Asranee Dummienu ene Nnabɔnee Din (Akan Calendar)

**KwameD** · 10-27-2010, 05:31 PM

Asranee Dummienu ene Nnabɔnee Din
(Names of the 12 months and the 42 days in the Akan calendar)

This short write up was created from the book Asantesɛm ne Mmɛbusɛm written by J. E. Mensah in 1966 and was published by the Kumasi Cultural Centre. This book is amazing. It's written entirely in Asante Twi. It's got 1123 proverbs, names for “old money” and all the names of the 77 (reportedly wide and major) streets that were in Kumasi before Europeans came to the coast.

Below are names for aspects of the Akan calendar (12 months, 4 seasons, a name for each of the 42 days in the Akan calendar and the days of the week).

[A] Asranee/Abosome Dummienu (12 months of the year; year is 'Afe' or 'Afenhyia')

Akan	English
ɔpepɔn	January
ɔgyefuiɛ	February
ɔbɛnem	March
Oforisuo Agyenkɔ	April
Ohawam Kotonimaa	May
Ayɛwohomumu	June
Kutawonsa	July
Sanaa	August
ɛbɔ	September
Ahinime	October
Obubuo	November
ɔpɛnimma	December

[B] Abupɛn nan (the “4 seasons” – note they are different from western ones)

Akan Name	Duration (Akan)	Duration (English)
ɔpɛ Bere	Ɔpɛnimma – ɔbɛnem	December – March (4 months)
Asusue Bere	Oforisuo Agyenkɔ – Ayɛwohomumu	April – June (3 months)
Ofupɛ Bere	Kutawonsa – Sanaa	July – August (2 months)
Bamporɔ Bere	Ɛbɔ – Obubuo	September – November ( 3 months)

[C] Nnabɔne Din (“bad” names) (Names of the “Prohibition days” of the 42-day Akan Calendar)

(From Asantesɛm ne Mmɛbusɛm) ɛfiri Akwasidaɛɛ rekɔsi Akwasidɛɛ bio no yɛ nnafua Adaduanan mmienu...ɔkɔmfoɔ Anokye mmra a ɛda Asanteman yi mu bra Yawoda adwumawɔ. Nti Yawoda biara yɛ afɔɔfi da, na yɛmmfa nkɔ afuo mu. Sɛ Yawoda da nkyɛn a, kuro biara wɔ nnabɔnee bi a, emu nipa de di afɔɔfi. Kurow binom deɛ ne Fɔfie, Nkyibena, Kuudapaa, Wukuo ne deɛ ekeka ho. Nti ɛfata sɛ yɛhunu nnabɔne no nyinara din:

(Translation – kindly point out any possible mistakes made in any translation I make now or in the future since I am also still striving to learn and improve my written and spoken Twi)

[The period] From one Akwasidaɛɛ to another Akwasidɛɛ is 42 days. Okomfoɔ Anokye's laws laid down for Asanteman prohibit farm work (adwuma) on Thursday. So each Thursday is a day of rest (not to go to the farm – afɔɔfi). If we put Thursday aside, each town has “prohibition days” during which the townspeople stay at home and do not go to work on their farms (i.e. afɔɔfi). Examples of some town's “prohibition days” are Fɔfie, Nkyibena, Kuudapaa, Wukuo and so on (see table below). So it is fitting that we know all the names of the “prohibition days”:

1. Akwasidɛɛ	8. Kwakwasie	15. Monokwasie	22. Fɔkwasie	29. Nwonakwasie	36. Nkyikwasie
2. Kwadwoɔ	9. Monodwoɔ	16. Fɔdwoɔ	23. Nwonadwoɔ	30. Nkyidwoɔ	37. Kurudwoɔ
3. Monobena	10. Fɔbena	17. Nwonabena	24. Nkyibena	31. Kurubena	38. Kwabena
4. Fookuo	11. Nwonawukuo	18. Nkyiwukuo	25. Kwawukuo	32. Kwawukuo	39. Monowukuo
5. Nwonayawoɔ	12. Nkyiyawoɔ	19. Kuruyawoɔ	26. Kwayawoɔ	33. Monoyawoɔ	40.Fɔyawoɔ
6. Nkyifie	13. Kurofie	20. Kwafie	27. Monofie	34. Fɔfie	41. Nwonafie
7. Kurumemene	14. Kwamemene	21. Monomemene	28. Fɔmemene	35. Nwɔnamemene	42. Nkyimemene

*Note that these names are also the names of each day of the 42-day Akan calendar and are not necessarily “special names” for the prohibition days.

