Wondering how to say hello in Twi Akan?
This post covers how to greet people in Twi and teaches you some essential phrases including ‘hello’, ‘good morning’, ‘good afternoon’ and ‘good night’.
It also covers some other greeting etiquette including a special Ghanain handshake.
Hopefully you’ll leave this page knowing some essential Twi greetings.
Table of Contents
How To Say Hello In Twi Akan
There isn’t just one word that means hello in Twi.
Akan people use phrases that are specific to the time of day when saying hello.
If you want to say hello in Twi then you can do so with the following phrases:
How To Say Good Morning In Twi
To say good morning in Twi, you can say:
- Good morning – Me ma wo akye (Mem-au ah-cheh)
- Good morning (shortened version) – Maakye (Maah-cheh)
You can use these phrases at any time during the morning up until around 12PM noon.
How To Say Good Afternoon In Twi
To say good afternoon in Twi, you can say:
- Good afternoon – Me ma wo aha (Mem-au ah-ha)
- Good afternoon (shortened version) – Maaha (Maah ha)
Use these phrases at any time in the afternoon from around 12PM until 6PM.
How To Say Good Evening In Twi
To say good evening in Twi, you can say:
- Good evening – Me ma wo adwo (Mem-au ad-joh)
- Good evening (shortened version) – Maadwo (Maah-jo)
Use these phrases at any time in the evening from 6PM onwards.
Responses To Greetings In Twi
You should respond to all of the above greetings with one of the following:
- Response to an older man – Yaa agya (Yaah ej-ah)
- Response to an older woman – Yaa ɛna (Yaah en-ah)
- Response to someone your age – Yaa anua (Yaah en-ya)
- Response to a child – Yaa ↄba (Yaah oh-ba)
As you can see, the response to a greeting depends on the status, age and gender of the person you are speaking with.
If someone greets you and you are unsure of which response to use then simply reply with just yaa (yaah).
Check out the video below to hear the pronunciation of these phrases in Twi by a native speaker:
How To Say Good Night In Twi
To say good night in Twi, you can say:
- Good night – Da yie (Dah yi-eh)
The literal translation of da yie is ‘sleep well’.
Another greeting you may want to use in Twi is:
- Welcome – Akwaaba (Ak-waah-bah)
- I welcome you – Me ma wo akwaaba (Mem-au ak-waah-bah)
These phrases can be used, for example, when welcoming someone into your home.
Twi Greetings & Ghanaian Handshake
Greetings are really important in Akan culture. You would be seen as disrespectful or antisocial if you failed to greet someone, especially elders.
Greetings are seen as important because they bring people together and start conversations.
Handshakes are common when greeting someone in Ghana however the type of handshake used is slightly different.
Firstly when shaking hands, only use your right hand.
After gripping each other’s hands, Ghanains will use their middle fingers to ‘click’. It’s like clicking your fingers.
Check out the video below which shows the Ghanain handshake in action:
Thanks for reading this post on how to greet someone in Twi. Continue your conversation by learning how to say ‘how are you?’ in Twi.
Hopefully you now know how to say ‘hello’ in Twi and also how to say ‘good morning’, ‘good afternoon’ and ‘good night’ in Twi.
You can find out more about the Twi language here.
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