Kpwe language

Last updated
Kpwe
Mokpwe
Native toCameroon
Ethnicity Kpwe, Mboko
Native speakers
(25,000 cited 2000–2014) [1]
Dialects
  • Kole
  • Mboko
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Variously:
bri  – Kpwe
bqm  – Mboko (Wumboko)
kme  – Kole (Bakole)
Glottolog mokp1239   Mokpwe
wumb1241   Wumboko
bako1250   Bakole
A.21,22,231 [2]
ELP Bakole
PeopleBekpak
LanguageRikpa

Kpwe (Mokpwe) is a Bantu language of Cameroon. It is mutually intelligible with Kole, and probably with Mboko (Wumboko) as well.

Contents

There are multiple variants of the name: based on 'Kpwe' (Bakpwe, Mokpwe), on 'Kpe' (Mokpe), on 'Kweɾi' (Kwedi, Kweli, Kwili, Kwiri, Bakwedi, Bakwele, Bakweri, Vakweli, Bekwiri), as well as Ujuwa and Vambeng.

Phonology

The Kpwe phonological inventory is as follows, [3]

Vowels

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

Consonants

Bilabial Coronal Palatal Velar Labiovelar
Nasal m n ɲ ŋʷ · ŋm
Plosive prenasal ᵐb ⁿd ᶮdʒ ᵑɡ ᵑɡb
voiced ( b ) dʒ ( ɡ ) ɡb
voiceless ( p ) t k kp
Fricative voiceless ɸ
voiced β
Rhotic zr§
Lateral l
Approximant j w

§/zr/, the 'liquidized alveolar fricative', may be realized as [zr], [ʒr], [rz] or [rʒ]. This sound is rendered /s/ in some sources, and is cognate to /s/ in Bubia.

/p/ and /ɡ/ in parentheses are only found in loans, while /b/ is very uncommon and in many inflections freely alternates as [w].

Tone

Kpwe contrasts five tones on short syllables: high, downstepped high, low, rising and falling.

Literature

The first portions of the Bible were made available in Mokpwe in 2009. [4] This was followed by the New Testament, translated with help from the Bakweri Language and Literacy Association, (BALALIA) on 29 March 2025. [5] The New Testament is available online, in places such as YouVersion. [6]

References

  1. ↑ Kpwe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Mboko (Wumboko) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Kole (Bakole) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ↑ Atindogbé (2013) A grammatical sketch of Mòkpè (Bakweri), African Study Monographs, Suppl. 45: 5–163
  4. ↑ "Mokpwe language resources | Joshua Project". joshuaproject.net. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  5. ↑ ThePost (2025-04-09). "New Testament Launched In Mokpe To Preserve Bakweri Language, Spread Gospel - The Post NewsPaper" . Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  6. ↑ Download the Bible in Mokpwe - Bakweri (Cameroon) - Download now or read online. | YouVersion.


HJ-1-P32.png

This Bantu language-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.