Kpwe (Mokpwe) is a

Bantu language The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu language, Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀), or Ntu languages are a language family of about 600 languages of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern, East Africa, Eastern and Southeast Africa, South ...

of Cameroon. It is mutually intelligible with Kole, and probably with Mboko (Wumboko) as well. There are multiple variants of the name: based on 'Kpwe' (''Bakpwe, Mokpwe''), on 'Kpe' (''Mokpe''), on 'Kweɾi' (''Kwedi, Kweli, Kwili, Kwiri, Bakwedi, Bakwele, Bakweri, Vakweli, Bekwiri''), as well as ''Ujuwa'' and ''Vambeng''.

Phonology

The Kpwe phonological inventory is as follows,Atindogbé (2013) A grammatical sketch of Mòkpè (Bakweri), ''African Study Monographs'', Suppl. 45: 5–163

Vowels

Consonants

^§, the 'liquidized alveolar fricative', may be realized as , , or . This sound is rendered in some sources, and is cognate to in

Bubia The Bube language or Bubi, Bohobé, Bube–Benga or Fernandian (Bobe) is a Bantu language spoken predominately by the Bubi, a Bantu people native to, and once the primary inhabitants of Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea. The language was brough ...

. and in parentheses are only found in loans, while is very uncommon and in many inflections freely alternates as .

Tone

Kpwe contrasts five tones on short syllables: high,

downstep Downstep is a phenomenon in tone languages in which if two syllables have the same tone (for example, both with a high tone or both with a low tone), the second syllable is lower in pitch than the first. Two main kinds of downstep can be distin ...

ped high, low, rising and falling.

References

Sawabantu languages Languages of Cameroon {{Bantu-lang-stub sw:Kiwumboko (lugha)