The Bambalang language, also called Chrambo (Chirambo, Tshirambo) or Mbawyakum (Mboyakum),[2] is a Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon.
Phonology
Consonants
These phones and phonemes were enumerated by Grove in 2007 and refined by Wright in 2012.[3]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop/Affricate | Voiceless | /p/ | /pː/ | /t/ | /tː/ | /t͡ʃ/ | /t͡ʃː/ | /k/ | /kː/ | |
| Voiced | /d͡ʒː/ | /gː/ | ||||||||
| Fricative | Voiceless | /f/ | /fː/ | /ʃ/ | /ʃː/ | /h/ | ||||
| Voiced | /v/ | /vː/ | /ɣ/ | |||||||
| Nasal | /m/ | /mː/ | /n/ | /nː/ | /ɲ/ | /ŋ/ | ||||
| Approximant | /l/ | /lː/ | /j/ | /w/ | ||||||
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop/Affricate | Voiceless | [p] | [pʰ] | [t] | [tʰ] | [t͡ʃ] | [t͡ʃː] | [k] | [kʰ] | [ʔ][a] |
| Voiced | [b][b] | [bʰ] | [d][c] | [dʰ] | [d͡ʒ][d] | [d͡ʒː] | [g][e] | [gː] | ||
| Fricative | Voiceless | [f] | [fː] | [ʃ] | [ʃː] | [h] | ||||
| Voiced | [v] | [vː] | [ɣ] | |||||||
| Tap | [ɾ][f] | |||||||||
| Nasal | [m]~[ɱ][g] | [mː] | [n] | [nː] | [ɲ] | [ŋ] | ||||
| Approximant | [l] | [lː] | [j]~[ʒ] | [ɥ][h]~[w] | ||||||
- ^ [ʔ] is the allophone of /k/ in a CVCV structure.
- ^ [b] is an always prenasalized allophone of /p/.
- ^ [d] is an always prenasalized allophone of /l/.
- ^ [d͡ʒ] is an allophone of /j/ before /n/.
- ^ [g] is an allophone of /ɣ/ after a nasal.
- ^ [ɾ] is an allophone of /l/ in a consonant cluster or a CVCV structure.
- ^ [ɱ] is an allophone of /m/ before labiodental consonants.
- ^ [ɥ] is an allophone of /w/ before /i/.
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | /i/ /ĩ/ | /ɨ/ /ɨ̃/ | /u/ /ũ/ |
| Close-mid | /e/ | /o/ /õ/ | |
| Mid | /ə/ /ə̃/ | ||
| Open-mid | /ɛ/ /ɛ̃/ | /ɔ/ | |
| Open | /a/ /ã/ |
Diphthongs
In addition to simple oral and nasal vowels, Bambalang also has oral and nasal diphthongs and vowel sequences.[4] Grove and Wright do not specify whether nasal diphthongs are truly diphthongs or vowel sequences.
| Orthographic | Phonemic | Phonetic |
|---|---|---|
| ei | /ei/ | [ei̯] |
| ou | /ou/ | [ou̯] |
| ao | /ao/ | [ao̯] |
| əɨ | /əɨ/ | [ə.ɨ] |
| ie | /ie/ | [i.e] |
| ia | /ia/ | [i.a] |
| ua | /ua/ | [u.a] |
| uo | /uo/ | [u.o] |
| aoŋ | /aõ/ | |
| ɛiŋ | /ɛĩ/ | |
| ieŋ | /iẽ/ | |
| iɛŋ | /iɛ̃/ | |
| iaŋ | /iã/ | |
| uoŋ | /uõ/ |
Tone
In addition, Bambalang has both lexical and grammatical tone.[5]
Orthography
A segmental orthography was created for Bambalang in 2007 and revised in 2012.[6]
| Upper | Lower | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| A | a | [a] |
| B | b | [b] |
| Ch | ch | [t͡ʃ] |
| D | d | [d] |
| E | e | [e] |
| Ɛ | ɛ | [ɛ] |
| Ə | ə | [ə] |
| F | f | [f] |
| G | g | [g] |
| Gh | gh | [ɣ] |
| H | h | [h] |
| I | i | [i] |
| Ɨ | ɨ | [ɨ] |
| J | j | [d͡ʒ] |
| K | k | [k] |
| L | l | [l] |
| M | m | [m], [ɱ] |
| N | n | [n] |
| Ŋ | ŋ | [ŋ], [◌̃] |
| O | o | [ɔ] |
| Ɔ | ɔ | [ɔ] |
| P | p | [p] |
| R | r | [ɾ] |
| Sh | sh | [ʃ] |
| T | t | [t] |
| U | u | [u], [y] |
| V | v | [v] |
| W | w | [w], [y] |
| Y | y | [ʒ]~[j] |
| ’ | [ʔ] | |
References
- ^ Bambalang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Binam Bikoi (2012)
- ^ Grove & Wright (2012:5–8)
- ^ Grove & Wright (2012:15)
- ^ Grove & Wright (2012:16)
- ^ Grove & Wright (2012:3)
- ^ Grove & Wright (2012:5–7)
Works Cited
- 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.
- Grove, Dan; Wright, Jennifer (June 2012). "Bambalang (Chrambo) Orthography Guide" (PDF) (Revised ed.). SIL.
Further reading
- Ayafor, Vera. The Structural Phonology of Cirambo (Thesis). Yaoundé: University of Yaoundé I.
- Luider, Jennifer (December 2009). "A Phonological Sketch of the Bambalang (Chrambo) Language" (PDF). SIL.
- Wright, Jennifer (2009). "The Noun and Verb Phrase in Chrambo (Bambalang)" (PDF). SIL.
- Wright, Jennifer (2011). "Tone in the Verb Phrase in Chrambo (Bambalang)" (PDF). SIL.
- Wright, Jennifer (June 2012). "Testing and Revising a Tone Orthography Proposal for Chrambo (Bambalang)" (PDF). SIL.
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This page was last edited on 23 February 2024, at 00:05