Ghomalaʼ language

Bamileke language spoken in Cameroon

Ghɔmálá’ or Ghomala is a major Bamileke language spoken in Cameroon, originally in the following departments of the West region:

• Mifi, Koung-Khi and Hauts-Plateaux: most of the three departments (except extreme south and except pockets in the north and west)
• Menoua: east of the department
• Bamboutos: a corner in the south

It is spoken by an estimated 2 million people in two main population groups.^{[citation needed]}

Phonology

Consonants

• The glottal stop /ʔ/ only occurs as word-final.
• Sounds [v l ʃ ʒ ɣ] are alternative consonant sounds of /b͡v d t͡ʃ d͡ʒ ɡ/.
• /t d/, when occurring before close front-central vowel sounds /i ʉ/, can sound palatalized as [tʲ dʲ].
• Sounds /p b t d k/, when preceding a /h/ sound, are realized as affricated [p͡ɸ b͡β t͡θ d͡ð k͡x].
• /ɡ/, when occurring before central vowel sounds /ə ɐ/, may sound affricated as [ɡ͡ɣ].
• A word-final /k/ sound, may be realized as uvular sounds [q χ].

Vowels

• Sounds /ɐ u ɔ/ when occurring with a velar nasal /ŋ/, can be realized as nasalized vowel sounds [ɐ̃ ũ ɔ̃].^[2]

Tone

Tones are marked as high [á], low [à], mid (unmarked) [a], rising [ǎ], or falling [â].

References

1. Ghomala at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Nissim, Gabriel M. (1981). Le Bamileke-Ghomálá' (Parler de Bandjoun, Cameroun). Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Sciéntifique.