tw / dw / hw / kw

TW, DW, HW and KW

Level 1

Round your lips on ky, gy and hy and you get tw, dw and hw: twerɛ (write), dwom (song), hwɛ (look). Kw is k with rounded lips, as in kwan (road).

How It Works

  • tw is the ky sound (like ch) with rounded lips, roughly chw: Twi, twerɛ (write), twe (pull).
  • dw is the gy sound (like j) with rounded lips, roughly jw: dwom (song), adwuma (work), dwene (think).
  • hw is the hy sound (like sh) with rounded lips, roughly shw: hwɛ (look, watch), ahwehwɛ (mirror).
  • kw is k with rounded lips, like the qu in queen: kwan (road, way), nkwan (soup), Akwaaba (Welcome).

Round your lips before the sound starts. English speakers tend to say a t and then a w, as in twin. In Twi the lips are already rounded while the tongue makes the ch sound, so Twi sounds close to chwee.

Some everyday words differ between the varieties here. Asante writes twerɛ for write, while Akuapem and Fante write kyerɛw. See Asante Akuapem and Fante and Asante and Akuapem verb forms.

These sounds pair with the unrounded ones in ky gy hy, and nw is the rounded partner of ny. See ny and nw.

Examples (6)

  1. Twerɛ wo din.

    Write your name.

    Word by Word: Write your name.

    Tw is one sound: ch said with rounded lips.

  2. Ama to dwom yie.

    Ama sings well.

    Word by Word: Ama throws song well.

    To dwom means sing. Dw is j said with rounded lips.

  3. Hwɛ ha.

    Look here.

    Word by Word: Look here.

    Hw is sh said with rounded lips.

  4. Kyerɛ me kwan no.

    Show me the way.

    Word by Word: Show me road the.

    Kw is k with rounded lips, as in queen.

  5. Merekɔ adwuma.

    I am going to work.

    Word by Word: I-am-going work.

    The dw sound also appears inside words, as in adwuma (work).

  6. Wote Twi?

    Do you understand Twi?

    Word by Word: You-hear Twi?

    The name of the language begins with the tw sound.

Common Mistakes

  • Spelling tw as chw.

    Chwerɛ wo din.
    Twerɛ wo din.

    Twi has no ch. The rounded ch sound is written tw.

  • Writing hw the English way, as wh.

    Whɛ ha.
    Hwɛ ha.

    In Twi spelling the h comes first: hw, as in hwɛ (look).

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

tw / dw / hw / kwLevel 1TW, DW, HW and KW

Learn This First

Tw, dw and hw are ky, gy and hy with rounded lips; kw is a rounded k.