Bamum language

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]

Bamum
Shüpamom
ꛀꛣꚧꚳ
RegionCameroon, Nigeria
EthnicityBamum people
Native speakers
420,000 (2005)[1]
Dialects
  • Bapi
Latin script, Bamum syllabary (being revived)
Language codes
ISO 639-3bax
Glottologbamu1253
Page from a manuscript in the Bamum script

Phonology

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

Vowels

Nchare claims ten diphthongs, only eight of which (excluding /ɔ/ and /o/) have a length distinction.[3] Matateyou shows normal and long examples of all ten vowel qualities. The orthography in angle brackets was based on the General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages as used by Matateyou.[4]

Front Central Back
UnroundedRounded Unrounded UnroundedRounded
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⟩

Consonants

The consonants are displayed as following:[5][4]

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labial-
velar		 Glottal
Plosive Plain Voiceless p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ k ⟨k⟩ k͡p ⟨kp⟩ ʔ ⟨ʼ⟩[lower-alpha 1]
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⟩
Voiced ᵐb ⟨mb⟩ ⁿd ⟨nd⟩ ᵑɡ ⟨ŋg⟩ ᵑ͡ᵐg͡b ⟨ŋgb⟩
Fricative Plain Voiceless f ⟨f⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ʃ ⟨sh⟩
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⟩
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⟩
Prenasal ⁿj ⟨nj⟩ ⁿw ⟨nw⟩
  1. allophone of /k/ in coda
  2. allophone of /p/
  3. allophone of /l/
  4. allophone of /ɣ/
  5. Matateyou uses the letter for implosive /ɓ/
  6. allophone of /r/
  7. allophone of /j/

Tones

Bamum has four[6] or five tones.[7] Mateteyou's analysis includes a mid tone, while Nchare's analysis includes downstep.[6] Bamum distinguishes between lexical and grammatical tone.[8]

DiacriticNchareMatateyou
àlowlow
áhighhigh
ā―mid
ǎrisingrising
âfallingfalling
ꜜdownstep―

References
  1. Bamum at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  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.
  3. Nchare 2012, pp. 39–40.
  4. Matateyou 2002, pp. 37–38.
  5. Nchare 2012, pp. 44, 46.
  6. Nchare 2012, p. 63.
  7. Matateyou 2002, p. 38.
  8. Nchare 2012, p. 64.

Bibliography
  • Matateyou, Emmanuel (2002). Parlons Bamoun. Paris: L'Harmattan. p. 38.
  • Nchare, Abdoulaye Laziz (2012). The Grammar of Shupamem (PhD dissertation). New York University. ProQuest 996252918.

Further reading


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