Nanabin Sign Language: A village Sign Language of Ghana

Language	Nanabin Sign Language
Depositor	Timothy Mac Hadjah
Affiliation	University of Michigan
Location	Ghana
Collection ID	0875
Grant ID	SG1219
Funding Body	ELDP
Collection Status	Forthcoming
Landing Page Handle	http://hdl.handle.net/2196/77f05199-7f06-4745-8cd8-2be82c4c0c0e

 

Summary of the collection

English: This collection presents the preliminary documentation of Nanabin Sign Language (NanaSL), a village sign language used in Nanabin, a predominantly Akan community in Ghana’s Central Region. NanaSL developed locally in the context of hereditary deafness and has been transmitted across generations of Deaf people and their hearing family and community members. The collection was created to provide an audiovisual record of the language and to document its current use, variation, and sociolinguistic context.
The collection contains approximately 6 hours of video recordings, comprising about six hours of natural communication and six hours of elicited data. The naturalistic recordings capture NanaSL as used in everyday communicative settings and include conversations and interactions among Deaf signers of different ages and generations, family interactions, narratives and storytelling, procedural descriptions, and other everyday activities. These recordings provide examples of spontaneous language use and interaction within the community.

The elicitation component includes a picture-based lexical task designed to document core NanaSL vocabulary. It includes approximately 100 concepts based on a modified Swadesh-type list for sign language comparison, supplemented where appropriate with culturally relevant concepts. Multiple Deaf signers participated in the task, allowing the collection to capture lexical variation across individuals and generations. The lexical data also provide a basis for comparison between NanaSL and Ghanaian Sign Language (GSL), particularly with respect to handshape, movement, location, and orientation.

A selected portion of the video collection is annotated in ELAN. The annotations include time-aligned glosses, English translations, and contextual information, with selective annotation of non-manual features and basic phonological properties where relevant. The collection also includes a structured lexical dataset and information about the sociolinguistic profile of the Nanabin signing community.

The recordings represent Deaf NanaSL users from different generations and educational backgrounds. They include older signers who predominantly use NanaSL as well as younger signers who have acquired GSL through Deaf education and are mainly bilingual in NanaSL and GSL. The collection therefore captures an important period of language contact and change, as increased schooling and mobility bring younger NanaSL signers into greater contact with GSL and the wider Ghanaian Deaf community.

In addition to the audiovisual and annotated linguistic materials, the collection contributes information about the distribution of Deaf people associated with Nanabin, intergenerational transmission, educational and language backgrounds, mobility, and patterns of contact with GSL. Together, these materials provide a preliminary record of NanaSL and its contemporary sociolinguistic setting and constitute a resource for research on village sign languages, language contact, lexical variation, sign language documentation, and the linguistic diversity of Ghana.

