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Ewondo language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ewondo
Beti
RegionCameroon
Native speakers
(580,000 cited 1982)[1]
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Cameroon
Language codes
ISO 639-2ewo
ISO 639-3ewo
Glottologewon1239
A.72[2]

Ewondo or Beti is a Bantu language spoken by the Beti people (more precisely Beti be Nanga, the people of the forest, or simply Beti) of Cameroon. The language had 577,700 native speakers in 1982. Ewondo is a trade language. Dialects include Badjia (Bakjo), Bafeuk, Bemvele (Mvele, Yezum, Yesoum), Bane, Beti, Enoah, Evouzom, Mbida-Bani, Mvete, Mvog-Niengue, Omvang, Yabekolo (Yebekolo), Yabeka, and Yabekanga. Ewondo speakers live primarily in Cameroon's Centre Region and the northern part of the Océan division in the South Region.

Ewondo is a Bantu language. It is a language of the Beti people , and is intelligible with Eton.

In 2011 there was a concern among Cameroonian linguists that the language was being displaced in the country by French.[3]

Distribution

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Ewondo (Beti) covers the whole of the departments of Mfoundi, Mefou-et-Afamba, Mefou-et-Akono, Nyong-et-So'o, Nyong-et-Mfoumou (Central Region), and part of Océan Department (Southern Region).[4]

History

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The Ewondo language originated in the forests south of the Sanaga river.

Phonology

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Consonants

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Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio-
velar
Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t k k͡p
voiced b d ɡ ɡ͡b
prenasal ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ ᵑᵐɡ͡b
Affricate voiceless t͡s
voiced d͡z
prenasal ⁿd͡z
Fricative voiceless f s h
voiced v z
prenasal ᶬv
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Lateral l
Rhotic r
Approximant j w

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e ə o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

[5]

Alphabet system

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Alphabet in Ewondo
Uppercase
A B D Dz E Ə Ɛ F G Gb H I K Kp L M Mb Mgb Mv N Nd Ndz Ng Ny Ŋ O Ɔ P R U T Ts S V W Y Z
Lowercase
a b d dz e ə ɛ f g gb h i k kp l m mb mgb mv n nd ndz ng ny ŋ o ɔ p r u t ts s v w y z
Phonemes
a b d d͡z e ə ɛ f ɡ ɡ͡b h i k k͡p l m m͡b mɡ͡b ɱ͡v n n͡d nd͡z ŋ͡ɡ ɲ ŋ o ɔ p r u t t͡s s v w j z

The tones are indicated with diacritics on the vowels:

  • the high tone is indicated with an acute accent: á é ə́ ɛ́ í ó ɔ́ ú;
  • the mid tone is indicated with a macron: ā ē ə̄ ɛ̄ ī ō ɔ̄ ū;
  • the low tone, the most frequent tone, is indicated by the absence of diacritics: a e ə ɛ i o ɔ u;
  • the rising tone is indicated with a caron: ǎ ě ə̌ ɛ̌ ǐ ǒ ɔ̌ ǔ;
  • the falling tone is indicated with a circumflex: â ê ə̂ ɛ̂ î ô ɔ̂ û.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ewondo at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ http://quotidien.mutations-multimedia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2962:patrimoine-la-langue-ewondo-a-son-dictionnaire&catid=58:news&Itemid=415[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Owona, Antoine (2004). L'orthographe harmonisée de l'ewondo. Université de Yaoundé.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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