The language of perception in Siwu

A signature dish of the Mawu people of eastern Ghana is Ɔgbàkusi gu kàmɔ̃ krã, a rich stew from cowpeas, palm oil, chili served with a thick porridge from local brown rice. If you’re lucky there might be some bushmeat in it. The dish is valued not just for its savoury taste (mɛ̃rɛ̃mɛ̃rɛ̃) but also for its rich oily appearance (gelegele), the smooth texture of the porridge (sɔlɔsɔlɔ) and its overall succulent, juicy quality, described with the ideophone dɛgɛdɛgɛ which resonates with sensory pleasure. Ɔgbàkusi is closely connected to Mawu identity, so much so that its consumption entails enculturation. ‘If you eat Ɔgbàkusi,’ the Mawu say, ‘you are one of us, and you’ll understand the Siwu language.’ So I write in a recently preprinted paper. I actually wrote that around 15 years ago, but the chapter has been in limbo for reasons out of my control and I decided to make it available online. It is a study of the language perception in Siwu, the language I studied for my PhD thesis, and…

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