View source for Gen language

{{Short description|Gbe language of Togo}}
{{Distinguish|Hina language}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Gen
| altname          = Mina, Popo
| nativename       = {{lang|gej|gɛn}}
| states           = [[Benin]], [[Togo]]<ref name=e26/>
| speakers         = {{sigfig|620,000|2}}
| date             = 2019–2021
| ref              = e26
| familycolor      = Niger-Congo
| fam2             = [[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]]
| fam3             = [[Volta–Congo languages]]
| fam4             = [[Kwa languages|Kwa]]
| fam5             = [[Gbe languages|Gbe]]
| minority         = [[Benin]]
| iso3             = gej
| glotto           = genn1243
| glottorefname    = Gen
}}

'''Gen''' (also called '''Gɛ̃''', '''Gɛn gbe''', '''Gebe''', '''Guin''', '''Mina''', '''Mina-Gen''', and '''Popo''') is a [[Gbe languages|Gbe]] language spoken in the southeast of [[Togo]] in the [[Maritime (Togolese region)|Maritime Region]]. Like the other Gbe languages, Gen is a [[Tone (linguistics)|tonal language]]. It was misidentified as the [[Arda language|'Arda' language]] isolate of South America.<ref>{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=L. |title=The Indigenous Languages of the Americas: History and Classification |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=978-0-19-767346-1 |chapter=Phantom, False, and Spurious Languages of South America |access-date=2025-03-01 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oWAHEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA333}}</ref>

== History ==
The Gen language is spoken by the [[Gen-Mina people]], who originated from [[Accra]] and [[Elmina]] in Ghana. The Mina from Elmina migrated because of the [[Denkyira]] wars of aggression, while the {{Interlanguage link|Gen people|lt=Gen|fr|Guin (peuple)}} came over from Accra after their defeat in the [[Akwamu people|Akwamu]] wars. The two groups intermingled with the indigenous [[Ewe people|Ewe]], resulting in their Ewe dialect having words borrowed from [[Fante language|Fanti]], [[Ga language|Ga-Adangbe]] and various European languages.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

The Gen language is [[mutually intelligible]] with Ewe and is considered to be one of the many dialects of Ewe.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

There were 476,000 Gen-speakers in Togo in 2019, and 144,000 in Benin in 2021.<ref name=e26/>

== Phonology ==

=== Vowels ===
The vowels of Mina (Gen) are as follows:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ako |first=Léopold |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JuIiAQAAMAAJ |title=Grammaire Mina: complète |date=1969 |language=fr}}</ref>

a ã e ɛ ẽ i ĩ o ɔ õ u ũ

<!--=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |Guttural
! colspan="2" |Labial
! colspan="2" |Dental
! rowspan="2" |Palatal
! colspan="2" |Labiovelar
|-
!<small>weak</small>
!<small>strong</small>
!<small>weak</small>
!<small>strong</small>
!<small>weak</small>
!<small>strong</small>
!<small>weak</small>
!<small>strong</small>
|-
! rowspan="2" |Explosive
!<small>plain</small>
|g
|k
|b
|p
|d
|t
|ɖ
|gb
|kp
|-
!<small>affricate</small>
|
|
|
|
|dj
|ts
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |Continuant
|h
|x
|v
|f
|z
|s
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |Liquid
!<small>plain</small>
|
|
|
|
|l
|
|r
|
|
|-
!<small>nasal</small>
|ŋ
|
|m
|
|n
|
|ny
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |Semiconsonant
|
|
|w
|
|r
|
|ɖ
|
|
|}-->

== Orthography ==
The orthography is defined in the ''[[:fr:Alphabet_des_langues_nationales_(Bénin)|Alphabet des langues nationales]]'' of Benin. In the 1990 edition, Gen shared its alphabet with [[Waci language|Waci]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Centre national de linguistique appliquée (CENALA) |date=1990 |location=Cotonou |edition=2 |publisher=CENALA |ref=CENALA1990 |title=Alphabet des langues nationales |hdl=10625/6700 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10625/6700}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> In the 2008 edition, Gen has its own alphabet (without [[Ƒ|F with hook]] {{angbr|ƒ}}).
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"
|+Alphabet<ref>{{cite book|author=Centre national de linguistique appliquée (CENALA) |date=2008 |location=Cotonou |edition=6 |publisher=CENALA avec le concours de l'Initiative francophone pour la formation à distance des maîtres (IFADEM) |ref=CENALA2008 |title=Alphabet des langues nationales béninoises}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>
!Uppercase
|A
|B
|C
|D
|Ɖ
|E
|Ɛ
|F
|G
|GB
|Ɣ
|H
|X
|I
|J
|K
|KP
|L
|M
|N
|NY
|Ŋ
|Ɔ
|P
|S
|T
|U
|Ʋ
|V
|W
|Y
|Z
|-
!Lowercase
|a
|b
|c
|d
|ɖ
|e
|ɛ
|f
|g
|gb
|ɣ
|h
|x
|i
|j
|k
|kp
|l
|m
|n
|ny
|ŋ
|ɔ
|p
|s
|t
|u
|ʋ
|v
|w
|y
|z
|}
[[Nasalisation]] is indicated with a n after the vowel ({{angbr|an ɔn ɛn in un}}).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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

{{Languages of Togo}}
{{Languages of Benin}}
{{Languages of Ghana}}
{{Volta-Niger languages}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Gbe languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Togo]]
[[Category:Languages of Benin]]
[[Category:Languages of Ghana]]


{{VoltaNiger-lang-stub}}