Bamum language
| Bamum | |
|---|---|
| Shüpamom | |
| Region | Cameroon, Nigeria |
Native speakers | 420,000 (2005)[1] |
| Bamum syllabary | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
bax |
| Glottolog |
bamu1253[2] |
|
Page from a manuscript in the Bamum script | |
Bamum (Shüpamom [ʃŷpǎˑmə̀m] "Bamum language"), or in its French spelling Bamoun, is one of the Benue–Congo languages 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 around 1895. Cameroonian musician Claude Ndam is a native speaker of the language and uses it in his music.[3]
Phonology
Bamum has tone, long vowels and diphthongs, and coda consonants. The simple vowels are,
| Front | Central | Back |
|---|---|---|
| i y | ɨ | ɯ u |
| e | ə | |
| ɛ | ɔ | |
| a |
The consonants are,
| Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Velar | Labialized velar | Labial- velar | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| p | t | k | kʷ | kp | ʔ | |
| b | d | ɡ | ɡʷ | ɡb | ||
| mp | nt | ŋk | ŋkʷ | ? | ||
| mb | nd | ŋɡ | ŋɡʷ | ? | ||
| f | s | ʃ | x | ? | ||
| v | z | ʒ | ɣ | ? | ||
| ɱf | ? | ɲʃ | ||||
| ɱv | ? | ɲʒ | ||||
| m | n | ? | ŋ | ŋʷ | ŋm | |
| r l | j | w |
References
- 1 2 Bamum at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Bamun". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- ↑ Cathy Kell (14 September 2005). "Cameroon: Claude Ndam : Committed To Culture". Retrieved 28 August 2015.
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