Ngwe language

Ngwe
Native to Cameroon
Native speakers
 73,000 (2001)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 nwe
Glottolog ngwe1238[2]

Ngwe (Ŋwe, Nweh) is a Grassfields language spoken in Cameroon. As of 2001, Ngwe had 73,200 speakers, which was an increase from the numbers of previous censuses. It is part of the Bamileke dialect continuum, and its closest relatives are Yemba and Ngiemboon.

Phonology

Vowels

It has at least thirteen vowels, /i y e ɛ æ ɐ ɑ ɔ o u ɯ ɤ ʌ/.[3] /ɤ ʌ/ are centralised.[3] /y/ sounds somewhat like [ø] or [œ] and has a tongue position similar to that of /ɑ/, but with the jaw raised and the lips very close together.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Ngwe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Ngwe". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. 1 2 3 Ladefoged, Peter. A Phonetic Study of West African Languages: An Auditory-instrumental Survey. Cambridge University Press, 1968, pp. 33–36.


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