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Furu Languages
The Furu languages are a proposed group of poorly attested extinct or nearly extinct and otherwise unclassified Southern Bantoid languages of Cameroon. Suggested Furu languages are: : Bikya (Furu), Bishuo, Busuu, ?Lubu Word lists for the first three languages were compiled by Michel Dieu, but after his death they were apparently lost. His lexicostatistical calculations were published in Breton (1993, 1995). Roland Kiessling revisited the remote area in 2007, and was able to show that they are normal Bantoid languages; they may perhaps be Beboid The Beboid languages are any of several groups of languages spoken principally in southwest Cameroon, although two languages (Bukwen and Mashi) are spoken over the border in Nigeria. They are probably not most closely related to each other. The E ... (Blench 2011). Lubu is unattested, only recalled as the language of the grandparents of the village elders. Bibliography *Breton, Roland (1995) 'Les Furu et leur voisins', ''Cahier Science ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Its coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. Due to its strategic position at the crossroads between West Africa and Central Africa, it has been categorized as being in both camps. Its nearly 27 million people speak 250 native languages. Early inhabitants of the territory included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad, and the Baka hunter-gatherers in the southeastern rainforest. Portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and named the area ''Rio dos Camarões'' (''Shrimp River''), which became ''Cameroon'' in English. Fulani soldiers founded the Adamawa E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bantoid
Bantoid is a major branch of the Benue–Congo language family. It consists of the Northern Bantoid languages and the Southern Bantoid languages, a division which also includes the Bantu languages that constitute the overwhelming majority and to which Bantoid is named after. History The term "Bantoid" was first used by Krause in 1895 for languages that showed resemblances in vocabulary to Bantu. Joseph Greenberg, in his 1963 '' The Languages of Africa'', defined Bantoid as the group to which Bantu belongs together with its closest relatives; this is the sense in which the term is still used today. However, according to Roger Blench, the Bantoid languages probably do not actually form a coherent group. Internal classification A proposal that divided Bantoid into North Bantoid and South Bantoid was introduced by Williamson. In this proposal, the Mambiloid and Dakoid languages (and later Tikar) are grouped together as North Bantoid, while everything else Bantoid is subsumed unde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Bantoid
Southern Bantoid (or South Bantoid) is a branch of the Bantoid language family. It consists of the Bantu languages along with several small branches and isolates of eastern Nigeria and west-central Cameroon (though the affiliation of some branches is uncertain). Since the Bantu languages are spoken across most of Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Bantoid comprises 643 languages as counted by '' Ethnologue'', though many of these are mutually intelligible. History Southern Bantoid was first introduced by Williamson in a proposal that divided Bantoid into North and South branches. The unity of the North Bantoid group was subsequently called into question, and Bantoid itself may be polyphyletic, but the work did establish Southern Bantoid as a valid genetic unit, something that has not happened for (Narrow) Bantu itself. Internal classification According to Williamson and Blench, Southern Bantoid is divided into the various Narrow Bantu languages, Jarawan, Tivoid, Beboid, Mamfe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bikya Language
Bikya (also known as Furu) is a potentially extinct Southern Bantoid language spoken in Cameroon. It is one of the three, or four, Furu languages. In 1986 four surviving speakers were identified, although only one (a man in his seventies) spoke the language fluently. English linguist Dr. David Dalby filmed an 87-year-old African woman who spoke Bikya as her native tongue. At the time, it was believed that she was the last Bikya speaker. It, and presumably all of Furu, is perhaps a Beboid language The Beboid languages are any of several groups of languages spoken principally in southwest Cameroon, although two languages (Bukwen and Mashi) are spoken over the border in Nigeria. They are probably not most closely related to each other. The E ... (Blench 2011). Bibliography *Breton, Roland (1995) 'Les Furu et leur voisins', ''Cahier Sciences Humaines'', 31, 1, 17–48. *Breton, Roland (1993) "Is there a Furu Language Group? An investigation on the Cameroon-Nigeria Border", ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bishuo Language
The Bishuo language is an extinct or nearly extinct southern Bantoid language of Cameroon. It was spoken in the North West Province, Menchum Department, Furu-Awa Subdivision, Ntjieka, Furu-Turuwa and the Furu-Sambari villages. It was related to Bikya language. It was reported by Breton 1986 that the Bishuo people The Bishuo language is an extinct or nearly extinct southern Bantoid language of Cameroon. It was spoken in the North West Province, Menchum Department, Furu-Awa Subdivision, Ntjieka, Furu-Turuwa and the Furu-Sambari villages. It was related to ... had shifted to Jukun, with apparently only one remaining person, over 60 years old, who knew any Bishuo. References Furu languages Endangered languages of Africa Languages of Cameroon {{Bantoid-lang-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Busuu Language
Busuu is an unclassified Southern Bantoid language of Cameroon. R Breton noted in 1986 that there were just 8 speakers left, while as of 2005 there were 3 speakers of the language. Busuu is an endangered language. Classification In the Furu-Awa Subdivision in northern Cameroon bordering to Nigeria, three missions of ALCAM (Atlas Linguistique du Cameroun) between 1984 and 1986 investigated three non-Jukunoid languages, among which Bikya and Bishuo are probably Beboid, but Busuu has been unable to be classified. All of these languages were spoken only by a few older inhabitants of the five villages Furu-Awa, (Furu-)Nangwa (Busuu-speaking), (Furu-)Turuwa, (Furu-)Sambari (Bishuo-speaking) and Furubana (Bikya-speaking). Lexical analysis has shown that while Bishuo has 24% lexical similarity with neighbouring Beboid languages, Nsaa and Nooni and Bikya have 16% resp. 17% similarity with them, and Busuu has just 8% resp. 7%.Breton, Roland: ''Is there a Furu language group? An investi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roland Kiessling
Roland Kiessling (German: Roland Kießling; born 25 July 1962 in Hamburg, West Germany) is a German linguist and Africanist. Kiessling's research interests include language documentation, phonetics, historical linguistics, Cushitic languages (particularly the South Cushitic languages), Nilotic languages (particularly the Southern Nilotic languages), Niger-Congo languages (particularly the Southern Bantoid languages), and !Xoon. Biography Kiessling studied African Studies and Phonetics at the University of Hamburg, where he obtained a PhD in 1993 and Habilitation in 2000. From 1990 to 1993, he was a research associate in a DFG project led by Ludwig Gerhardt, where he worked on Iraqw texts. Afterwards, he was a research assistant from 1993 to 1999 at the Institute for African Studies and Ethiopian Studies at the University of Hamburg. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beboid Languages
The Beboid languages are any of several groups of languages spoken principally in southwest Cameroon, although two languages (Bukwen and Mashi) are spoken over the border in Nigeria. They are probably not most closely related to each other. The Eastern Beboid languages may be most closely related to the Tivoid and Momo groups, though some of the geographical Western Beboid grouping may be closer to Ekoid and Bantu. Previous research includes a study of noun classes in Beboid languages by Jean-Marie Hombert (1980), Larry Hyman (1980, 1981), a dissertation by Richards (1991) concerning the phonology of three eastern Beboid languages (Noni, Ncane and Nsari), Lux (2003) a Noni lexicon and Cox (2005) a phonology of Kemezung. Languages SIL International survey reports have provided more detail on Eastern and Western Beboid (Brye & Brye 2002, 2004; Hamm et al. 2002) and Hamm (2002) is a brief overview of the group as a whole. Eastern Beboid is clearly valid; speakers recognise the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
