Bangolan language

Bangolan
Region	Cameroon
Ethnicity	Bamileke
Native speakers	14,000 (2011) [1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Grassfields Eastern Grassfields Mbam-Nkam Nun Bangolan
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bgj
Glottolog	bang1356

Bangolan is a Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants ^[2]

		Labial	Coronal	Back	Labial-velar
Plosive	voiceless		t	k	kp
	voiced	b	d	g	gb
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	h
	voiced	v	z
Affricate			t͡s
Nasal		m	n	ŋ
Approximant			j		w

• /b/ is [ b ] after nasals (e.g., [mbé] 'nail') and [ p ] elsewhere (e.g., [pà] 'bag'). ^[3]
• /d/ is [ d ] after nasals (e.g., [ndɔ́ŋ] 'horn'), [ l ]~[ ɾ ] between vowels or after syllable-final consonants (e.g., [túŋlə̀] ~ [túŋɾə̀] 'ear'), and [ l ] elsewhere (e.g., [lə̀ŋ] 'chair'). ^[3]
• /g/ is [ g ] after nasals (e.g., [ŋgùt] 'skin') and [ ɣ ] elsewhere (e.g., [ɣàtə́] 'divide'). ^[3]
• /t/ is [ tʰ ] before [ u ] in open syllables (e.g., [tʰú] 'dig (verb)') and [ t ] elsewhere (e.g., [túŋ] 'dig (verb)'). ^[3]
• /k/ is [ ʔ ] between vowels or syllable-finally (e.g., [nàʔ] 'cow') and [ k ] elsewhere (e.g., [kú] 'die(verb)'). ^[3]
• /z/ is [ d͡ʒ ] in labialized or palatalized syllables after nasal consonants (e.g., [nd͡ʒìŋ] 'darkness'), [ ʒ ] in labialized or palatalized syllables (e.g., [wǎʒwí] 'lion'), [ d͡z ] after nasal consonants (e.g., [nd͡zə̀] 'dream', and [ z ] elsewhere (e.g., [zí] 'face'). ^[4]
• /s/ is [ ʃ ] in labialized or palatalized syllables (e.g., [ʃíʃí] 'vein') and [ s ] elsewhere (e.g., [sáŋ] 'corn'). ^[4]
• /t͡s/ is [ t͡ʃ ] in labialized or palatalized syllables (e.g., [t͡ʃì] 'blood') and [ t͡s ] elsewhere (e.g., [t͡sɔ̀t] 'mouth'). ^[4]
• /ʔ,t,ŋ/ are the only syllable-final consonants. ^[5]

Vowels

Vowels ^[6]

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

/ɨ/ does not occur in labialized or palatalized syllables, and /ə,u,o,ɔ/ do not occur in palatalized syllables. ^[7] /e,o,ɨ/ cannot occur in closed syllables before /ŋ/. ^[6]

Tone

Bangolan has lexical and grammatical tone. Lexical tone contrasts [nd͡zɔ̂ŋ] 'clitoris' with [nd͡zɔ̏ŋ] 'thorn', ^[6] while grammatical tone contrasts [àwé] 'he has gone' with [àwē] 'he is going'. ^[8]

There are three level tones (high [á], mid [ā], low [à]) and three contour tones (low-rising [ǎ], high-low falling [â], and low-falling [ȁ]). ^[5] The mid tone is rare but contrasts with the high and low-falling tones. ^[8]

Notes

1. Bangolan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Njeck 2003a, p. 12.
3. Njeck 2003a, pp. 10–11.
4. Njeck 2003a, p. 11.
5. Njeck 2003a, p. 16.
6. Njeck 2003a, p. 14.
7. Njeck 2003a, p. 13.
8. Njeck 2003a, p. 18.

References

• Njeck, Mathaus (2003a). Phonological sketch of Bangolan (Report). Yaoundé: NACALCO. Retrieved 26 October 2025– via SIL Global.

Further reading

• Njeck, Mathaus Mbah (2003b). A Phonology of Bǎŋgulaŋ and a Proposed Orthography (Maîtrise thesis). Univeersity of Yaoundé I. Retrieved 26 October 2025.