Accra, Jan. 15, GNA – The First ever Fanti Words and Idioms Dictionary has been launched in Accra to promote the speaking of local languages for national development.

The dictionary, which is the first edition, has words and idioms from A-L aimed to preserve and promote the nation's rich culture form as well as educate the populace, including tourists who visit the country every time.

This would help government and civil society support the speaking of local languages in their quest to demand improvement in the promotion of traditional and cultural values and practices to accelerate development.

The dictionary was started in 1968 by Right Reverend Joseph Bannermann and later joined by Dr Kojo Arthur, the Late Mr Kwesi Dickson and the Late Mr Daneil Edmund Krampah.

The Fanti dictionary has been arranged in an alphabetical order and provides sources for some of the Fanti words derived from languages.

In addition, the dictionary has parts of speech and teaches how to use some idiomatic expressions and also provides literal translations and meanings.

Launching the dictionary in Accra, on Sunday, Most. Rev. Professor Emmanuel Asante, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, Ghana, said language was a unique developmental tool that needed the necessary attention to contribute to the nation's human development.

He said the country had a rich cultural heritage but there was a need to show it to the world by promoting local languages.

Most Rev. Asante said the different races and people over the world found their identity in their language, adding that, people without a common language had no identity.

Dr Kojo Arthur, Co-Author, said the initiative was a culmination of a long effort to provide an effective framework for the development of the local languages and the nurturing of Ghana's cultural sector to make it a relevant tool for education, enlightenment, national unity and development.

He expressed the hope that the dictionary would enhance the promotion of Ghanaian languages among the youth.

He appealed to government and organizations to support the initiative, to enable them to have dictionaries in other Ghanaian languages.

Dr Arthur assured that the second edition from M-Z would be completed within four months.