Cameroonian English

Cameroonian English
Region	Cameroon (largely Northwest and Southwest regions)
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Ingvaeonic Anglo-Frisian Anglic English Cameroonian English
Early forms	Old English Middle English Early Modern English
Writing system	Latin (English alphabet) Unified English Braille
Official status
Official language in	Cameroon
Language codes
ISO 639-1	en
ISO 639-2	eng
ISO 639-3	eng
Glottolog	came1256
IETF	en-CM
Southern Cameroons in Cameroon
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Cameroonian English (CamE), also known as Cameroon English, or sometimes Cameroon Anglophone English ^[1] or Ambazonian English, ^[2] is an English dialect spoken predominantly in Cameroon. It shares some similarities with English varieties in neighbouring West Africa, as Cameroon lies at the west of Central Africa; ^[3] however, its distinctive phonetics, phonology and lexicon, influenced both by French and by indigenous Cameroonian languages, distinguish it as an independent variety. ^[4] It is primarily spoken in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon. ^[5]

It is a postcolonial variety of English, long in use in the territory (Southern Cameroons, now split into Northwest and Southwest). Over the years, it has developed characteristic features, particularly in lexis but also in phonology and grammar. Those characteristics were once regarded as errors but are now increasingly accepted as distinctive Cameroonian contributions to the English language.

Varieties

There are differences between the formal, "institutional" variety of Cameroonian English, which is based on British English and is taught in schools in Cameroon, and the indigenised "communal" variety, which is the more innovative form spoken in Anglophone communities. ^[6] Varietal differences also exist between speaker communities of various indigenous languages such as Nso and Akoose. ^[7]

Phonology

The phonemes /ɔː/ , /ʌ/ and /ɒ/ tend to merge to /ɔː/ , making "cot", "caught" and "cut" homophones. ^[8] Similarly, "lock" and "luck" are pronounced alike, and "white-collar worker" sometimes becomes "white-colour worker" in Cameroon. ^[9]

Vocabulary

The Cameroon English lexicon is characterised by significant lexical innovation, including various types of word formation such as borrowing, derivation and semantic change. ^[10]

Characteristic turns of phrase in the country or local coinages: ^[9]

• "detailly" = in detail
• "to see with me" = to agree with me; to see my point of view
• "installmentally" = by installments
• "of recent" = recently; lately

See also

• Languages of Cameroon
  • Cameroonian French
  • Cameroonian Pidgin English
  • Camfranglais (when mixed with French)
• Anglophone Cameroonian
• Anglophone problem (Cameroon)
• Commonwealth English

References

1. Ngefac, Aloysius (11 March 2025). "Cameroon English" . In Bolton, Kingsley (ed.). The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of World Englishes (eBook ed.). John Wiley & Sons. pp. 1–12. doi:10.1002/9781119518297.eowe00196. ISBN   9781119518297 – via Wiley Online Library.No access available via The Wikipedia Library.
2. Nkwain, Joseph (July 2022). "Current Insights into the Evolution of Cameroon English: The Contribution of the 'Anglophone Problem'" (PDF). Athens Journal of Humanities & Arts. 9 (3). Athens: Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER): 258.
3. Kouega, Jean-Paul (2007b). Lê, Thao; Lê, Quynh (eds.). "Forenames in Cameroon English speech". International Journal of Language Society and Culture (23). University of Tasmania: 32–46. ISSN   1327-774X. Archived from the original on 30 July 2025. p. 32: Cameroon is a Central African country whose variety of English shares a number of features with West African Englishes.
4. Wolf 2001, pp. 239–240.
5. Anchimbe, Eric A. (10 April 2005). "Multilingual Backgrounds and the Identity Issue in Cameroon". Anuario del Seminario de Filología Vasca "Julio de Urquijo". 39 (2). University of the Basque Country: 33–48. doi:10.1387/asju.4334 (inactive 1 August 2025). eISSN   2444-2992.
6. Anchimbe, Eric A. (5 November 2012). "Varieties of English in Cameroon" . In Chapelle, Carol A. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics . Blackwell Publishing. p. 1. doi:10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal1256. ISBN   9781405198431. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
7. Anchimbe 2012, pp. 2–3.
8. Pearce, Michael (10 September 2012). The Routledge Dictionary of English Language Studies (eBook ed.). London and New York: Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group) (published 2007). p. 200. doi:10.4324/9780203698419. ISBN   978-1-134-26428-5. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
9. Todd, Loreto (1982). Cameroon . Varieties of English Around the World. Heidelberg: Julius Groos Verlag; John Benjamins Publishing. p. 83. doi:10.1075/veaw.t1. ISBN   90-272-8670-1. ISSN   0172-7362. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
10. Kouega 2007a, pp. 55–59.

