Pol language

Last updated
Pol
Native to Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo
Native speakers
44,000 Pol and Pomo (2000) [1]
(it may be that Kweso is counted under Kako)
Dialects
  • Pol
  • Pomo
  • Kweso
Language codes
ISO 639-3 pmm
Glottolog pomo1271   Pol
pomo1276   Pomo-Kweso
A.92 [2]

Pol is a Bantu language of Cameroon. Pol proper is spoken in central Cameroon; the Pomo and Kweso dialects are spoken in Congo and the CAR near the Cameroonian border.

Demographics

Polri Asóm, the southernmost dialect of the Polri language in Bertoua commune, is found in Dimako commune, in proximity with Kwakum. [3]

The Asóm claim to understand Kinda and vice versa. Kwakum speakers also claim to understand Polri Asóm. [3]

Polri Asóm is spoken in nine villages: four to the east of Doumé (commune of Dimako, department of Haut-Nyong, Eastern Region) and five to the north of Bertoua (south of Pol Canton in the commune of Bélabo, department of Lom-et-Djerem, Eastern Region). [3]

Polri Kinda is spoken in three villages: Mambaya to the north, as well as Mansa and Ona. The Asóm dialect should not be confused with the Asón dialect of Bébil. [3]

Polri is also spoken in the Republic of Congo. In Cameroon, there 38,676 speakers. [3]

Related Research Articles

Mbum proper, or West Mbum, is an Adamawa language of Cameroon spoken by about 51,000 people in the Adamawa and about 200,000 people in the North West of Cameroon. Speakers are mostly bilingual in Fulfulde due to early contacts and forced Islamization. It is also known as Buna, Mboum, Wimbum, Mboumtiba, and Wuna.

Basaa, or Mbene, is a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon by the Basaa people. It is spoken by about 300,000 people in the Centre and Littoral regions.

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.

Zulgo-Gemzek is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in northern Cameroon. Dialects are Gemzek, Mineo, and Zulgo (Zəlgwa). Blench (2006) considers Zəlgwa-Minew and Gemzek to be distinct languages.

Tupuri is a language mostly spoken in the Mayo-Kebbi Est Region of southern Chad and in small parts of northern Cameroon. It is an Mbum language spoken by the Tupuri people with approximately 300,000 speakers.

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.

Mefele is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in northern Cameroon. Dialects are Mefele, Muhura, Serak, and Shugule. Blench (2006) considers Shugule (Shügule) a separate language.

Bankon is a Bantu language spoken in the Moungo department of the Littoral Province of southwestern Cameroon. It has a lexical similarity of 86% with Rombi which is spoken in the nearby Meme department of Southwest Province.

Kwasio language Bantu language of southern Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea

The Kwasio language, also known as Ngumba / Mvumbo, Bujeba, and Gyele / Kola, is a language of Cameroon, spoken in the south along the coast and at the border with Equatorial Guinea by some 70,000 members of the Ngumba, Kwasio, Gyele and Mabi peoples. Many authors view Kwasio and the Gyele/Kola language as distinct. In the Ethnologue, the languages therefore receive different codes: Kwasio has the ISO 639-3 code nmg, while Gyele has the code gyi. The Kwasio, Ngumba, and Mabi are village farmers; the Gyele are nomadic Pygmy hunter-gatherers living in the rain forest.

Baka is a dialect cluster of Ubangian languages spoken by the Baka Pygmies of Cameroon and Gabon. The people are ethnically close to the Aka, the two together called the Mbenga (Bambenga), but the languages are not related, apart from some vocabulary dealing with the forest economy, which suggests the Aka may have shifted to Bantu, probably 15000 people have shifted.

The Gwèri or Vere language Were also known as Kobo or Mom Jango, is a member of the Duru branch of Savanna languages. It is spoken across the northern Nigerian–Cameroonian border.

Chamba Leko is one of two languages spoken by the Chamba people, the other being Chamba Daka. It is a member of the Leko branch of Savanna languages, and is spoken across the northern Nigerian–Cameroonian border.

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.

The Koma language is a language cluster belonging to the Duru branch of Savannas languages of Cameroon. Blench (2004) includes three varieties separated in Ethnologue, Koma Ndera, Gɨmne, and Gɨmnɨme; within Koma Ndera, speakers of the marginal dialects, Gomnome and Ndera, can scarcely understand one another, though both understand the central dialect, Gomme.

Mundang is an Mbum language of southern Chad and northern Cameroon.

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.

Jina (Zina) is an Afroasiatic language of Cameroon. The Muxule variety may be a distinct language.

Kwakum is classified as belonging to the Bantu subgroup A90 (Kaka) of the Zone “A” Bantu languages, and specifically labelled A91 by Guthrie. According to one of the newest updates to the Bantu classification system, other languages belonging to this subgroup are: Pol (A92a), Pɔmɔ (A92b), Kweso (A92C) and Kakɔ (A93). The Kwakum people refer to themselves as either Kwakum or Bakoum. However, they say that the "Bakoum" pronunciation only began after the arrival of Europeans in Cameroon, though it is frequently used today. Kwakum is mainly spoken in the East region of Cameroon, southwest of the city Bertoua.

Bebele is a Bantu language of Cameroon. It is mutually intelligible with other Beti dialects such as Ewondo and Fang.

References

  1. Pol at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 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.