Kuo language

Kuo
Koh
Native to	Cameroon, Chad
Native speakers	21,000 (2024)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Mbum–Day Mbum Central Mbum Koh–Sakpu Kuo
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xuo
Glottolog	kuoo1238

Kuo (Koh) is an Mbum language of northern Cameroon and southern Chad.

Distribution

Kuo, like Kali, is spoken in scattered areas of the eastern part of Vina department (Mbe and eastern Ngaoundéré communes) and in Mbere department (Meiganga commune) in the Adamawa Region. In the Eastern Region, it is spoken in the northern part of Lom-et-Djerem department (Garoua-Boulaï and Bétaré-Oya communes). It is spoken by 2,975 people. ^[1]

Phonology

Consonants ^[2]

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial–velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k	k͡p ⟨kp⟩
	voiced	b	d	d͡ʒ ⟨z⟩	ɡ ⟨g⟩	ɡ͡b ⟨gb⟩
	prenasalized	ᵐb ⟨mb⟩	ⁿd ⟨nd⟩	ⁿd͡ʒ ⟨nz⟩	ᵑɡ ⟨ŋg⟩	ᵑᵐɡ͡b ⟨mgb⟩
Implosive		ɓ	ɗ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s				h
	voiced	v
Approximant			l	j ⟨y⟩		w
Flap/tap		ⱱ ⟨vb⟩	ɾ ⟨r⟩

Vowels

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

Orthography

Kuo alphabet ^[3]

a

b

ɓ

d

ɗ

e

ɛ

f

g

gb

h

i

k

kp

l

m

mb

mgb

n

nd

nz

ŋ

ŋg

o

ɔ

p

r

s

t

u

v

vb

w

y

z

The tilde (vowel nasalization mark) is written below the vowel letter (a̰, ɛ̰, ḭ, ɔ̰, ṵ). Kuo has 4 tones, written using tone accent (except for mid tone is unwritten): grave (`) for low tone, acute (´) for high tone, and caron (ˇ) for rising tone. ^[3]

References

1. 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.
2. Fluckiger, Cheryl (1987), Phonological Sketch: Kuo (PDF), SIL Global, pp. 1–9
3. Mbiinaŋ ɓáy Nzaŋanaŋ (PDF), Comité de littérature en langue kuo au Tchad & Comité de littérature en langue kuo au Cameroun, 2017