Akan: Saa nhoma a wɔaboaboa ano yi de Nanabin Mum Kasa (NanaSL), akuraa bi ase mum kasa a wɔde di dwuma wɔ Nanabin, mpɔtam a Akanfo dodow no ara wɔ Ghana Mfinimfini Mantam mu no ho nkrataa a edi kan no kyerɛ. NanaSL nyaa nkɔsoɔ wɔ mpɔtam hɔ wɔ awosu mu asotifoɔ ho na wɔde akɔma Asotifoɔ awoɔ ntoatoasoɔ ne wɔn abusua a wɔte asɛm ne mpɔtam hɔfoɔ. Wɔyɛɛ nhoma a wɔaboaboa ano no sɛnea ɛbɛyɛ a wobenya kasa no ho kyerɛwtohɔ a wɔde tie ne nea wɔde hwɛ na wɔakyerɛw sɛnea wɔde di dwuma mprempren, nsakrae a ɛwɔ mu, ne asetra mu kasa mu nsɛm a ɛfa ho.
Video a wɔakyere agu hama so bɛyɛ nnɔnhwerew 6 na ɛwɔ nneɛma a wɔaboaboa ano no mu, a ɛyɛ bɛyɛ nnɔnhwerew asia abɔde mu nkitahodi ne nnɔnhwerew asia data a wɔanya. Abɔdeɛ mu nsɛm a wɔakyere agu hama so no kyere NanaSL sɛdeɛ wɔde di dwuma wɔ da biara da nkitahodiɛ tebea mu na ɛka nkɔmmɔdie ne nkitahodie a ɛda Asotifoɔ a wɔde wɔn nsa ahyɛ aseɛ a wɔadi mfeɛ ne awoɔ ntoatoasoɔ ahodoɔ ntam, abusua nkitahodiɛ, asɛm ne abasɛm a wɔka, nhyehyɛeɛ ho nkyerɛkyerɛmu, ne da biara da dwumadiɛ foforɔ. Saa nsɛm a wɔakyere agu hama so yi de kasa a wɔde di dwuma ara kwa ne nkitahodi a ɛkɔ so wɔ mpɔtam hɔ no ho nhwɛso ahorow ma.
Elicitation component no bi ne nsɛmfua adwuma a egyina mfonini so a wɔayɛ sɛ wɔde bɛkyerɛw NanaSL nsɛmfua atitiriw. Ɛka nsusuwii ahorow bɛyɛ 100 a egyina Swadesh-type list a wɔayɛ mu nsakrae so de toto mum kasa ho, a wɔde nsusuwii ahorow a ɛfa amammerɛ ho aka ho wɔ baabi a ɛfata. Asotifo pii a wɔde wɔn nsa hyɛɛ ase de wɔn ho hyɛɛ adwuma no mu, na ɛmaa nhoma a wɔaboaboa ano no tumi kyeree nsɛmfua mu nsakrae wɔ ankorankoro ne awo ntoatoaso ahorow mu. Nsɛmfua ho nsɛm nso ma yenya nnyinaso a wɔde bɛtoto NanaSL ne Ghana Mum Kasa (GSL) ntam, titiriw wɔ nsa nsusuwii, kankyee, beae, ne ɔkwan a wɔfa so kyerɛ ade ho.
Wɔakyerɛw video a wɔaboaboa ano no fã bi a wɔapaw wɔ ELAN mu. Nkyerɛkyerɛmu no bi ne glosses a ɛne bere hyia, Borɔfo nkyerɛase, ne nsɛm a ɛfa nsɛm a ɛfa ho, a nkyerɛkyerɛmu a wɔpaw a ɛfa nneɛma a ɛnyɛ nsaanodwuma ne ɛnne nnyigyei mu nneɛma atitiriw ho wɔ baabi a ɛfata. Nneɛma a wɔaboaboa ano no nso ka nsɛmfua ho nsɛm a wɔahyehyɛ ne nsɛm a ɛfa Nanabin nsaano nkyerɛwee kuw no asetra mu kasa ho nsɛm ho.
Nsɛm a wɔakyere agu hama so no gyina hɔ ma Deaf NanaSL dwumadiefoɔ a wɔfiri awoɔ ntoatoasoɔ ne nwomasua ahodoɔ mu. Wɔn mu bi ne wɔn a wɔn mfe akɔ anim a wɔde wɔn nsa ahyɛ ase a wɔde NanaSL di dwuma titiriw ne nkumaa a wɔde wɔn nsa ahyɛ ase a wɔnam Asotifo nhomasua so anya GSL na wɔka kasa abien titiriw wɔ NanaSL ne GSL mu. Enti nnoɔma a wɔaboaboa ano no kyere kasa mu nkitahodie ne nsakraeɛ berɛ a ɛho hia, ɛfiri sɛ sukuukɔ ne akwantuo a ɛkɔ soro no ma mmeranteɛ a wɔde wɔn nsa hyɛ NanaSL ase no ne GSL ne Ghana Asotifoɔ akuo kɛseɛ no di nkitaho kɛseɛ.
Wɔ kasa ho nneɛma a wɔde tie ne nea wɔakyerɛkyerɛ mu akyi no, nneɛma a wɔaboaboa ano no de nsɛm a ɛfa Asotifo a wɔne Nanabin wɔ abusuabɔ no nkyekyɛmu, awo ntoatoaso ahorow ntam nsɛm a wɔde ma, nhomasua ne kasa mu nsɛm, akwantu, ne sɛnea wɔne GSL di nkitaho ho ma. Sɛ wɔka saa nneɛma yi bom a, ɛma wonya NanaSL ne ne nnɛyi asetena mu kasa tebea ho kyerɛwtohɔ a edi kan na ɛyɛ ade a wɔde yɛ nhwehwɛmu wɔ akuraa ase mum kasa, kasa mu nkitahodi, nsɛmfua mu nsakrae, mum kasa ho nkrataa, ne kasa ahorow a ɛwɔ Ghana mu.