[D] Days of the week (nnawɔtwe/Dapɛn in Fante)

Akan	English
Kwasiada	Sunday
Dwowda	Monday
Benada	Tuesday
Wukuda	Wednesday
Yawoada	Thursday
Fida	Friday
Memenda	Saturday

* NOTE: The days of the week were not given in the book Asantesɛm ne Mmɛbusɛm as it is probably considered to be common knowledge. I just thought to add them in order to have the calendar be complete.

**Obadele Kambon** · 10-29-2010, 06:24 AM

Me nua, meda ase sɛ woatwerɛtwerɛ nsɛm yi nyinaa ama yɛn. Megye di pa ara sɛ ɛbɛtumi aboa obiara a ɔba yɛn fidie-ntentan-so asoɛe ha. Mepa wo kyɛw, wofiri Ghana anaa?

**KwameD** · 10-29-2010, 08:07 AM

Me nua panyin Okyeame Kwame, me firi Ghana ampa ara! Me papa yɛ Fanteni ena me maame yɛ Akyemni enti me firi Akyem Abwakwa. Me yɛ Asonaba ankasa!

**KwameD** · 10-29-2010, 08:23 AM

Okyeame Kwame, wo ayɛ adeɛ paa ara sɛ woama ebibifoɔ nyinara tumi soronko wɔ fidie yi so. W'ayɛ adeɛ paa ara! Me da wo ase, ɔdomankoma nkyira ntɔ wo ne w'ebusua foɔ nyinara so!

**Obadele Kambon** · 10-31-2010, 02:33 AM

Originally Posted by KwameD

Me nua panyin Okyeame Kwame, me firi Ghana ampa ara! Me papa yɛ Fanteni ena me maame yɛ Akyemni enti me firi Akyem Abwakwa. Me yɛ Asonaba ankasa!

ɛhɛɛ! Afei na mahu deɛ nti a wote Twi saa. Wo nso woayɛ adeɛ. Mentaa nhyia Ghanafoɔ a wowɔ Abibifoɔ abakɔsɛm ne amammerɛ ho dɔ sei. ɛyɛ nkuranhyɛ papa pa ara berɛ a mehyia nnipa te sɛ wo a wɔantoto yɛn amanneɛ ase a wɔsan di so bɛsi saa berɛ yi. Woayɛ adeɛ pa ara. Sɛ wohia biribi ara, ma m'aso nte. Meda wo ase a ɛnsa o. Akyire.

**Obadele Kambon** · 07-05-2011, 05:31 AM

Me nua Kwame, wowɔ nwoma yi, ne fidie-so-krataa? Mekyerɛ PDF. Deɛ mehwehwɛ pa ara ne mmara aduɔson nson a yɛse Ɔkɔmfo Anɔkye hyɛɛ no. Woahu saa wɔ nwoma bi mu da?

**KwameD** · 07-05-2011, 04:30 PM

Onua panyin, daabi oo..saa krataa yi a mekyerɛw nwoma yi firi mu no wɔ "British Library" no mu. Me nya kwan a, mɛ kɔ hɔ bio akɔ hwɛ sɛ mmara no ɛwɔ mu anaa. Sɛ ɛwɔ mu a, mɛ kyerɛw ato hɔ. Ebia "Manhyia Archives" wɔ Kumasi wɔ saa mmara yi, me nso me pɛ sɛ me kenkan saa mmara yi!

Dea mehu no wɔ krataa mu no yɛ mbɛ aduɔson nson no a wɔ bɔ wɔ fontomfrom no so. Wei sei no wo betumi enya wɔ Rattray ("Religion and Art...", p.286-294)