Bamum language

Bamum
Bamum
Shüpamom
ꚶꛉ꛰꛲ꚫꛦꚳ[citation needed]
Region	Cameroon, Nigeria
Ethnicity	Bamum people
Native speakers	600,000 (2022)
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 (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 600,000-700,000 speakers in 2025.^[3] 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.^[4]

RegionCameroon, Nigeria

EthnicityBamum people

Native speakers

600,000 (2022^[1])^[2]

Language family

Niger–Congo?

Atlantic–Congo
- Volta-Congo
  - Benue–Congo
    - Bantoid
      - Southern Bantoid
        Grassfields
        Eastern Grassfields
        Mbam-Nkam
        Nun
        Bamum

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[1]

[2]

	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⟩^[a]
	Plain	Voiced	b ⟨b⟩^[b]		d ⟨d⟩^[c]		ɡ ⟨g⟩^[d]	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^[b] ⟨ɓ⟩^[e]	v ⟨v⟩	z ⟨z⟩^[f]	ʒ ⟨j⟩^[g]	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

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Tones

References

Bibliography

Further reading

Related Articles

Bamum
Shüpamom
ꚶꛉ꛰꛲ꚫꛦꚳ^{[citation needed]}
Region	Cameroon, Nigeria
Ethnicity	Bamum people
Native speakers	600,000 (2022^[1])^[2]
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