 

Group represented

English: English: Nanabin is a rural village in Ghana’s Central Region. The community is predominantly Fante, an Akan ethnic group, and Akan is the main spoken language. The community has a history of hereditary deafness, which contributed to the development and transmission of Nanabin Sign Language (NanaSL). Deaf and hearing family and community members have historically interacted regularly, creating a social environment in which signing developed and was shared locally.
Earlier research identified an extended family associated with the emergence of NanaSL, many of whose members were Deaf. Recent fieldwork has identified 16 Deaf people associated with the Nanabin community, ranging from children to older adults. Three have relocated to nearby Fosu Township, while others continue to live in or maintain connections with Nanabin. The Deaf population includes students, farmers, traders and other community members, with considerable variation in educational experience.
Currently, six of the Deaf community members are students and are mainly bilingual in NanaSL and Ghanaian Sign Language (GSL). Their schooling also affects their physical presence in the village. They attend boarding Deaf schools outside Nanabin and therefore spend much of the school term away from the community. During school holidays, some may also travel to other towns to stay with or visit family members. Consequently, not all Deaf people associated with Nanabin are necessarily present in the village at the same time, including during school breaks. These patterns of education and mobility have increased contact with GSL and the wider Ghanaian Deaf community.

Akan: Nanabin yɛ nkuraase akuraa bi a ɛwɔ Ghana Mfinimfini Mantam mu. Mpɔtam hɔfo no mu dodow no ara yɛ Fante, Akan abusuakuw bi, na Akan ne kasa titiriw a wɔka. Mpɔtam hɔfo wɔ abakɔsɛm a ɛfa asotifo a wonya fi awo mu ho, na ɛno na ɛboaa ma wɔyɛɛ Nanabin Mum Kasa (NanaSL) na wɔde kɔmaa afoforo. Wɔ abakɔsɛm mu no, abusua ne mpɔtam hɔfo a wɔyɛ asotifo ne wɔn a wɔte asɛm no adi nkitaho daa, na ɛde asetra mu tebea bi aba a nsaano nkyerɛwee nyaa nkɔso na wɔkyɛe wɔ mpɔtam hɔ.
Nhwehwɛmu a wɔadi kan ayɛ no daa abusua kɛse bi a ɛne NanaSL a ɛbae no wɔ abusuabɔ, a na emufo pii yɛ Asotifo. Nnansa yi asɛnka adwuma no ama wɔahu Asotifo 16 a wɔne Nanabinfo no wɔ abusuabɔ, efi mmofra so kosi mpanyimfo a wɔn mfe akɔ anim so. Baasa atu akɔtra Fosu Kuropɔn a ɛbɛn hɔ no mu, bere a afoforo kɔ so te Nanabin anaasɛ wɔkura abusuabɔ mu. Asotifoɔ dodoɔ no bi ne asuafoɔ, akuafoɔ, aguadifoɔ ne mpɔtam hɔfoɔ foforɔ, a ɛsono kɛseɛ wɔ nwomasua mu suahunu mu.
Mprempren, Asotifoɔ mpɔtam hɔfoɔ mu baasia yɛ asuafoɔ na wɔn titire na wɔka kasa mmienu wɔ NanaSL ne Ghana Mum Kasa (GSL) mu. Wɔn sukuu nso ka wɔn honam fam a wɔba akuraa no ase no. Wɔkɔ Asotifo sukuu ahorow a wɔtra mu wɔ Nanabin akyi ma enti wɔde sukuu bere no fã kɛse no ara tra akyirikyiri fi mpɔtam hɔfo ho. Wɔ sukuu akwamma bere mu no, ebinom nso betumi atu kwan akɔ nkurow afoforo mu akɔtra abusua mufo nkyɛn anaa wɔakɔsra wɔn. Ne saa nti, ɛnyɛ Asotifo a wɔne Nanabin wɔ abusuabɔ nyinaa na ɛho hia sɛ wɔba akuraa no ase bere koro mu, a sukuu ahomegye bere ka ho. Saa nhyehyeɛ a ɛfa nwomasua ne akwantuo ho yi ama nkitahodie a ɛne GSL ne Ghana Asotifoɔ akuo a ɛtrɛ no ayɛ kɛseɛ.

