Bambalang language

Grassfields language spoken in Cameroon From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Bambalang language, also called Chrambo (Chirambo, Tshirambo) or Mbawyakum (Mboyakum),[2] is a Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon.

RegionCameroon
EthnicityBamileke
Native speakers
29,000 (2008)[1]
Quick facts Region, Ethnicity ...
Bambalang
Chrambo
RegionCameroon
EthnicityBamileke
Native speakers
29,000 (2008)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3bmo
Glottologbamb1265
Close

Phonology

Consonants

These phones and phonemes were enumerated by Grove in 2007 and refined by Wright in 2012.[3]

More information Labial, Alveolar ...
Phonemes
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop/Affricate Voiceless /p//pː//t//tː//t͡ʃ//t͡ʃː//k//kː/
Voiced /d͡ʒː//gː/
Fricative Voiceless /f//fː//ʃ//ʃː//h/
Voiced /v//vː//ɣ/
Nasal /m//mː//n//nː//ɲ//ŋ/
Approximant /l//lː//j//w/
Close


More information Labial, Alveolar ...
Phones
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop/Affricate Voiceless [p][pʰ][t][tʰ][t͡ʃ][t͡ʃː][k][kʰ][ʔ][a]
Voiced [b][b][bʰ][d][c][dʰ][d͡ʒ][d][d͡ʒː][g][e][gː]
Fricative Voiceless [f][fː][ʃ][ʃː][h]
Voiced [v][vː][ɣ]
Tap [ɾ][f]
Nasal [m]~[ɱ][g][mː][n][nː][ɲ][ŋ]
Approximant [l][lː][j]~[ʒ][ɥ][h]~[w]
Close
  1. [a]
    [ʔ] is the allophone of /k/ in a CVCV structure.
  2. [b]
    [b] is an always prenasalized allophone of /p/.
  3. [c]
    [d] is an always prenasalized allophone of /l/.
  4. [d]
    [d͡ʒ] is an allophone of /j/ before /n/.
  5. [e]
    [g] is an allophone of /ɣ/ after a nasal.
  6. [f]
    [ɾ] is an allophone of /l/ in a consonant cluster or a CVCV structure.
  7. [g]
    [ɱ] is an allophone of /m/ before labiodental consonants.
  8. [h]
    [ɥ] is an allophone of /w/ before /i/.

Vowels

More information Front, Central ...
Front Central Back
Close /i/ /ĩ/ /ɨ/ /ɨ̃/ /u/ /ũ/
Close-mid /e/ /o/ /õ/
Mid /ə/ /ə̃/
Open-mid /ɛ/ /ɛ̃/ /ɔ/
Open /a/ /ã/
Close

Diphthongs

In addition to simple oral and nasal vowels, Bambalang also has oral and nasal diphthongs and vowel sequences.[4] Grove and Wright do not specify whether nasal diphthongs are truly diphthongs or vowel sequences.

More information Orthographic, Phonemic ...
Orthographic Phonemic Phonetic
ei /ei/ [ei̯]
ou /ou/ [ou̯]
ao /ao/ [ao̯]
əɨ /əɨ/ [ə.ɨ]
ie /ie/ [i.e]
ia /ia/ [i.a]
ua /ua/ [u.a]
uo /uo/ [u.o]
aoŋ /aõ/
ɛiŋ /ɛĩ/
ieŋ /iẽ/
iɛŋ /iɛ̃/
iaŋ /iã/
uoŋ /uõ/
Close

Tone

In addition, Bambalang has both lexical and grammatical tone.[5]

Tones in Bambalang

More information Tone, High (H) ...
Tone High (H) Low (L)* Rising (LH) Falling (HL)
Diacritic á à ā ǎ a
Close

*ā for verbs; à for other types of words[5]

Orthography

A segmental orthography was created for Bambalang in 2007 and revised in 2012.[6]

More information Upper, Lower ...
Orthography[7]
UpperLowerPhone
Aa[a]
Bb[b]
Chch[t͡ʃ]
Dd[d]
Ee[e]
Ɛɛ[ɛ]
Əə[ə]
Ff[f]
Gg[g]
Ghgh[ɣ]
Hh[h]
Ii[i]
Ɨɨ[ɨ]
Jj[d͡ʒ]
Kk[k]
Ll[l]
Mm[m], [ɱ]
Nn[n]
Ŋŋ[ŋ], [◌̃]
Oo[ɔ]
Ɔɔ[ɔ]
Pp[p]
Rr[ɾ]
Shsh[ʃ]
Tt[t]
Uu[u], [y]
Vv[v]
Ww[w], [y]
Yy[ʒ]~[j]
’[ʔ]
Close

References

Works cited

Further reading

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI