26 Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture ISSN 1923-1555[Print] ISSN 1923-1563[Online] www.cscanada.net www.cscanada.org Studies in Literature and Language Vol. 21, No. 2, 2020, pp. 26-36 DOI:10.3968/11876 Title Sociolinguistic Analysis of some Akan Proverbs Jonas Agyemfra [a] ; Solomon Owusu Amoh [a],* [a] University of Education, Winneba, Ajumako, Ghana. * Corresponding author. Received 4 August 2020; accepted 6 October 2020 Published online 26 October 2020 Abstract This study examined the sociolinguistic analysis of some Akan proverbs. With this, the analysis predicated on the social contexts that bring about the use of the proverbs and their sociolinguistic implications. The data sourced from the research participants were analysed alongside Dell Hymes’ (1974) “Ethnography of Communication”, which also served as the theoretical framework that underpinned the study. In all, twenty one (p.21) proverbs were analysed which saw the various factors of communication, as postulated by Hymes (1974) coming to bear. Discussing the analysis, it was indicated that the home is the place where proverbs are mostly used. The time for the use of proverbs also saw the evening dominating in the data analysis. With the addressers under participants, men were found to be the people who mostly use proverbs in the Akan society. Anybody, be it a man, woman or child in the Akan society, qualifies to be addressed with proverbs, per the analysis in this study. The end of the use of Akan proverbs is to encourage, rebuke, admonish and warn the addressee. Finally, the key, which also manifests as the tone under which a particular proverb is used saw serious tone as the most frequently used tone in the analysis, as most Akan proverbs are used to direct the paths of its members, whenever they go wayward. Key words: Proverb; Context; Sociolinguistics; Akan Agyemfra, J., & Amoh, S. O. (2020). Title Sociolinguistic Analysis of some Akan Proverbs. Studies in Literature and Language , 2 1 (2), 26-36. Available from: http:// www.cscanada.net/index.php/sll/article/view/11876 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/11876 1. IntrOduCtIOn The study of proverbs, which is also known as paremiology, has received much attention based on its stance of transmitting the values, traditional experiences, etc of a society from generation to generation. Its study has moved from just simple compilation, as scholars now study it from both linguistic and literary perspectives. Notably, one crucial or incumbent feature of proverb which cannot be overlooked is its contextual usage. The contextual use of a particular proverb gives dynamisms that apply to the meaning of the proverb, rather than making it give a fixed meaning. In Akan, where the use of proverbs is much cherished, the contextual usage of proverbs is not overlooked. This even goes to confirm the Akan maxim: Asɛm mmaeɛ a, yɛmmu bɛ ‘Without discourse or context, there is no proverb.’ And when language, especially proverb, is perceived with such notion, sociolinguists come in to study what might have prompted the use of a particular proverb. Therefore, what this study seeks to address is to study some Akan proverbs in relation to the contextual usage of these proverbs. By so doing, the social contexts that bring about the use of these proverbs and the sociolinguistic implications will come to bear in this study. 1.1 the Akan language Akan is a language spoken by the people called Akans. It belongs to the Kwa group of the Niger-Congo group of languages. The Akans, who subscribe to this language, form the largest ethnic group in Ghana per the 2010 population and housing census. The Akan language can be found spoken in six of the regions in Ghana, namely; Eastern, Central, Western, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Volta regions. Again, it umbrellas various dialects which are mutually intelligible, namely; Asante, Akuapem, Akwamu, Fante, Akyem, Agona, Denkyira, Twifo, Assin, Wassaw, Kwawu, Bron and Buem (Agyekum, 2006). Amongst these dialects, the major ones are Asante, Akuapem and