Basaa language
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Basaa (also spelled ''Bassa, Basa, Bissa''), or Mbene, is a Bantu language spoken in
Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
by the Basaa people. It is spoken by about 300,000 people in the
Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
and
Littoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal a ...
regions. Maho (2009) lists North and South Kogo as dialects.


Background and Origin

Basaa is spoken by 230,000 speakers. They live in Nyong-et-Kelle (Central Region) and Sanaga Maritime (with the exception of the Edéa commune, which has a Bakoko majority) and most of
Nkam Nkam is a department of Littoral Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 6,291 km and as of 2001 had a total population of 66,979. The capital of the department lies at Yabassi. Subdivisions The department is divided admin ...
commune ( Littoral Region). In the western and northern parts of this department, the peripheral Basaa dialects are spoken: Yabasi in the commune of
Yabassi Yabassi is a town and commune in western Cameroon, and capital of the Nkam department. Its population in 2001 was estimated at 12,000. The main dialect spoken is the Yabassi. However, there are also other dialects originating in the Nkam which are ...
, Diɓuum in the commune of Nkondjok (Diboum Canton), north of Ndemli and Dimbamban. Similarly, Basaa Baduala is spoken in Wouri Department (Littoral Region), traditional Basaa territory that is being transformed by the growth of
Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Airport (DLA), it is the com ...
. Basaa is also found in
Océan Océan is a department of South Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 11,280 km and as of 2001 had a total population of 133,062. The capital of the department lies at Kribi. Subdivisions The department is divided adminis ...
Department (commune of Bipindi, Southern Region). Hijuk is spoken only in the quarter of Niki in
Batanga Batanga may refer to: Ethnography * , of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, related to the Duala of Cameroon * Batanga language, spoken by the Bataga Places * Batanga, Burkina Faso, a village in Bam Province, Burkina Faso * Batanga, Ghana, a ...
commune, in
Yangben Central Yambasa or Nuasua (Nuaswa) is a Southern Bantoid language of Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Afr ...
Canton (Ch. Paulian (1980)) by 400 people. Hijuk is a Basaa dialect, despite its geographical location in the southeast of Bokito arrondissement ( Mbam-et-Inoubou department, Central Region).


Phonology


Vowels


Consonants

*When not root-initial and not after a pause, the voiceless stops are realized as voiced stops or voiced fricatives.


Tone

Basaa contrasts four tones: high, low, high-to-low (falling) and low-to-high (rising).


Orthography

The language uses a Latin-based alphabet, with the addition of the letters Ɓɓ, Ɛɛ, Ŋŋ, Ɔɔ, ten multigraphs, as well as
acute Acute may refer to: Science and technology * Acute angle ** Acute triangle ** Acute, a leaf shape in the glossary of leaf morphology * Acute (medicine), a disease that it is of short duration and of recent onset. ** Acute toxicity, the adverse eff ...
,
grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grav ...
, and circumflex accents: Macron and
caron A caron (), háček or haček (, or ; plural ''háčeks'' or ''háčky'') also known as a hachek, wedge, check, kvačica, strešica, mäkčeň, varnelė, inverted circumflex, inverted hat, flying bird, inverted chevron, is a diacritic mark ( ...
diacritics may be used for marking tone in reference works, for example the dictionary by Pierre Emmanuel Njock.


References


Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Basaa language Basaa languages Languages of Cameroon