The Southwest Grassfields, traditionally called Western Momo when considered part of the
Momo group or when Momo is included in
Grassfields, are a small branch of the
Southern Bantoid languages
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 branch ...
spoken in the
Western grassfields
The Western High Plateau, Western Highlands or Bamenda Grassfields is a region of Cameroon characterised by high relief, cool temperatures, heavy rainfall and savanna vegetation. The region lies along the Cameroon line and consists of mounta ...
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 ...
.
The languages are
Manta (Tanka, Batakpa),
Balo (Alunfa),
Osatu,
Busam,
Menka–
Atoŋ.
Several of these have been classified as
Tivoid
The Tivoid languages are a branch of the Southern Bantoid languages spoken in parts of Nigeria and Cameroon. The subfamily takes its name after Tiv, the most spoken language in the group.
The majority are threatened with extinction. The largest ...
, a position reflected in ''Ethnologue''.
Classification
Blench (2010) recognises five coordinate subgroups within Southwest Grassfields.
;Southwest Grassfields
*
Busam
*
Menka,
Atong
*Tanka, Bantakpa,
Manta
*
Osatu
*Alunfa,
Balo
Footnotes
References
*Blench, Roger (2010
Classification of Momo and West Momo*Roger Blench (2010
The Tivoid Languages
Grassfields Bantu languages
Languages of Cameroon
{{Cameroon-lang-stub