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Bambalang language

{{Short description|Grassfields language spoken in Cameroon}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Bambalang

|altname={{lang|bmo|Chrambo}}

|nativename=

|region=Cameroon

|ethnicity=Bamileke

|speakers=29,000

|date=2008

|ref=e18

|familycolor=Niger-Congo

|fam2=Atlantic–Congo

|fam3=Volta-Congo

|fam4=Benue–Congo

|fam5=Bantoid

|fam6=Southern Bantoid

|fam7=Grassfields

|fam8=Eastern Grassfields

|fam9=Mbam-Nkam

|fam10=Nun

|iso3=bmo

|glotto=bamb1265

|glottorefname=Bambalang

}}

The Bambalang language, also called Chrambo (Chirambo, Tshirambo) or Mbawyakum (Mboyakum),{{harvcoltxt|Binam Bikoi|2012}} is a Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon.

Phonology

=Consonants=

These phones and phonemes were enumerated by Grove in 2007 and refined by Wright in 2012.{{harvcoltxt|Grove|Wright|2012|pp=5-8}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"

|+Phonemes

colspan="2" |

! colspan="2" | Labial

! colspan="2" | Alveolar

! colspan="2" | Palatal

! colspan="2" | Velar

! Glottal

rowspan="2" | Stop/Affricate

! Voiceless

| {{IPAslink|p}} || {{IPAslink|pː}} || {{IPAslink|t}} || {{IPAslink|tː}} || {{IPAslink|t͡ʃ}} || {{IPAslink|t͡ʃː}} || {{IPAslink|k}} || {{IPAslink|kː}} ||

Voiced

| || || || || || {{IPAslink|d͡ʒː}} || || {{IPAslink|gː}} ||

rowspan="2" | Fricative

! Voiceless

| {{IPAslink|f}} || {{IPAslink|fː}} || || || {{IPAslink|ʃ}} || {{IPAslink|ʃː}} || || || {{IPAslink|h}}

Voiced

| {{IPAslink|v}} || {{IPAslink|vː}} || || || || || {{IPAslink|ɣ}} || ||

colspan="2" | Nasal

| {{IPAslink|m}} || {{IPAslink|mː}} || {{IPAslink|n}} || {{IPAslink|nː}} || {{IPAslink|ɲ}} || || {{IPAslink|ŋ}} || ||

colspan="2" | Approximant

| || || {{IPAslink|l}} || {{IPAslink|lː}} || {{IPAslink|j}} || || {{IPAslink|w}} || ||

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"

|+Phones

colspan="2" |

! colspan="2" | Labial

! colspan="2" | Alveolar

! colspan="2" | Palatal

! colspan="2" | Velar

! Glottal

rowspan="2" | Stop/Affricate

! Voiceless

| {{IPAblink|p}} || {{IPAblink|pʰ}} || {{IPAblink|t}} || {{IPAblink|tʰ}} || {{IPAblink|t͡ʃ}} || {{IPAblink|t͡ʃː}} || {{IPAblink|k}} || {{IPAblink|kʰ}} || {{IPAblink|ʔ}}{{efn|{{IPAblink|ʔ}} is the allophone of {{IPAslink|k}} in a CVCV structure.}}

Voiced

| {{IPAblink|b}}{{efn|{{IPAblink|b}} is an always prenasalized allophone of {{IPAslink|p}}.}} || {{IPAblink|bʰ}} || {{IPAblink|d}}{{efn|{{IPAblink|d}} is an always prenasalized allophone of {{IPAslink|l}}.}} || {{IPAblink|dʰ}} || {{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}}{{efn|{{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}} is an allophone of {{IPAslink|j}} before {{IPAslink|n}}.}} || {{IPAblink|d͡ʒː}} || {{IPAblink|g}}{{efn|{{IPAblink|g}} is an allophone of {{IPAslink|ɣ}} after a nasal.}} || {{IPAblink|gː}} ||

rowspan="2" | Fricative

! Voiceless

| {{IPAblink|f}} || {{IPAblink|fː}} || || || {{IPAblink|ʃ}} || {{IPAblink|ʃː}} || || || {{IPAblink|h}}

