Mfumte language
Eastern Grassfields language of Cameroon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mfumte (Nfumte) is a Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon. It is not clear if the four varieties spoken by ethnic Mfumte—Ndaktup, Kwaja, Fum and Mfumte proper—are mutually intelligible or distinct languages; ability to communicate may be either due to inherent intelligibility or to bilingualism, while Fum and Mfumte may simply be the Nigerian and Cameroonian names for the same language.
RegionCameroon
EthnicityMfumte
Native speakers
(24,700 Mfumte dialect cited 1982)[1]6,000 Kwaja and Ndaktup (2000), unknown number Fum
Orthography
The Mfumte alphabet has 40 letters, with 30 consonants and 10 vowels.[2]
Alphabet
| Capital | Lowercase | IPA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phoneme | Allophones | ||
| A | a | /a/ | [a] |
| B | b | /b/ | [b] |
| Ch | ch | /t͡ʃ/ | [t͡ʃ] |
| D | d | /d/ | [d] |
| Dz | dz | /d͡z/ | [d͡z] |
| E | e | /e/ | [e], [ɛ] |
| Ə | ə | /ə/ | [ə] |
| F | f | /f/ | [f] |
| G | g | /g/ | [g] |
| Gb | gb | /gb/ | [gb] |
| Gh | gh | /ɣ/ | [ɣ] |
| H | h | /h/ | [h] |
| ’ | ’ | [ʔ] | |
| I | i | /i/ | [i] |
| Ɨ | ɨ | /ɯ/ | [ɯ] |
| J | j | /d͡ʒ/ | [d͡ʒ] |
| K | k | /k/ | [k] |
| Kp | kp | /kp/ | [kp] |
| L | l | /l/ | [l] |
| M | m | /m/ | [m] |
| N | n | /n/ | [n] |
| Ny | ny | /ɲ/ | [ɲ] |
| Ŋ | ŋ | /ŋ/ | [ŋ] |
| O | o | /o/ | [o] |
| Ɔ | ɔ | /ɔ/ | [ɔ] |
| Ø | ø | /ø/ | [ø] |
| P | p | /p/ | [p] |
| R | r | /ɾ/ | [ɾ] |
| S | s | /s/ | [s] |
| Sh | sh | /ʃ/ | [ʃ] |
| T | t | /t/ | [t] |
| Ts | ts | /t͡s/ | [t͡s] |
| U | u | /u/ | [u] |
| Ʉ | ʉ | /y/ | [y] |
| V | v | /v/ | [v] |
| W | w | /w/ | [w] |
| Wy | wy | /ɥ/ | [ɥ] |
| Y | y | /j/ | [j] |
| Z | z | /z/ | [z] |
| Zh | zh | /ʒ/ | [ʒ] |
Multigraphs
In addition to the single phonemes, Mfumte has prenasalized, palatalized, labio-palatalized, labialized, and velarized consonants.
| Capital | Lowercase | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Mp | mp | /ᵐp/ |
| Mb | mb | /ᵐb/ |
| Nt | nt | /ⁿt/ |
| Nd | nd | /ⁿd/ |
| Nk | nk | /ᵑk/ |
| Ng | ng | /ᵑɡ/ |
| Nkp | nkp | /ᵑᵐkp/ |
| Ngb | ngb | /ᵑᵐgb/ |
| Nts | nts | /ⁿt͡s/ |
| Ndz | ndz | /ⁿd͡z/ |
| Nj | nj | /ⁿd͡ʒ/ |
| Mf | mf | /ᶬf/ |
| Mv | mv | /ᶬv/ |
| Ns | ns | /ⁿs/ |
| Nsh | nsh | /ⁿʃ/ |
| Ngh | ngh | /ᵑɣ/ |
| Nh | nh | /ᵑh/ |
| Py | py | /pʲ/ |
| By | by | /bʲ/ |
| Ky | ky | /kʲ/ |
| Gy | gy | /gʲ/ |
| Hy | hy | /hʲ/ |
| Mpy | mpy | /ᵐpʲ/ |
| Mby | mby | /ᵐbʲ/ |
| Nky | nky | /ᵑkʲ/ |
| Ngy | ngy | /ᵑgʲ/ |
| Mfy | mfy | /ᶬfʲ/ |
| Nghy | nghy | /ᵑɣʲ/ |
| Nhy | nhy | /ᵑhʲ/ |
| Hwy | hwy | /hᶣ/ |
| Nhwy | nhwy | /ᵑhᶣ/ |
| Nghwy | nghwy | /ᵑɣᶣ/ |
| Pw | pw | /pʷ/ |
| Kw | kw | /kʷ/ |
| Gw | gw | /gʷ/ |
| Fw | fw | /fʷ/ |
| Hw | hw | /hʷ/ |
| Nyw | nyw | /ɲʷ/ |
| Nw | nw | /nʷ/ |
| Nkw | nkw | /ᵑkʷ/ |
| Ngw | ngw | /ᵑgʷ/ |
| Nghw | nghw | /ᵑɣʷ/ |
| Nhw | nhw | /ᵑhʷ/ |
| Bw | bw | /bᶭ/ |
| Mbw | mbw | /ᵐbᶭ/ |
