From Oral Performance to Digital Soundscape: Linguistic Transformation and Continuity in Akan Folk Song

Abstract

This study explores the linguistic evolution of Akan folk songs as they evolve from traditional oral performances to contemporary musical genres in the rapidly globalizing digital society of Ghana. Although there is a vast body of literature on Akan oral culture and popular music, there is a lack of systematic linguistic research that explores the structural and stylistic evolution of Akan folk songs across musical periods, especially from oral culture to classical highlife and contemporary hiplife genres. This study adopts oral formulaic theory and stylistic analysis to examine twenty-five Akan songs, which are categorized into three periods: traditional folk songs (including dirges and work songs), classical highlife, and contemporary hiplife. The results indicate that, despite the impact of globalization on instrumentation, media, and linguistic expression, Akan folk songs have maintained their traditional themes of love, morality, praise, social commentary, and mortality, while creatively incorporating new linguistic resources. This study concludes that Akan folk songs are an active linguistic and cultural repository that maintains indigenous knowledge while adapting to the contemporary and global environment.