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 Bamun, also in its French spelling 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 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, diphthongs and coda consonants.

Vowels

The simple vowels are:

FrontCentralBack
i   yɨɯ   u
eə
ɛɔ
a

Consonants

The consonants are:

LabialAlveolarPost-
alveolar		VelarLabialized
velar		Labial-
velar		Glottal
ptkkʷkpʔ
bdɡɡʷɡb
mpntŋkŋkʷ?
mbndŋɡŋɡʷ?
fsʃx?
vzʒɣ?
ɱf?ɲʃ
ɱv?ɲʒ
mn?ŋŋʷŋm
r   ljw

References

  1. 1 2 Bamum at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Bamun". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. ↑ Cathy Kell (14 September 2005). "Cameroon: Claude Ndam : Committed To Culture". Retrieved 28 August 2015.


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