Bebele (Bamvele, ''Bëbëlë'') is a

Bantu language The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. The t ...

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 ...

. It is

mutually intelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as a ...

with other Beti dialects such as Ewondo and

Fang A fang is a long, pointed tooth. In mammals, a fang is a modified maxillary tooth, used for biting and tearing flesh. In snakes, it is a specialized tooth that is associated with a venom gland (see snake venom). Spiders also have external fa ...

Varieties

The Bémbélé group includes all the neighboring languages that claim to belong to the Eki group. These are Bebele (Bembélé), Yasám, Yekaba, Yesamba, Bajia, Bafék, and Yanavok. Bémbélé covers, along with Bébélé (Bamvele), Yébaka, Yesamba, and Bajia, the entire part of Haute Sanaga department, located south of the

Sanaga River The Sanaga River (formerly german: Zannaga) is the largest river in Cameroon located in East Region, Centre Region and Littoral Region. Its length is about from the confluence of Djérem and Lom River. The total length of Sanaga-Djérem Rive ...

(in the communes of Minta, Nanga-Ebogo, Bibé, and Nsem). Meanwhile, the "Feuk", Yangavék (Yangafeuk), and Bafék (Bafeuk) are located north of the Sanaga River (in Ntui commune), and the Yasém (Asem) are confined to the village of Yassem at the northern end of the commune of Ngoro (department of Mbam-et-Kim). Bémbélé also extends into the Eastern Region in the departments of

Lom-et-Djerem Lom-et-Djerem is a department of East Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 26,345 km and as of 2001 had a total population of 228,691. The capital of the department lies at Bertoua. Subdivisions The department is divided ...

( Diang commune) and

Haut-Nyong Haut-Nyong is a department of East Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 36,384 km and as of 2001 had a total population of 216,768. The capital of the department lies at Abong-Mbang. Subdivisions The department is divided ...

( Nguélémendouka commune). They are estimated at 56,200 speakers (Djomeni 2004).

References

Beti languages Languages of Cameroon {{Bantu-lang-stub