This essay explores the way the domain of what English‐speakers call the mind – believing, thinking, feeling, and other mental acts – is represented and mapped by Ghana's Akan ethno‐linguistic group. It uses several sources of evidence: mind and mind‐related words in Fante (an Akan language); the largest Akan (Twi) proverb compendium; longsemi‐structured interviews with forty adult Christians and African traditional religion practitioners; and short‐term ethnographic fieldwork by a Ghanaian scholar. The work finds four dimensions of what we might call an Akan theory of mind that seem to be shaped by local language and culture. First, the central function of the mind is planning – not identity. Second, one of the most salient qualities of the mind is its moral valence. The ‘bad minds’ of others are an ever‐present potential threat to social harmony and personal well‐being. Third, the mind is understood to be porous in nature. The minds of all people are vulnerable to supernatural influences, and some spiritually powerful people can exert supernatural power through mental action. Fourth and finally, some elements which English‐speakers would imagine as part of the mind (like feeling) are instead identified with the body.

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Adwenhoasem：阿肯人的心理理论

本文探讨了加纳的阿肯族民族语言群体如何描绘和描绘英语使用者所说的思想（信仰，思维，感觉和其他精神行为）的领域。它使用了多种证据来源：Fante（阿坎语）中与心灵有关的单词；最大的阿肯语（Twi）谚语汇编；对40名成年基督徒和非洲传统宗教从业人员进行的半结构式访谈；和加纳学者的短期人种志田野调查。这部作品找到了我们可以称之为阿肯语心智理论的四个维度，这些维度似乎是由当地语言和文化所塑造的。首先，思维的核心功能是计划-而不是身份。其次，心灵最显着的品质之一就是其道德价。他人的“坏主意”是对社会和谐与个人福祉的持续威胁。第三，人们认为头脑本质上是多孔的。所有人的思想都容易受到超自然的影响，一些精神上强大的人可以通过心理行动发挥超自然的力量。第四点也是最后一点，说英语的人会把某些想像中的元素（如感觉）想象成是身体。