MyGhana2027.com · Languages of Ghana · Mole-Dagbani
North of the Volta lake, the languages change completely. Dagbani in Tamale and Yendi, Mampruli in Nalerigu, Dagaare in Wa and Lawra, Gurene in Bolgatanga, Kusaal in Bawku: these are the languages of the old savannah kingdoms, related to Mossi in Burkina Faso, and in Dagbon their history is still sung by drummers from memory.
These languages belong to the Gur branch of Niger-Congo, also called Voltaic, which covers much of Burkina Faso and northern Ghana, Togo and Benin. Within it, Mole-Dagbani is the largest group in Ghana, and its closest relative across the border is Mooré, the language of the Mossi.
The language of Dagbon, the kingdom of the Ya-Na at Yendi, and of Tamale, the largest city in the north. The most widely spoken language of northern Ghana.
Mampruli is spoken in Mamprugu, with its royal seat at Nalerigu. Nanuni, very close to Dagbani, is spoken in the Nanumba kingdom around Bimbilla.
Dagaare is the main language of the Upper West, around Lawra, Nandom and Jirapa, and into Burkina Faso. Wali is spoken around Wa, the seat of the Wa Naa.
Gurene (often called Frafra) around Bolgatanga and Sirigu, Kusaal around Bawku, and Talni among the Talensi of the Tongo Hills.
The great northern kingdoms trace their origin to one family. The traditions begin with a hunter and end with a king, usually placed in the 15th century.
The founding story tells of Tohazie, a hunter from the east who killed a beast that was terrorising a local people and married a princess. His grandson Gbewaa became the first great king, with his seat at Pusiga, near Bawku. Read more: Naa Gbewaa.
After Gbewaa, his sons founded or ruled the three sister kingdoms: Mamprugu, Dagbon and Nanumba. To this day the three royal houses regard each other as one family, with Mamprugu as the senior line.
Mossi tradition in Burkina Faso tells of Yennenga, a princess of the Mamprusi royal house at Gambaga, whose son founded the Mossi kingdoms. So the language family and the royal traditions both cross the border.
The incoming rulers did not erase the older farming peoples. They kept their earth priests, the tindamba, who still hold spiritual authority over the land, while the chiefs hold political power. That double system survives across the north.
Dagbon kept its history not in books but in drums. The lunsi, a hereditary guild of drummers, learn and perform the genealogies of the Ya-Nas and the deeds of past kings, from Gbewaa to the present.
At festivals, funerals and enskinments, the drummers recite the history of Dagbon through song and the pressure drum, the lunga, which imitates the tones of Dagbani. Some recitals last all night.
For historians, the drummers are a primary source. For Dagbon, they are memory and identity: the history of a kingdom whose palace was burned in 1896 survived because it was never only on paper.
Mande-speaking Muslim traders, the Wangara, reached the northern kingdoms with the gold and kola trade. Over time Islam entered the courts while older traditions continued alongside it.
Remembered as the first Muslim Ya-Na of Dagbon, in the 17th century, and credited with encouraging trade and learning. Read: Naa Zanjina.
Under pressure from the Gonja horsemen to the west, the capital of Dagbon moved east to Yendi, where the Gbewaa Palace stands today.
The great festival of the north celebrates the birth of the Prophet, mixed with royal display, horsemanship and drumming. Damba, the festival of royalty.
In December 1896 a German colonial force from Togo attacked Dagbon. At Adibo, Dagbon's warriors met rifles with bows and spears. Yendi was burned and the Gbewaa Palace plundered. Objects taken from Dagbon are held in German museums today, and their history is now being researched together with Dagbon.
Around 18% of Ghanaians are Mole-Dagbani by ethnicity, according to the 2021 census, the second largest group after the Akan. Dagbani and Dagaare are among the eleven Ghanaian languages sponsored by the state in schools.
The north's largest city, where Dagbani, Hausa and English meet in the markets. Tamale guide.
Painted houses at Sirigu, crafts at Bolgatanga, sacred rocks at Tongo. Bolgatanga · Tongo Hills.
Greetings are long and important in the north. Start with these, and let your host lead the rest.
Good morning.
Good afternoon.
Good evening.
Spelling varies. Dagbani greetings are written in several ways in different sources. If you learn them by ear in Tamale or Yendi, follow the local pronunciation.
Updated and fact-checked: 13 October 2026. The dates for Tohazie, Gbewaa and the founding of the kingdoms are traditional and approximate. Census figures are rounded.