Makaa language

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Makaa
Native to Cameroon
Ethnicity Makaa
Native speakers
(80,000 cited 1987) [1]
Niger–Congo?
Dialects
  • Bebend
  • Mbwaanz
  • Sekunda
Language codes
ISO 639-3 mcp
Glottolog maka1304
A.83 [2]

Makaa (Maka), or South Makaa, is a Bantu language of Cameroon. It is not intelligible with the other language spoken by the Makaa people, North Makaa.

Contents

Varieties

The central part of the Meka area consists of the three central dialects Bésáp, Bébánde and Mbwas. Byáp in the north and Békol in the south are more geographically peripheral dialects. Byáp and Asón should not be confused with Northern Maka. [3]

Meka covers essentially the entire northern part of Haut-Nyong department (Eastern Region). Bébánde covers the entire northern part of Abong-Mbang commune and also Bebeng commune. Mbwas covers most of the Doumé area (Mbouang and Doumatang communes), and Bésáp covers the north of Nguélémendouka. [3]

Byap occupies the eastern part of Diang commune and Bélabo commune (Lom-et-Djerem department, Eastern Region), west of Bertoua. It extends into the Central and Southern Regions in Nyong-et-Mfoumou (in Akonolinga and Endom communes) and Dja-et-Lobo (in Bengbis and Zoétélé communes) departments. [3]

There are 89,500 speakers. [3]

Writing system

Maka alphabet [4]
abcdeɛəfghiɨjklm
nnyŋopsshtuʉvwyzzh

Nasal vowels are indicated using the cedilla ‹ ɛ̧, ɔ̧ ›. Tones are indicated using diacritics:

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Makaa people</span> Ethnic group

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Kogo, also referred to as Bakoko and Basoo, is a Bantu language of Cameroon. North and South Kogo are as distinct from each other as they are from Basaa; they might be considered three dialects of a single language.

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Karang language is an Mbum language of Cameroon and Chad.

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Swo is a Bantu language of the Akonolinga area, Cameroon. Spellings of the name are quite variable, including So, Sso, Shwo, and Fo. One dialect has been influenced by Beti.

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References

  1. Makaa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. 1 2 3 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.
  4. Abong, Mbang (2007). "Leçons d'apprentissage de la langue mekaa" (PDF). SIL. p. 3.