The
Gbe languages (pronounced ) form a cluster of about twenty related
languages stretching across the area between eastern
Ghana and western
Nigeria. The total number of speakers of Gbe languages is between four and eight million. The most widely spoken Gbe language is
Ewe (3 million speakers in Ghana and
Togo), followed by
Fon (1.7 million, mainly in
Benin). The Gbe languages were traditionally placed in the
Kwa branch of the
Niger–Congo languages, but more recently have been classified as
Volta–Niger. They include five major dialect clusters:
Ewe,
Fon,
Aja,
Gen (Mina), and
Phla–Pherá.