Bambalang language

Bambalang
Chrambo
RegionCameroon
EthnicityBamileke
Native speakers
29,000 (2008)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3bmo
Glottologbamb1265

The Bambalang language, also called Chrambo (Chirambo, Tshirambo) or Mbawyakum (Mboyakum),[2] 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.[3]

Phonemes
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop/Affricate Voiceless /p/ /pː/ /t/ /tː/ /t͡ʃ/ /t͡ʃː/ /k/ /kː/
Voiced /d͡ʒː/ /gː/
Fricative Voiceless /f/ /fː/ /ʃ/ /ʃː/ /h/
Voiced /v/ /vː/ /ɣ/
Nasal /m/ /mː/ /n/ /nː/ /ɲ/ /ŋ/
Approximant /l/ /lː/ /j/ /w/


Phones
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop/Affricate Voiceless [p] [pʰ] [t] [tʰ] [t͡ʃ] [t͡ʃː] [k] [kʰ] [ʔ][a]
Voiced [b][b] [bʰ] [d][c] [dʰ] [d͡ʒ][d] [d͡ʒː] [g][e] [gː]
Fricative Voiceless [f] [fː] [ʃ] [ʃː] [h]
Voiced [v] [vː] [ɣ]
Tap [ɾ][f]
Nasal [m]~[ɱ][g] [mː] [n] [nː] [ɲ] [ŋ]
Approximant [l] [lː] [j]~[ʒ] [ɥ][h]~[w]
  1. ^ [ʔ] is the allophone of /k/ in a CVCV structure.
  2. ^ [b] is an always prenasalized allophone of /p/.
  3. ^ [d] is an always prenasalized allophone of /l/.
  4. ^ [d͡ʒ] is an allophone of /j/ before /n/.
  5. ^ [g] is an allophone of /ɣ/ after a nasal.
  6. ^ [ɾ] is an allophone of /l/ in a consonant cluster or a CVCV structure.
  7. ^ [ɱ] is an allophone of /m/ before labiodental consonants.
  8. ^ [ɥ] is an allophone of /w/ before /i/.

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close /i/ /ĩ/ /ɨ/ /ɨ̃/ /u/ /ũ/
Close-mid /e/ /o/ /õ/
Mid /ə/ /ə̃/
Open-mid /ɛ/ /ɛ̃/ /ɔ/
Open /a/ /ã/

Diphthongs

In addition to simple oral and nasal vowels, Bambalang also has oral and nasal diphthongs and vowel sequences.[4] Grove and Wright do not specify whether nasal diphthongs are truly diphthongs or vowel sequences.

Orthographic Phonemic Phonetic
ei /ei/ [ei̯]
ou /ou/ [ou̯]
ao /ao/ [ao̯]
əɨ /əɨ/ [ə.ɨ]
ie /ie/ [i.e]
ia /ia/ [i.a]
ua /ua/ [u.a]
uo /uo/ [u.o]
aoŋ /aõ/
ɛiŋ /ɛĩ/
ieŋ /iẽ/
iɛŋ /iɛ̃/
iaŋ /iã/
uoŋ /uõ/

Tone

In addition, Bambalang has both lexical and grammatical tone.[5]

Tones in Bambalang

Tone High (H) Low (L)* Rising (LH) Falling (HL)
Diacritic á à ā ǎ a

*ā for verbs; à for other types of words[5]

Orthography

A segmental orthography was created for Bambalang in 2007 and revised in 2012.[6]

Orthography[7]
Upper Lower Phone
A a [a]
B b [b]
Ch ch [t͡ʃ]
D d [d]
E e [e]
Ɛ ɛ [ɛ]
Ə ə [ə]
F f [f]
G g [g]
Gh gh [ɣ]
H h [h]
I i [i]
Ɨ ɨ [ɨ]
J j [d͡ʒ]
K k [k]
L l [l]
M m [m], [ɱ]
N n [n]
Ŋ ŋ [ŋ], [◌̃]
O o [ɔ]
Ɔ ɔ [ɔ]
P p [p]
R r [ɾ]
Sh sh [ʃ]
T t [t]
U u [u], [y]
V v [v]
W w [w], [y]
Y y [ʒ]~[j]
’ [ʔ]

References

  1. ^ Bambalang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Binam Bikoi (2012)
  3. ^ Grove & Wright (2012:5–8)
  4. ^ Grove & Wright (2012:15)
  5. ^ a b Grove & Wright (2012:16)
  6. ^ Grove & Wright (2012:3)
  7. ^ Grove & Wright (2012:5–7)

Works Cited

  • 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.
  • Grove, Dan; Wright, Jennifer (June 2012). "Bambalang (Chrambo) Orthography Guide" (PDF) (Revised ed.). SIL.

Further reading


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