Mbum language spoken in Chad and Cameroon
Mundang is an Mbum language of southern Chad and northern Cameroon.
The Gelama dialect of Cameroon may be a separate language.
Distribution
Mundang, spoken in Cameroon by 44,700 speakers (SIL 1982), is mainly spoken in Mayo-Kani department, Far North Region, in the communes of Mindif, Moulvouday, and Kaélé. It is also spoken to a lesser extent in the south of Mayo-Kebi, in the east of Bibemi commune (Bénoué department, Northern Region), towards the Chadian border. Mundang of Lere (in Chad) and Mundang of Cameroon (centered in Lara and Kaélé) are highly similar.[2]
Phonology
Consonants
- /ɓ, ɗ/ may also be heard as laryngealized [ɓ̰, ɗ̰] among speakers.
- /ʔw/ can also be heard as two laryngealized allophones [ʔv̰, ʔw̰].
- Sounds /ɓ, k/ may be heard as fricatives [β, ɣ] in intervocalic positions.
- /h, w/ may be heard as palatal [ç, ɥ] when preceding /i/.
- /ɾ/ can also range to a retroflex [ɽ] among dialects or a trill [r] when geminated.
Vowels
- /ə/ may also range to a close [ɨ].[3][4]
Writing System
Nasalization is marked by a tilde: ã, ẽ, ə̃, ĩ, õ
References
- ^ Mundang at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
- ^ Binam Bikoi, Charles, ed. (2012). Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM) [Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon]. Atlas linguistique de l'Afrique centrale (ALAC) (in French). Vol. 1: Inventaire des langues. Yaoundé: CERDOTOLA. ISBN 9789956796069.
- ^ Elders, Stefan (2000). Grammaire Mundang. Leiden University.
- ^ Elders, Stefan (2006). Issues in comparative Kebi-Benue (Adamawa). In Africana Linguistica 12. pp. 37–88.
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