 

Language information

English: English: Nanabin Sign Language (NanaSL) is a village sign language used in Nanabin, a predominantly Akan community in Ghana’s Central Region. The language developed locally in the context of hereditary deafness and has been transmitted across generations of Deaf people and their hearing family and community members.
NanaSL developed independently of Ghanaian Sign Language (GSL), the sign language widely used in Deaf education and the wider Ghanaian Deaf community. NanaSL is linguistically distinct from GSL and appears to be closer to Adamorobe Sign Language (AdaSL), another indigenous village sign language of Ghana. NanaSL and AdaSL both developed in Akan communities with a high incidence of hereditary deafness. Although the two languages are not mutually intelligible, Hadjah (2024) reports some degree of lexical similarity and linguistic proximity between them. These similarities may reflect their development within a shared Akan cultural and gestural environment, where some conventional co-speech gestures may provide a common source for lexical forms.
Traditionally, NanaSL was particularly associated with Deaf people who had little or no formal education and remained within the village. Younger Deaf people from Nanabin now attend schools for the Deaf, where they acquire GSL, resulting in increasing contact between NanaSL and GSL. Consequently, some younger signers are bilingual in NanaSL and GSL, while older signers predominantly use NanaSL.

Akan: Nanabin Mum Kasa (NanaSL) yɛ akuraa ase mum kasa a wɔde di dwuma wɔ Nanabin, mpɔtam a Akanfo dodow no ara te mu wɔ Ghana Mfinimfini Mamtam mu. Kasa no nyaa nkɔso wɔ mpɔtam hɔ wɔ asotifo a wonya fi awo mu ho na wɔde akɔma Asotifo awo ntoatoaso ne wɔn abusua a wɔte asɛm ne mpɔtam hɔfo.
NanaSL nyaa nkɔso a ɛnyɛ Ghana Mum Kasa (GSL), mum kasa a wɔde di dwuma kɛse wɔ Asotifo nhomasua ne Ghana Mum Kasa a ɛtrɛw mu. NanaSL yɛ soronko wɔ kasa mu wɔ GSL ho na ɛte sɛ nea ɛbɛn Adamorobe Mum Kasa (AdaSL), Ghana akuraa ase mum kasa foforo a ɛyɛ kurom hɔ ankasa mum kasa. NanaSL ne AdaSL nyinaa nyaa nkɔso wɔ Akan mpɔtam a asotifo a wonya fi awo mu no dɔɔso. Ɛwom sɛ wɔn a wɔka kasa mmienu no mu biara nte nea ne yɔnko reka no deɛ, nanso Hadjah (2024) bɔ amanneɛ sɛ nsɛmfua mu nsɛsoɔ bi ne kasa mu bɛn a ɛda wɔn ntam. Saa nsɛdi yi betumi ada wɔn nkɔso adi wɔ Akanfo amammerɛ ne nsaanodwuma tebea a wɔbom yɛ mu, baabi a ebia nsaanodwuma a wɔtaa de di dwuma a wɔbom yɛ no bi bɛma wɔanya nsɛmfua ahorow a wɔbom nya fibea.
Sɛnea wɔtaa yɛ no, na NanaSL ne Asotifo a wonni nhomasua pii anaasɛ wonni bi koraa na wɔtra akuraa no ase no wɔ abusuabɔ titiriw. Mprempren Asotifo nkumaa a wofi Nanabin kɔ sukuu ahorow ma Asotifo, baabi a wonya GSL, na ɛma nkitahodi a ɛkɔ soro wɔ NanaSL ne GSL ntam. Ne saa nti, nkumaa binom a wɔde wɔn nsa hyɛ ase no ka kasa abien wɔ NanaSL ne GSL mu, bere a wɔn a wɔn mfe akɔ anim a wɔde wɔn nsa hyɛ ase no de NanaSL di dwuma titiriw.

 

References

English: Hadjah, T. M. (2024). Understanding Ghanaian sign language(s): history, linguistics, and ideology. Amsterdam: LOT.

