What is "oburoni"

Oburoni (or Obroni) is the Akan (or more specifically, the Twi language) word for western white foreigner, literally meaning "a person from beyond the horizon". It is often colloquially translated into "white person" or "white man". Due to this, English-speakers often construe the word as derogatory because the meaning of the word is actually contested.

Some say that the word "oburoni" derives from the word "buro" which means "from beyond the horizon" and "ni" which means "person". The plural form of "oburoni" is "aburofoɔ" ("foɔ" is the plural form of "ni") which is often used to refer to the English language or English people.

Others say that despite the (relatively) widespread and casual use of the word, its origins are not entirely benign. The word "obroni" derives from the word "Abro fuo", which means trickster, "one who frustrates" or "one who cannot be trusted". It is possible that the word arose during initial contact between the Ashanti and Europeans. This interpretation is supported when compared to the word used for "white person" in other Ghanaian languages such as Ga (another tribe in Ghana) Blofonyo (or Blofo) for short which similarly derives from "Ablo fo nyo" and means "one who kills"; the Ewe call the European “Ayivu” which means “tricky dog” and the hausa use the word "baturi" meaning

West Africa does not have an equivalent of the ubiquitous ‘ mzungu’, used throughout Eastern and Southern Africa, and even within Ghana, Obroni predominates because it is common to the predominant local languages, those of Akan family, primarily Ashanti Twi, Akuapem Twi and Fante. Other Akan languages employ variants on Obroni: For example Western Ghana, uses the term ‘Brofo’ or ‘Brofwe’.