Voiced

| {{IPAblink|v}} || {{IPAblink|vː}} || || || || || {{IPAblink|ɣ}} || ||

colspan="2" | Tap

| || || {{IPAblink|ɾ}}{{efn|{{IPAblink|ɾ}} is an allophone of {{IPAslink|l}} in a consonant cluster or a CVCV structure.}} || || || || || ||

colspan="2" | Nasal

| {{IPAblink|m}}~{{IPAblink|ɱ}}{{efn|{{IPAblink|ɱ}} is an allophone of {{IPAslink|m}} before labiodental consonants.}} || {{IPAblink|mː}} || {{IPAblink|n}} || {{IPAblink|nː}} || {{IPAblink|ɲ}} || || {{IPAblink|ŋ}} || ||

colspan="2" | Approximant

| || || {{IPAblink|l}} || {{IPAblink|lː}} || {{IPAblink|j}}~{{IPAblink|ʒ}} || colspan="2" |{{IPAblink|ɥ}}{{efn|{{IPAblink|ɥ}} is an allophone of {{IPAslink|w}} before {{IPAslink|i}}.}}~{{IPAblink|w}} || ||

{{notelist}}

=Vowels=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Front

! Central

! Back

Close

| {{IPAslink|i}} {{IPAslink|ĩ}}

| {{IPAslink|ɨ}} {{IPAslink|ɨ̃}}

| {{IPAslink|u}} {{IPAslink|ũ}}

Close-mid

| {{IPAslink|e}}

|

| {{IPAslink|o}} {{IPAslink|õ}}

Mid

|

| {{IPAslink|ə}} {{IPAslink|ə̃}}

|

Open-mid

| {{IPAslink|ɛ}} {{IPAslink|ɛ̃}}

|

| {{IPAslink|ɔ}}

Open

| {{IPAslink|a}} {{IPAslink|ã}}

|

|

==Diphthongs==

In addition to simple oral and nasal vowels, Bambalang also has oral and nasal diphthongs and vowel sequences.{{harvcoltxt|Grove|Wright|2012|p=15}} Grove and Wright do not specify whether nasal diphthongs are truly diphthongs or vowel sequences.

class="wikitable"
Orthographic

! Phonemic

! Phonetic

{{lang|bmo|ei}}

| {{IPA|/ei/}}

| {{IPAblink|ei̯}}

{{lang|bmo|ou}}

| {{IPA|/ou/}}

| {{IPAblink|ou̯}}

{{lang|bmo|ao}}

| {{IPA|/ao/}}

| {{IPAblink|ao̯}}

{{lang|bmo|əɨ}}

| {{IPA|/əɨ/}}

| {{IPA|[ə.ɨ]}}

{{lang|bmo|ie}}

| /ie/

| {{IPA|[i.e]}}

{{lang|bmo|ia}}

| {{IPA|/ia/}}

| {{IPA|[i.a]}}

{{lang|bmo|ua}}

| {{IPA|/ua/}}

| {{IPA|[u.a]}}

{{lang|bmo|uo}}

| {{IPA|/uo/}}

| {{IPA|[u.o]}}

{{lang|bmo|aoŋ}}

| {{IPA|/aõ/}}

|

{{lang|bmo|ɛiŋ}}

| {{IPA|/ɛĩ/}}

|

{{lang|bmo|ieŋ}}

| {{IPA|/iẽ/}}

|

{{lang|bmo|iɛŋ}}

| {{IPA|/iɛ̃/}}

|

{{lang|bmo|iaŋ}}

| {{IPA|/iã/}}

|

{{lang|bmo|uoŋ}}

| {{IPA|/uõ/}}

|

=Tone=

In addition, Bambalang has both lexical and grammatical tone.{{harvcoltxt|Grove|Wright|2012|p=16}}

Tones in Bambalang

class="wikitable"

|+

!Tone

!High (H)

! colspan="2" |Low (L)*

!Rising (LH)