Nyst, V. (2010). Sign Languages in West Africa. In D. Brentari, Sign Languages: A Cambridge Language Survey (pp. 405-432). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Acknowledgement and citation

English: English: I am immensely grateful to all the inhabitants of Nanabin for accepting me into their community, welcoming the project, and generously sharing their language, knowledge, experiences, and time. I am particularly grateful to the Chief and Elders of Nanabin for granting me permission to work in the community and for their support throughout the project. Special appreciation goes to Samuel Mensah (Okyeame Mensah), the Chief’s spokesperson, whose support, coordination, and engagement with the community were instrumental to the success of the project. My heartfelt appreciation also goes to the Okanto family for their exceptional hospitality and for providing me with a home to stay in during my fieldwork. I am especially grateful to the Deaf signers and their families whose participation and willingness to share their language made the preliminary documentation of Nanabin Sign Language possible.
I also gratefully acknowledge the research assistants, language consultants, and community members who supported data collection, interpretation, translation, and community engagement. Special thanks go to Alexander Okyere, Jonathan Amuah, Kojo Okanto, and the late Kwabena Donkor for their invaluable assistance and contributions to the project. I am particularly grateful for Kwabena’s contribution and honor his memory with gratitude.
This project was funded by the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme (ELDP), with the University of Michigan serving as the host institution. I am also deeply grateful to my project mentors, Natasha Abner and Victoria Nyst, and to all who provided guidance and support throughout the documentation process.
To refer to any data from the collection, please cite as follows:
Hadjah, Timothy Mac. 2026. Nanabin Sign Language: A village Sign Language of Ghana. Endangered Languages Archive. Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/2196/d4477f20-64f3-4ba0-bc8b-94494c3d0a98. Accessed on [insert date here].

Akan: Meda Nanabinfo nyinaa ase kɛse sɛ wɔgyee me toom wɔ wɔn mpɔtam hɔ, wɔmaa adwuma no akwaaba, na wofi ayamye mu kaa wɔn kasa, nimdeɛ, osuahu, ne bere. Meda Nanabin Panyin ne Mpanyimfo ase titiriw sɛ wɔmaa me kwan sɛ mɛyɛ adwuma wɔ mpɔtam hɔ na wɔboaa me wɔ adwuma no nyinaa mu. Anisɔ soronko kɔ Samuel Mensah (Okyeame Mensah), Ɔpanyin no kasamafo, a ne mmoa, ne nkitahodi a ɔne mpɔtam hɔfo dii no boaa kɛse ma adwuma no dii yiye. M’anisɔ a efi komam nso kɔ Okanto abusua no nkyɛn wɔ ahɔhoyɛ soronko a wɔdaa no adi ne sɛ wɔmaa me ofie a mɛtra mu bere a mereyɛ asɛnka adwuma no. M’ani sɔ Asotifo a wɔde wɔn nsa hyɛɛ ase ne wɔn mmusua a wɔn kyɛfa ne ɔpɛ a wɔwɔ sɛ wɔbɛkyɛ wɔn kasa no maa Nanabin Mum Kasa ho nkrataa a edi kan no tumi yɛɛ yiye no ase titiriw.
Mede aseda nso da nhwehwɛmu aboafoɔ, kasa ho afotufoɔ, ne mpɔtam hɔfoɔ a wɔboaa nsɛm a wɔboaboa ano, nkyerɛaseɛ, ne mpɔtam hɔfoɔ a wɔde wɔn ho hyɛɛ mu no ase. Yɛda Alexander Okyere, Jonathan Amuah, Kojo Okanto, ne Kwabena Donkor (a w’anya ne baabi kɔ) ase titire wɔ mmoa a ɛsom boɔ ne mmoa a wɔde ama adwuma no ho. M’ani sɔ Kwabena ntoboa no titiriw na mede aseda hyɛ ne nkae anuonyam.
Wɔnam Endangered Languages ​​Documentation Program (ELDP) so na ɛboaa saa adwuma yi, na Michigan Sukuupɔn na ɛyɛ asoɛe a ɛgye ahɔhoɔ. Meda m’adwuma no ho afotufoɔ, Natasha Abner ne Victoria Nyst nso ase kɛseɛ, ne wɔn a wɔde akwankyerɛ ne mmoa maeɛ wɔ nkrataakyerɛw nhyehyɛeɛ no nyinaa mu nyinaa.
To refer to any data from the collection, please cite as follows:
Hadjah, Timothy Mac. 2026. Nanabin Sign Language: A village Sign Language of Ghana. Endangered Languages Archive. Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/2196/d4477f20-64f3-4ba0-bc8b-94494c3d0a98. Accessed on [insert date here].