General references

• Kouega, Jean-Paul (2007a). A Dictionary of Cameroon English Usage. New York: Peter Lang. ISBN   978-3-03911-027-8.
• Wolf, Hans-Georg (11 May 2001). English in Cameroon (eBook reprint ed.). Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter (published 10 June 2013). doi:10.1515/9783110849059. ISBN   9783110849059. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.

Further reading

• Kouega, Jean-Paul (1999). "Some major speech traits of Cameroon media news in English". English Studies . 80 (6). Swets & Zeitlinger (published 13 August 2008): 540–555. doi:10.1080/00138389908599209. ISSN   0013-838X – via Taylor & Francis Online. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
• Kouega, Jean-Paul (2000). "Some Aspects of Cameroon English Prosody" (PDF). Alizés: Revue angliciste de la Réunion (19). Saint-Denis: University of Reunion Island: 137–153. hal-02346464. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2024 – via HAL.
• Kouega, Jean-Paul (April 2004) [7–9 November 2003]. "Influence of Contacts between Western and African Cultures on English in Cameroon". TRANS Internet-Zeitschrift für Kulturwissenschaften [Online journal for cultural studies] (15). Research Institute for Austrian and International Literature and Cultural Studies (INST). Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
• Kouega, Jean-Paul (2005) [30 April–3 May 2003]. "The Effects of French on English L2 in Cameroon" (PDF). In Cohen, James; McAlister, Kara T.; Rolstad, Kellie; MacSwan, Jeff (eds.). ISB4: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism. 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. pp. 1201–1210. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 December 2021.
• Kouega, Jean-Paul (2006a). Aspects of Cameroon English usage: a lexical appraisal. München: Lincom Europa. ISBN   9783895868771.
• Kouega, Jean-Paul (2006b). "Interplay of Accent and Orthography in L2 English in Cameroon". Annales de la Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines de Yaoundé [Annals of the Faculty of Arts, Letters and Social Sciences]. 1 (5). Yaoundé: University of Yaoundé: 183–197.
• Kouega, Jean Paul (15 September 2009). "Campus English: lexical variations in Cameroon". International Journal of the Sociology of Language (199). Walter de Gruyter: 89–101. doi:10.1515/IJSL.2009.036. eISSN   1613-3668. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
• Ngefac, Aloysius (2005). "Homophones and Heterophones in Cameroon English" (PDF). Alizés: Revue angliciste de la Réunion (25–26). Saint-Denis: University of Reunion Island: 39–53. hal-02344085. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2024 – via HAL.
• Simo Bobda, Augustin (July 1994). "Lexical innovation processes in Cameroon English". World Englishes. 13 (2). John Wiley & Sons (published 23 February 2007): 245–260. doi:10.1111/j.1467-971X.1994.tb00310.x. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
• Talla Sando Ouafeu, Yves (August–November 2006). "Listing intonation in Cameroon English speech" . World Englishes. 25 (3–4). Wiley: 491–500. doi:10.1111/j.1467-971X.2006.00469.x. eISSN   1467-971X. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.