Establishing the Kromanti-Akan Link: Evidence from the Occurrence of Phonemic /r/

Abstract

Kromanti, the language spoken by the Eastern Maroons of Portland, Jamaica, has been described in the literature  as being related to the Akan language complex. While some work has been done on Maroon culture and Kromanti, including ethnographic research and short scholarly papers, there has not been a comprehensive examination of  the language. This situation is perhaps due to designations of Kromanti as “not functional” and “dying”. However, precisely because of these reasons, my research has been aimed at exploring the current state of the language as well as its source. To this end, this paper will focus on an area of the Kromanti language that establishes a clear  link with the Akan languages, that of phonemic /r/. The paper will provide evidence to suggest that not only is  there a relationship across the languages, but also by looking at the occurrence of phonemic /r/ across them, a possible conclusion can be drawn about the specific dialect from which Kromanti would have historically descended.