Surrogate Speech of the Asante Ivory Trumpeters of Ghana

Abstract

Surrogate speech is a phonological system by which word tones of a spoken language are represented in tones produced on a musical instrument. Ethnomusicologists regard this as a musical process. This article analyses the surrogate speech system of the Asante ivory trumpeters who perform at the royal courts of Ghana. The language of the Asante is Twi, which is tonal, based on two tones, high and low. The tones produced on the Asante's ivory trumpets outline the speech contours of the high and low spoken tones of Twi. The trumpet surrogate speech thus substitutes for spoken verse during rites wherein ordinary speech is not reverent enough, or previously, in combat and politics, wherein the surrogate speech functioned clandestinely to keep orders secret from enemies.

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