Anthony Agoswin Musah

Kalande is a language island of Bono settler-speakers in the Salaga area of the Savannah Region of Ghana who trace their origins to Oforikrom near Techiman in the Bono East Region. The current historical situation of the variety thus lends itself to major ethno-linguistic studies. Using participant observation from community immersion together with semi-structured interviews, the present study will investigate the sociolinguistic setup of this peculiar community as regards their geographic and demographic situation as well as their historical antecedents. It will also chart pathways into language use and language attitudes and the extent to which the language has acceded to change or has been maintained. In the interim, we observe that the language of the Kalande people, Alande, presents an interesting case of language maintenance of a Bono variety which deviates from the present forms found on the ‘mainland’ due to gradual shift of Bono speakers to Asante Twi.