Mbessa language

Last updated
Mbessa
Native to Cameroon
Region North-West Province
Native speakers
25,000 (2020) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 emz
Glottolog mbes1239

Mbessa (Mbesa) is a Ring language spoken in Cameroon, neighboring Kom, Oku language, Noni language. Mbessa is the language of the people of Mbessa Kingdom (Fondom) in Boyo Division in the Anglophone North-West Region of Cameroon.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cameroon</span> Country in Central Africa

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Its coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. Due to its strategic position at the crossroads between West Africa and Central Africa, it has been categorized as being in both camps. Its nearly 27 million people speak 250 native languages.

Duala is a dialect cluster spoken by the Duala and Mungo peoples of Cameroon. Douala belongs to the Bantu language family, in a subgroup called Sawabantu. It is a tonal language with subject–verb–object word order. Maho (2009) treats Douala as a cluster of five languages: Douala proper, Bodiman, Oli, Pongo and Mongo. He also notes a Douala-based pidgin named Jo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Cameroon</span> British mandate from 1916 to 1961

British Cameroon or the British Cameroons was a British mandate territory in British West Africa, formed of the Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons. Today, the Northern Cameroons forms parts of the Borno, Adamawa and Taraba states of Nigeria, while the Southern Cameroons forms part of the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon.

Articles related to Cameroon include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cameroonian Pidgin English</span> English-based creole of Cameroon

Cameroonian Pidgin English, or Cameroonian Creole, is a language variety of Cameroon. It is also known as Kamtok. It is primarily spoken in the North West and South West English speaking regions. Five varieties are currently recognised:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Cameroon</span> Overview of the culture of Cameroon

Cameroon has a rich and diverse culture made up of a mix of about 250 indigenous populations and just as many languages and customs. The country is nicknamed "Little Africa" as geographically, Cameroon consists of coastline, mountains, grass plains, forest, rainforest and desert, all of the geographical regions in Africa in one country. This also contributes to its cultural diversity as ways of life and traditional food dishes and traditions vary from geographical region to geographical region.

Bulu is a Bantu language of the Bulu people of Cameroon. The language had 174,000 native speakers in 1982, with some 800,000 second language speakers in 1991. Its dialects include Bene, Yelinda, Yembana, Yengono, and Zaman. Bulu was formerly used by colonial and missionary groups as a lingua franca in the region for commercial, educational, and religious purposes, though it is today becoming less frequent in those spheres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cameroonian English</span> Dialect of English

Cameroon English is an English dialect spoken predominantly in Cameroon, mostly learned as a second language. It shares some similarities with English varieties in neighbouring West Africa, as Cameroon lies at the west of Central Africa. It is primarily spoken in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Cameroon</span>

Cameroon is home to at least 250 languages. However, some accounts report around 600 languages. These include 55 Afro-Asiatic languages, two Nilo-Saharan languages, four Ubangian languages, and 169 Niger–Congo languages. This latter group comprises one Senegambian language (Fulfulde), 28 Adamawa languages, and 142 Benue–Congo languages . French and English are official languages, a heritage of Cameroon's colonial past as a colony of both France and the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1961. Eight out of the ten regions of Cameroon are primarily francophone, representing 83% of the country's population, and two are anglophone, representing 17%. The anglophone proportion of the country is in constant regression, having decreased from 21% in 1976 to 20% in 1987 and to 17% in 2005, and is estimated at 16% in 2015.

Camfranglais, Francanglais, or Francamglais is a vernacular of Cameroon, containing grammatical and lexical elements from Cameroonian French, Cameroonian English and Cameroonian Pidgin English, in addition to lexical contributions from various indigenous languages of Cameroon.

Kako is a Bantu language spoken mainly in Cameroon, with some speakers in the Central African Republic and the Republic of the Congo. The main population centres of Kako speakers are Batouri and Ndélélé in the East Region of Cameroon.

Afade (Afaɗə) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in eastern Nigeria and northwestern Cameroon.

Psikye is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in northern Cameroon and eastern Nigeria. Varieties include Psikyɛ and Zləngə. Blench (2006) classifies it as a dialect of Kamwe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bata language</span> Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Nigeria and Cameroon

Bata (Gbwata) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Nigeria in Adamawa State in the Numan, Song, Fufore and Mubi LGAs, and in Cameroon in North Province along the border with Nigeria. Dialects are Demsa, Garoua, Jirai, Kobotachi, Malabu, Ndeewe, Ribaw, Wadi, and Zumu (Jimo). It is often considered the same language as Bacama.

Glavda is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Borno State, Nigeria and in Far North Province, Cameroon.

The Ring or Ring Road languages, spoken in the Western Grassfields of Cameroon, form a branch of the Narrow Grassfields languages. The best-known Ring language is Kom.

Mbule, also called Dumbule or Mbola, is an endangered Southern Bantoid language spoken by a few people in central Cameroon.

The Bafia language is a Bantu language spoken by 60,000 people in Cameroon according to 1991 figures.

Iyive, also referred to as Uive, Yiive, Ndir, Asumbos, is a severely endangered Bantoid language spoken in Nigeria and Cameroon. The ethnic group defined by use of this language is the Ndir.

Nsah Mala is a Cameroonian poet, writer, author of children's books and literary researcher. He writes in English, French, and Iteanghe-a-Mbesa.

References

  1. Mbessa at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg