Category: Kabiye Language
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The 12 Kabiye Months: Agriculture, Seasons and Tradition in Northern Togo
The traditional calendar of the Kabiye people of northern Togo is more than a system for measuring the passage of time. Its twelve month names preserve a direct connection between language, agriculture, climate, food production and cultural traditions. Known in Kabiye through names followed by fenaɣ, meaning “month” or referring to the moon, the traditional…
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The Kabiye Wall Calendar 2027: A Year in Togo’s Second National Language
Kabiyè is one of Togo’s two national languages, spoken by millions of people in the Kara Region and surrounding areas of northern Togo. It is a language with a strong oral tradition, a distinctive cultural identity, and one of the most remarkable coming-of-age ceremonies in West Africa. The Language Roots Hub Kabiyè Wall Calendar 2027…
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The Kabiye Phrase Book: Learn the Language of Northern Togo
Kabiyè is Togo’s second national language. It is spoken by millions of people in northern Togo and by Kabiyè diaspora communities across West Africa and beyond. Yet outside of Togo itself, finding any learning resource for Kabiyè has historically been very difficult. That is part of why this phrase book exists. The Language Roots Hub…
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The Evala Festival: Kabiyè Wrestling, Initiation, and Cultural Identity
Every July in the Kara Region of northern Togo, young Kabiyè men undergo Evala, one of the most significant initiation traditions in West Africa. It is a week of fasting, mountain climbing, wrestling, and the Kabiyè language at full expression.
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Who Are the Kabiyè People?
Every July in the Kara Region of northern Togo, young Kabiyè men fast, climb mountains, and wrestle. This initiation is called Evala. But the Kabiyè are much more than their wrestling tradition.
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Building a Digital Dictionary for Kabiyè
Kabiyè is a national language of Togo with over a million speakers, yet a practical digital dictionary has never existed for it. Here is what building one actually involved.
