Gen language

Gen
Mina
Native to	Benin, Togo[1]
Native speakers	620,000 (2019–2021)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta–Congo languages Kwa Gbe Gen
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Benin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	gej
Glottolog	genn1243

Gen (also called Gɛ̃, Gɛn gbe, Gebe, Guin, Mina, Mina-Gen, and Popo) is a Gbe language spoken in the southeast of Togo in the Maritime Region. Like the other Gbe languages, Gen is a tonal language.

History

The Gen-Mina originated from Accra and Elmina in Ghana. The Mina from Elmina migrated because of the Denkyira wars of aggression, while the Gen came over from Accra after their defeat in the Akwamu wars. The two groups intermingled with the indigenous Ewe, resulting in their Ewe dialect having words borrowed from Fanti, Ga-Adangbe and various European languages.^{[citation needed]}

The Gen language is mutually intelligible with Ewe and is considered to be one of the many dialects of Ewe.^{[citation needed]}

There were 476,000 Gen-speakers in Togo in 2019, and 144,000 in Benin in 2021.^[1]

References

Sources

• Kangni, Atah-Ekoué (1989) La syntaxe du Gẽ: étude syntaxique d'un parler Gbe: le Gẽ du Sud-Togo. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

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