Gengbe
Gen (Mina)
Niger-Congo
Gen (Gengbe, also called Mina) is a Gbe language of the Niger-Congo Kwa branch, spoken by approximately 400,000 to 500,000 people primarily in the Maritime Region of southern Togo around Aného (the historic Mina/Gen capital and former Danish/German colonial trading post), with significant populations across the border in southwestern Benin (Mono Department). Gen is a sister language to Ewe (ee) and Fon (fon) within the Gbe dialect continuum and is partially mutually intelligible with both. Historically, the Gen people are descended from Akan immigrants from Elmina (Ghana) — the autonym "Gen" derives from "Mina" (the Portuguese trading post). Linguistically, Gen exhibits the typical Gbe features: ATR vowel harmony, three-tone system, isolating-agglutinative morphology, and SVO word order. The Gbe orthography developed in the 1980s by INFEC and SIL is shared across Ewe, Fon, and Gen.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Gen (Mina)
Water
tsi
/tsi/
Fire
dzo
/dzo/
Sun
ɣe
/ɣe/
Moon
dzinkɛ
/dʒinkɛ/
Star
ɣletsivi
/ɣletsivi/
Mother
nɔ
/nɔ/
Father
tɔ
/tɔ/
I
nyɛ
/ɲɛ/
You
wò
/wò/
Name
ŋkɔ
/ŋkɔ/
Eye
ŋku
/ŋku/
Hand
alɔ
/alɔ/
Heart
dzi
/dzi/
Love
lɔ̃lɔ̃
/lɔ̃lɔ̃/
Tree
ati
/ati/
House
aƒe
/aɸe/
Dog
avu
/avu/
Cat
agbo
/aɡbo/
Eat
ɖu
/ɖu/
Drink
no
/no/
One
ɖeka
/ɖeka/
Two
eve
/eve/
Hello
ado
/ado/
Thank you
akpe
/akpe/
Good
nyo
/ɲo/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Niger-Congo languages
| Meaning | Gen (Mina) | Ewe | Aja | Fon | Japanese (Heian period) | Middle Japanese | Urhobo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | tsi /tsi/ | tsi /tsi/ | esi /esi/ | sin /sĩ/ | 水 /midu/ | 水 /midu/ | ame /ame/ |
| Fire | dzo /dzo/ | dzo /dzo/ | ezo /ezo/ | zo /zo/ | 火 /ɸi/ | 火 /ɸi/ | erane /eɾane/ |
| Sun | ɣe /ɣe/ | ɣe /ɣe/ | ewe /ewe/ | hwe /ɦʷe/ | 日 /ɸi/ | 日 /ɸi/ | ọvẹ /ɔvɛ/ |
| Moon | dzinkɛ /dʒinkɛ/ | ɣleti /ɣleti/ | esun /esun/ | sun /sũ/ | 月 /tukï/ | 月 /tuki/ | emẹrẹ /emɛɾɛ/ |
| Star | ɣletsivi /ɣletsivi/ | ɣletivi /ɣletivi/ | ɣletivi /ɣletivi/ | sunví /sṹví/ | 星 /ɸosi/ | 星 /ɸoɕi/ | isi /isi/ |
