Bamum_language

Bamum
Bamum
Shüpamom
ꛀꛣꚧꚳ
Region	Cameroon, Nigeria
Ethnicity	Bamum people
Native speakers	420,000 (2005)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Grassfields Eastern Grassfields Mbam-Nkam Nun Bamum; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Dialects	Bapi;
Writing system	Latin script, Bamum syllabary (being revived)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bax
Glottolog	bamu1253
	Page from a manuscript in the Bamum script

Bamum language

Benue–Congo language spoken in Cameroon

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]

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Phonology

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

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[6] /k/ in coda

[p-7] /p/

[8] /l/

[9] /ɣ/

[10] Matateyou uses the letter for implosive /ɓ/

[11] /r/

[12] /j/

[e18-1] [1]
Bamum at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[2] [2]
Kell, Cathy (14 September 2005). "Cameroon: Claude Ndam : Committed To Culture". Cameroon Tribune. Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 28 August 2015 – via AllAfrica.

[FOOTNOTENchare201239–40-3] [3]
Nchare 2012, pp. 39–40.

[FOOTNOTEMatateyou200237–38-4] [4]
Matateyou 2002, pp. 37–38.

[FOOTNOTENchare201244,_46-5] [5]
Nchare 2012, pp. 44, 46.

[FOOTNOTENchare201263-13] [6]
Nchare 2012, p. 63.

[FOOTNOTEMatateyou200238-14] [7]
Matateyou 2002, p. 38.

[FOOTNOTENchare201264-15] [8]
Nchare 2012, p. 64.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[lower-alpha 1]

[lower-alpha 2]

[lower-alpha 3]

[lower-alpha 4]

[lower-alpha 5]

[lower-alpha 6]

[lower-alpha 7]

[6]

[7]

[8]

	Front		Central	Back
	Unrounded	Rounded	Unrounded	Unrounded	Rounded
Close	i ⟨i⟩ iː ⟨ii⟩	y ⟨ü⟩ yː ⟨üü⟩		ɯ ⟨ʉ⟩ ɯː ⟨ʉʉ⟩	u ⟨u⟩ uː ⟨uu⟩
Mid	e ⟨e⟩ eː ⟨ee⟩		ə ⟨ə⟩ əː ⟨əə⟩		o ⟨o⟩ oː ⟨oo⟩
Open-mid	ɛ ⟨ɛ⟩ ɛː ⟨ɛɛ⟩				ɔ ⟨ɔ⟩ ɔː ⟨ɔɔ⟩
Open			a ⟨a⟩ a ⟨aa⟩

			Labial		Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial- velar	Glottal
Plosive	Plain	Voiceless	p ⟨p⟩		t ⟨t⟩		k ⟨k⟩	k͡p ⟨kp⟩	ʔ ⟨ʼ⟩^{[lower-alpha 1]}
	Plain	Voiced	b ⟨b⟩^{[lower-alpha 2]}		d ⟨d⟩^{[lower-alpha 3]}		ɡ ⟨g⟩^{[lower-alpha 4]}	g͡b ⟨gb⟩
	Prenasal	Voiceless	ᵐp ⟨mp⟩		ⁿt ⟨nt⟩		ᵑk ⟨ŋk⟩	ᵑ͡ᵐk͡p ⟨ŋkp⟩
	Prenasal	Voiced	ᵐb ⟨mb⟩		ⁿd ⟨nd⟩		ᵑɡ ⟨ŋg⟩	ᵑ͡ᵐg͡b ⟨ŋgb⟩
Fricative	Plain	Voiceless	f ⟨f⟩		s ⟨s⟩	ʃ ⟨sh⟩
	Plain	Voiced	β^{[lower-alpha 2]} ⟨ɓ⟩^{[lower-alpha 5]}	v ⟨v⟩	z ⟨z⟩^{[lower-alpha 6]}	ʒ ⟨j⟩^{[lower-alpha 7]}	ɣ ⟨gh⟩
	Prenasal	Voiceless	ᶬf ⟨mf⟩		ⁿs ⟨ns⟩	ᶮʃ ⟨nsh⟩
	Prenasal	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⟩
Approximant	Prenasal					ⁿj ⟨nj⟩		ⁿw ⟨nw⟩

Diacritic	Nchare	Matateyou
à	low	low
á	high	high
ā	―	mid
ǎ	rising	rising
â	falling	falling
ꜜ	downstep	―

Bamum_language

Bamum language

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Tones

References

Bibliography

Further reading

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Bamum
Shüpamom
ꛀꛣꚧꚳ
Region	Cameroon, Nigeria
Ethnicity	Bamum people
Native speakers	420,000 (2005)^[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Grassfields Eastern Grassfields Mbam-Nkam Nun Bamum
Dialects	Bapi
Writing system	Latin script, Bamum syllabary (being revived)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	`bax`
Glottolog	`bamu1253`
Page from a manuscript in the Bamum script