!Falling (HL)

Diacritic

|á

|à

|ā

|ǎ

|a

*ā for verbs; à for other types of words

Orthography

A segmental orthography was created for Bambalang in 2007 and revised in 2012.{{harvcoltxt|Grove|Wright|2012|p=3}}

class="wikitable"

|+ Orthography{{harvcoltxt|Grove|Wright|2012|pp=5-7}}

UpperLowerPhone
Aa{{IPAblink|a}}
Bb{{IPAblink|b}}
Chch{{IPAblink|t͡ʃ}}
Dd{{IPAblink|d}}
Ee{{IPAblink|e}}
Ɛɛ{{IPAblink|ɛ}}
Əə{{IPAblink|ə}}
Ff{{IPAblink|f}}
Gg{{IPAblink|g}}
Ghgh{{IPAblink|ɣ}}
Hh{{IPAblink|h}}
Ii{{IPAblink|i}}
Ɨɨ{{IPAblink|ɨ}}
Jj{{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}}
Kk{{IPAblink|k}}
Ll{{IPAblink|l}}
Mm{{IPAblink|m}}, {{IPAblink|ɱ}}
Nn{{IPAblink|n}}
Ŋŋ{{IPAblink|ŋ}}, {{IPAblink|◌̃}}
Oo{{IPAblink|ɔ}}
Ɔɔ{{IPAblink|ɔ}}
Pp{{IPAblink|p}}
Rr{{IPAblink|ɾ}}
Shsh{{IPAblink|ʃ}}
Tt{{IPAblink|t}}
Uu{{IPAblink|u}}, {{IPAblink|y}}
Vv{{IPAblink|v}}
Ww{{IPAblink|w}}, {{IPAblink|y}}
Yy{{IPAblink|ʒ}}~{{IPAblink|j}}
colspan="2" align="center" |’{{IPAblink|ʔ}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Works Cited

  • {{cite book|editor-last=Binam Bikoi|editor-first=Charles|date=2012|title=Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM)|trans-title=Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon|volume=1: Inventaire des langues|language=fr|location=Yaoundé|publisher=CERDOTOLA|series=Atlas linguistique de l'Afrique centrale (ALAC)|isbn=9789956796069}}
  • {{cite web |title=Bambalang (Chrambo) Orthography Guide |publisher=SIL |url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/16/62/27/1662276571865971200376169632580230983/Bambalang_Chrambo_Orthography_Guide_2012_revision.pdf |last=Grove |first=Dan |last2=Wright |first2=Jennifer |edition=Revised |date= June 2012}}

Further reading

  • {{cite thesis |last=Ayafor |first=Vera |title=The Structural Phonology of Cirambo |location=Yaoundé |publisher=University of Yaoundé I}}
  • {{cite web |last=Luider |first=Jennifer |date=December 2009 |title=A Phonological Sketch of the Bambalang (Chrambo) Language |publisher=SIL |url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/93/46/70/93467033093819851396281763685802510687/A_Phonology_of_Bambalang.pdf}}
  • {{cite web |last=Wright |first=Jennifer |title=The Noun and Verb Phrase in Chrambo (Bambalang) |publisher=SIL |year=2009 |url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/46/60/74/4660743609635893560913596819333643565/TheNounAndVerbPhraseInChrambo.pdf}}
  • {{cite web |last=Wright |first=Jennifer |year=2011 |title=Tone in the Verb Phrase in Chrambo (Bambalang) |publisher=SIL |url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/56/75/29/56752936967966988224554292124863276933/Tone_in_VP_Bambalang.pdf}}
  • {{cite web |last=Wright |first=Jennifer |date=June 2012 |title=Testing and Revising a Tone Orthography Proposal for Chrambo (Bambalang) |publisher=SIL |url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/12/16/71/121671753599915969836513801609834425970/TestingAndRevisingToneOrthographyInChramboBambalang.pdf}}

{{Languages of Cameroon}}

{{Grassfields Bantu languages}}

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Category:Languages of Cameroon

Category:Nun languages

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