Bamum language

Benue–Congo language spoken in Cameroon From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bamum language

Bamum (Shü Pamom [ʃŷpǎˑmə̀m] 'language of the Bamum', or Shümom 'Mum language'), also known as Shupamem, Bamun, or Bamoun, is an Eastern Grassfields language of Cameroon, with approximately 420,000 speakers.[1] The language is well known for its original script developed by King Njoya and his palace circle in the Kingdom of Bamum around 1895. Cameroonian musician Claude Ndam was a native speaker of the language and sang it in his music.[2]

Quick Facts Region, Ethnicity ...
Bamum
Shüpamom
ꚶꛉ꛰꛲ꚫꛦꚳ[citation needed]
RegionCameroon, Nigeria
EthnicityBamum people
Native speakers
420,000 (2005)[1]
Dialects
  • Bapi
Latin script, Bamum syllabary (being revived)
Language codes
ISO 639-3bax
Glottologbamu1253
Thumb
Page from a manuscript in the Bamum script
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Phonology

Summarize
Perspective

Bamum has tone, vowel length, diphthongs and coda consonants.

Vowels

Nchare claims ten monophthongs, only eight of which (excluding /ɔ/ and /o/) have a length distinction.[3] Matateyou shows short and long examples of all ten vowel qualities. The orthography in angle brackets is based on the General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages as used by Matateyou.[4]

More information Front, Central ...
Front Central Back
UnroundedRounded Unrounded UnroundedRounded
Close i i ii y ü üü ɯ ʉ ɯː ʉʉ u u uu
Mid e e ee ə ə əː əə o o oo
Open-mid ɛ ɛ ɛː ɛɛ ɔ ɔ ɔː ɔɔ
Open a a a aa
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Consonants

The consonants are displayed as following:[5][4]

More information Labial, Alveolar ...
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labial-
velar
Glottal
Plosive Plain Voiceless p p t t k k k͡p kp ʔ ʼ[a]
Voiced b b[b] d d[c] ɡ g[d] g͡b gb
Prenasal Voiceless ᵐp mp ⁿt nt ᵑk ŋk ᵑ͡ᵐk͡p ŋkp
Voiced ᵐb mb ⁿd nd ᵑɡ ŋg ᵑ͡ᵐg͡b ŋgb
Fricative Plain Voiceless f f s s ʃ sh
Voiced β[b] ɓ[e] v v z z[f] ʒ j[g] ɣ gh
Prenasal Voiceless ᶬf mf ⁿs ns ᶮʃ nsh
Voiced ᶬv mv ⁿz nz ᶮʒ nzh
Nasal m m n n ɲ ny ŋ ŋ ŋ͡m ŋm
Rhotic r r
Approximant Plain l l j y w w
Prenasal ⁿj nj ⁿw nw
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  1. allophone of /k/ in coda
  2. allophone of /p/
  3. allophone of /l/
  4. allophone of /ɣ/
  5. Matateyou uses the letter for implosive /ɓ/
  6. allophone of /r/
  7. allophone of /j/

Tones

Bamum has four[6] or five tones.[7] Mateteyou's analysis includes a mid tone, while Nchare's analysis includes downstep.[6] Bamum distinguishes between lexical and grammatical tone.[8]

More information Diacritic, Nchare ...
DiacriticNchareMatateyou
àlowlow
áhighhigh
āmid
ǎrisingrising
âfallingfalling
downstep
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References

Bibliography

Further reading

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