Ndemli, or Bandem, is a 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 Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

spoken primarily in the Nkam department of the Littoral Region; between

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 ar ...

Yingui Yingui is a town and commune in Cameroon. See also *Communes of Cameroon The Arrondissements of Cameroon are the third-level units of administration in Cameroon. The arrondissements are organised by divisions and sub divisions of each province ...

and

Nkondjock Nkondjock is a town and commune in Cameroon. See also *Communes of Cameroon The Arrondissements of Cameroon are the third-level units of administration in Cameroon. The arrondissements are organised by divisions and sub divisions of each provi ...

. Recent classifications such as Nurse (2003)Derek Nurse & Gérard Philippson, 2003, ''The Bantu Languages,'' p 227 place it in with the Narrow

Grassfields languages The Grassfields languages (or Wide Grassfields languages) are a branch of the Southern Bantoid languages spoken in the Western High Plateau of Cameroon and some parts of Taraba state, Nigeria. Better known Grassfields languages include the Easter ...

, though ''Ethnologue'' does not reflect this. ''Ethnologue'' states that it is "related to

Tikar The Tikar (also Tikari, Tige, Tigar, Tigre, Tikali) are a central African people who inhabit the Western High Plateau in Cameroon. They are known as great artisans and storytellers. Once a nomadic people, some oral traditions trace the origin of ...

" and that "the Bandobo dialect of Tikar is very similar to Ndemli", though it is not clear if Bandobo actually is Tikar.

Phonology

There are five tones; high, mid, low, rising, and falling.

References

Grassfields Bantu languages Languages of Cameroon {{SBantoid-lang-stub