Ngwe (Ŋwɛh, Nweh) is a
Bamileke language spoken predominantly in
Lebialem
Lebialem is a department of Southwest Region in Cameroon. The Division covers an area of 617 km and as of 2005 had a total population of 113,736. The capital of the department lies at Menji
Menji is a town and capital of the Fontem distri ...
,
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
. As of 2001, Ngwe had 73,200 speakers, which was an increase from the numbers of previous censuses. Its closest relatives are
Yemba and
Ngiemboon.
Writing system
Phonology
Vowels
It has at least thirteen vowels, .
[ Ladefoged, Peter. ]
A Phonetic Study of West African Languages: An Auditory-instrumental Survey
'. Cambridge University Press, 1968, pp. 33–36. /ɤ ʌ/ are centralised.
/y/ sounds somewhat like
¸or
“and has a tongue position similar to that of /É‘/, but with the jaw raised and the lips very close together.
References
External links
*Ayotte, Michael & Ayotte, Charlene. 2002.
Sociolinguistic Language Survey of Ngwe. SIL International
Languages of Cameroon
Bamileke languages
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