Asante, the dialect of Akan spoken in the Ashanti region of Ghana, is a tonal language, meaning roughly that the intonation of a word will change its meaning, even if the pronunciation is otherwise the same. One consequence is that verbal messages can be conveyed by highly skilled drumming, as in the following example…
Poor Fowl
A song of the Ashanti people from Ghana, humorously pretending to sympathise with the poor chicken which is always used in sacrifices.
Fowl, condolences, poor, poor, poor fowl;
Fowl, condolences, poor, poor, poor fowl…
The Path and the River
An Ashanti poem from Ghana, an extract from a drum poem in praise of the river God Tano, addressed as “Kokon Tano” and “Birefia Tano” (see also Drum Address To The Earth Spirit).
The path has crossed the river,
The river has crossed the path…
Drum Address to the Earth Spirit
An Ashanti drum poem from Ghana (see The Drum-History of Mampon for more about drum poems). The poem is praising the Earth which supports us in life and receives us in death.
Earth, condolences,
Earth, condolences…
