Bamun (language)
| Bamum (Schupamem, Shupamom) | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Spoken in |
Cameroon , Nigeria | |
| speaker | 215,000 (1982) | |
| Linguistic classification |
Niger-Congo
|
|
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-3 |
bax |
|
Bamum (own name Schupamem or Shüpamom pronunciation : [ ʃŷpǎˑmə̀m ] "Bamum language", French Bamoun ) is a Semibantu language of Cameroon , a bantoid language that is not one of the Bantu languages .
It belongs to the branch of the Mbam-Nkam languages within the Semibantu languages.
The Bamum language has around a quarter of a million speakers and was the official language of the Kingdom of Bamum . It has its own writing system, the Bamun script , which was developed by the famous Sultan Ibrahim Njoya and his palace circle in 1895. Around 1895, Sultan Njoya developed several scripts, the last of which is also called "A-ka-u-ku" and had some success until the French colonial administration made their use a criminal offense and closed all schools they had taught.
The Cameroonian musicians Claude Ndam and Gerryland are native speakers in Bamum and use it in their music.
The official ISO - language code is [bax]. There are some dialects related to the Bafanji , Bamali , Bambalang and Bangolan languages.
Phonology
Bamum has tones, long vowels and diphthongs, and codal consonants. The simple vowels are:
| front | center | 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 |