| Mother | nɔ /nɔ/ | dada /dada/ | nɔ /nɔ/ | nɔ /nɔ/ | 母 /ɸaɸa/ | 母 /ɸaɸa/ | onie /onie/ |
| Father | tɔ /tɔ/ | fofo /fofo/ | to /to/ | tɔ /tɔ/ | 父 /titi/ | 父 /titi/ | ọsẹ /ɔsɛ/ |
| I | nyɛ /ɲɛ/ | nye /ɲɛ/ | nyɛ /ɲɛ/ | nyɛ /ɲɛ̀/ | 我 /waɾe/ | 我 /waɾe/ | mẹ /mɛ/ |
| You | wò /wò/ | wò /wò/ | wo /wo/ | hwɛ /hwɛ̀/ | 汝 /nare/ | 汝 /nandʑi/ | wẹ /wɛ/ |
| Name | ŋkɔ /ŋkɔ/ | ŋkɔ /ŋkɔ/ | nyikɔ /ɲikɔ/ | nyikɔ /ɲĩ̌kɔ́/ | 名 /na/ | 名 /na/ | odẹ /odɛ/ |
| Eye | ŋku /ŋku/ | ŋku /ŋku/ | ŋku /ŋku/ | nukún /nukṹ/ | 目 /me/ | 目 /me/ | aro /aɾo/ |
| Hand | alɔ /alɔ/ | asi /asi/ | alɔ /alɔ/ | alɔ /alɔ/ | 手 /te/ | 手 /te/ | obọ /obɔ/ |
| Heart | dzi /dzi/ | dzi /dzi/ | dzi /dzi/ | ayi /aji/ | 心 /kokoɾo/ | 心 /kokoɾo/ | udu /udu/ |
| Love | lɔ̃lɔ̃ /lɔ̃lɔ̃/ | lɔ̃lɔ̃ /lɔ̃lɔ̃/ | lɔ̃ /lɔ̃/ | yiwanu /jiwanu/ | 恋 /koɸi/ | 愛 /ai/ | ẹguọnọ /ɛɡwɔnɔ/ |
| Tree | ati /ati/ | ati /ati/ | ati /ati/ | atin /atĩ/ | 木 /kï/ | 木 /ki/ | orhan /oɾan/ |
| House | aƒe /aɸe/ | aƒe /aɸe/ | avia /avia/ | xwé /xʷé/ | 家 /iɸe/ | 家 /iɸe/ | uwevwi /uweβwi/ |
| Dog | avu /avu/ | avu /avu/ | avu /avu/ | avun /avũ/ | 犬 /inu/ | 犬 /inu/ | ebọ /ebɔ/ |
| Cat | agbo /aɡbo/ | dadi /dadi/ | ami /ami/ | kpɔnyɔ /kpɔɲɔ/ | 猫 /neko/ | 猫 /neko/ | ọtọma /ɔtɔma/ |
| Eat | ɖu /ɖu/ | ɖu /ɖu/ | ɖu /ɖu/ | ɖu /ɖu/ | 食ふ /kuɸu/ | 食ふ /kuɸu/ | re /ɾe/ |
| Drink | no /no/ | no /no/ | nu /nu/ | nu /nu/ | 飲む /nomu/ | 飲む /nomu/ | da /da/ |
| One | ɖeka /ɖeka/ | ɖeka /ɖeka/ | ɖeka /ɖeka/ | ɖokpó /ɖokpó/ | 一つ /ɸitotu/ | 一つ /ɸitotu/ | ọvo /ɔvo/ |
| Two | eve /eve/ | eve /ève/ | eve /eve/ | wè /wè/ | 二 /ɸutatu/ | 二 /ni/ | ivẹ /ivɛ/ |
| Hello | ado /ado/ | ŋdi /ŋdi/ | nɛnɛ /nɛnɛ/ | a fɔn ganji /a fɔ̃ ɡãdʒi/ | あなかしこ /anakasiko/ | 御機嫌よろしう /ɡokiɡen joroɕiu/ | migwo /miɡwo/ |
| Thank you | akpe /akpe/ | akpe /akpe/ | amɛ akpe /amɛ akpe/ | àwǎnú /àwǎnú/ | 忝なし /katadikenaɕi/ | 忝し /katadʑikenaɕi/ | miguo /miɡuo/ |
| Good | nyo /ɲo/ | nyo /ɲo/ | nyo /ɲo/ | ɖagbe /ɖaɡbe/ | 良し /joɕi/ | 良し /joɕi/ | ọmaẹjẹ /ɔmaɛdʒɛ/ |
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