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
20 core words in Gen (Mina)
Water
tsi
/tsi/
Fire
dzo
/dzo/
Sun
ɣe
/ɣe/
Moon
dzinkɛ
/dʒinkɛ/
Mother
nɔ
/nɔ/
Father
tɔ
/tɔ/
Eat
ɖu
/ɖu/
Drink
no
/no/
Love
lɔ̃lɔ̃
/lɔ̃lɔ̃/
Heart
dzi
/dzi/
Tree
ati
/ati/
House
aƒe
/aɸe/
Dog
avu
/avu/
Cat
agbo
/aɡbo/
Hand
alɔ
/alɔ/
Eye
ŋku
/ŋku/
Hello
ado
/ado/
Thank you
akpe
/akpe/
One
ɖeka
/ɖeka/
Good
nyo
/ɲo/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Niger-Congo languages
| Meaning | Gen (Mina) | Ewe | Aja | Fon | Middle Japanese | Japanese (Heian period) | San Blas Kuna |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | tsi /tsi/ | tsi /tsi/ | esi /esi/ | sin /sĩ/ | 水 /midu/ | 水 /midu/ | di /di/ |
| Fire | dzo /dzo/ | dzo /dzo/ | ezo /ezo/ | zo /zo/ | 火 /ɸi/ | 火 /ɸi/ | so /so/ |
| Sun | ɣe /ɣe/ | ɣe /ɣe/ | eŋke /eŋke/ | hwe /ɦʷe/ | 日 /ɸi/ | 日 /ɸi/ | olo /olo/ |
| Moon | dzinkɛ /dʒinkɛ/ | ɣleti /ɣleti/ | esun /esun/ | sun /sũ/ | 月 /tuki/ | 月 /tukï/ | nii /niː/ |
| Mother | nɔ /nɔ/ | dada /dada/ | nɔ /nɔ/ | nɔ /nɔ/ | 母 /ɸaɸa/ | 母 /ɸaɸa/ | nan /nan/ |
| Father | tɔ /tɔ/ | fofo /fofo/ | to /to/ | tɔ /tɔ/ | 父 /titi/ | 父 /titi/ | baba /baba/ |
| Eat | ɖu /ɖu/ | ɖu /ɖu/ | ɖu /ɖu/ | ɖu /ɖu/ | 食ふ /kuɸu/ | 食ふ /kaɸu/ | gunne /ɡune/ |
| Drink | no /no/ | no /no/ | nu /nu/ | nu /nu/ | 飲む /nomu/ | 飲む /nomu/ | gobe /ɡobe/ |
| Love | lɔ̃lɔ̃ /lɔ̃lɔ̃/ | lɔ̃lɔ̃ /lɔ̃lɔ̃/ | lɔ̃ /lɔ̃/ | yiwanu /jiwanu/ | 愛 /ai/ | 恋 /koɸi/ | sabbi /sabːi/ |
| Heart | dzi /dzi/ | dzi /dzi/ | dzi /dzi/ | ayi /aji/ | 心 /kokoɾo/ | 心 /kokoɾo/ | kurgin /kuɾɡin/ |
| Tree | ati /ati/ | ati /ati/ | ati /ati/ | atin /atĩ/ | 木 /ki/ | 木 /kï/ | sappi /sapːi/ |
| House | aƒe /aɸe/ | aƒe /aɸe/ | avia /avia/ | xwé /xʷé/ | 家 /iɸe/ | 家 /iɸe/ | nega /neɡa/ |
| Dog | avu /avu/ | avu /avu/ | avu /avu/ | avun /avũ/ | 犬 /inu/ | 犬 /inu/ | achu /atʃu/ |
| Cat | agbo /aɡbo/ | dadi /dadi/ | ami /ami/ | kpɔnyɔ /kpɔɲɔ/ | 猫 /neko/ | 猫 /neko/ | miji /midʒi/ |
| Hand | alɔ /alɔ/ | asi /asi/ | alɔ /alɔ/ | alɔ /alɔ/ | 手 /te/ | 手 /te/ | arigan /aɾiɡan/ |
| Eye | ŋku /ŋku/ | ŋku /ŋku/ | ŋku /ŋku/ | nukún /nukṹ/ | 目 /me/ | 目 /me/ | ibya /ibja/ |
| Hello | ado /ado/ | ŋdi /ŋdi/ | nɛnɛ /nɛnɛ/ | a fɔn ganji /a fɔ̃ ɡãdʒi/ | 御機嫌よろしう /ɡokiɡen joroɕiu/ | あなかしこ /anakasiko/ | nuedi /nweðiː/ |
| Thank you | akpe /akpe/ | akpe /akpe/ | amɛ akpe /amɛ akpe/ | àwǎnú /àwǎnú/ | 忝し /katadʑikenaɕi/ | 忝なし /katadikenaɕi/ | nuedi malo /nweðiː malo/ |
| One | ɖeka /ɖeka/ | ɖeka /ɖeka/ | ɖeka /ɖeka/ | ɖokpó /ɖokpó/ | 一つ /ɸitotu/ | 一つ /ɸitotu/ | kuenki /kweŋki/ |
| Good | nyo /ɲo/ | nyo /ɲo/ | nyo /ɲo/ | ɖagbe /ɖaɡbe/ | 良し /joɕi/ | 良し /joɕi/ | nuegan /nweɡan/ |
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