added: 2017-xx-xx
Prefix: tw
%%

---

LANGUAGE SUBTAG MODIFICATION
File-Date: 2017-xx-xx
%%
Type: variant
Subtag: asante
Description: Asante Twi
Description: Ashanti Twi
Added: 2017-xx-xx
Prefix: tw
%%

--
Doug Ewell | Thornton, CO, US | ewellic.org