Akan has 31 graphemes including 9 diagraphs comprising 24 consonants and 7 vowels (Phonemes).

However
there are 3 extra graphemes which are variants of some vowels due to the phenomenon of tongue root
advancement with the vowels technically known as Advance Tongue Root (ATR )
Consonants

Notes on the chart.

Voiced plosives (stops) /b/ and /d/ become nasals /m/ and /n/ respectively, when preceded by
those nasals, though they are still written as mb and nd.
/h/ and // are in complementary distribution; the former occurs before oral front vowels and
the latter before other vowels.
In the Fante dialect, /n/ becomes // before the front vowels and the central vowel /a/.
Labialized velar and palatal nasal // and // are in complementary distribution: the former
occurs before the central vowel /a/ and the latter everywhere else.
Palatal sounds still receives much debate among scholars as to whether they are phonemes
or phonetic sounds. The commonest claim about palatals is that before front vowels, all
consonants are palatalized.
The glottal stop is not considered as an Akan consonant, according to Dolphyne (1988:48-50).

The status of the alveolar lateral /l/ is not clear. It is more or less a loaned segment than a
native. It alternates with the alveolar glide /r/ and sometimes the alveolar stop /d/.

Vowels

Akan has the following 5 basic vowel units /i, e, o, u, a/ and each has vowel quality (ATR variant) associated
with it as follows.
High front vowels
(i /)
Mid front vowels

(e / )
Low central vowels

( / a)

Mid back vowels

(o /)
High back vowels

(u /)

Vowel Harmony (ATR Harmony)

Akan vowels engage in a form of vowel harmony with the root of the tongue.
1. ATR vowels followed by the +ATR non-mid vowels /ii ai ui/ become +ATR. This is generally reflected
in the orthography: That is, orthographic e a o become i e a o u. However, it is no longer reflected in
the case of subject and possessive pronouns, giving them a consistent spelling. This rule takes
precedence over the next one.
2. After the ATR non-high vowels /e o/, +ATR mid vowels / / become ATR high vowels /i u/. This
is an exception and not reflected in the orthography, for both sets of vowels are spelled e o, and in
many dialects this rule does not apply, for these vowels have merged.

Tones
Akan is a 2 tone language, high (/H/) denoted with () and low (/L/) with (`). Initial syllable may only be high or
low. E.g.
a. pp goodness
b. pp fan
c. pp
father
Akan Syllable structure
Akan is among the languages that mostly prefer open syllables to closed ones. This is very prominent in its
verbs in particular, which have CV syllable structure. The CCV syllable structure is only represented in the
form of CrV in Akan. However four possible syllables can be differentiated in Akan;
1. CV
2. CVN
3. CVV
4. CVVN

e.g.
e.g.
e.g.
e.g.

di
kn
pe
dum

to eat
to read
to strike
prison