Mmuock

{{Short description|Tribe in Cameroon}}

Mmuock (or Mmock) is the Anglicised form of Muòk ({{IPA|m̩muɔk}})—sometimes written as Mǒk (see next paragraph). The exonym is Bamock. Mmuock is a tribe in the West/Southwest of Cameroon. Belonging to the Bamilike ethnic group, the Mmuock tribe comprises four villages: M'mock Lelieng (Fossung ellelem), Mmuock Fossimondi (M'muockngie), Mmockmbie, and Mmuock Leteh. The first three villages are found in the English-speaking Lebialem Division in the Southwest Region of Cameroon, while Mmock Leleng lies in the french-speaking West Region.

File:Mmuock Leteh female.jpg

The Mmuock tribe speaks the Mmuock (Mmock) language. Due to dialectal differences within Mmuock (Mmock) communities, the name of the tribe is pronounced {{IPA|ybb|m̩muɔːk}} in Mmuock-Leteh and Mmuock-Fossimondi, and{{IPA|ybb|m̩mok}} in the other two villages. As a result, there are two Anglicised spellings: Mmuock and Mmock.

Etymology

The word Muòk (or Moòk) means fire in the Mmuock language.{{cite book |last=Fotang |first=Tano |title=The Sound of Mmuock (Vol 1: Orthography) |edition=first|place=Bamenda |publisher=Magnolian Publishers|year=2011|isbn=978-9956-645-17-6 }} There have been two different origin stories to the name. According to the first story, when four brothers, who later founded the four villages, separated, each was to make a fire if attacked; the smoke from the fire would alert the others. According to the second story, the name was given by the people of Bafou as a result of their inability to defeat and capture the four brothers.{{cite book|last=Asaah |first=Thomas |title=Mmock in History|place=Yaounde|year=1980}}

Names of days of the week

In the Mmuock culture, there are eight days in the week. The week days, in order, are as follow:{{cite web | url = https://mmuock.org/2020/02/11/mmuock-days-of-the-week/ | title = Mmuock Week Days | publisher = Mmuock Language Society | accessdate = February 15, 2020}}

  1. Ngangà (the first day)
  2. Mbeqgnúá (Betaâgnúá)
  3. Mbeqlěq
  4. Njϐngong (Ngong)
  5. Mbeqńkœó
  6. Njœêlekœr̄
  7. Fa'à
  8. Télǎng (Njœeláh).

The first day, Ngangè, is a public holiday and a day of rest; no manual labour is permitted. The second day is the market day.

References

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Category:Ethnic groups in Cameroon