Feʼfeʼ language

Feʼfeʼ
Nufi, Fotouni, Bafang[1]
Ghə̀ǝ̄ fèʼéfěʼè
Native toCameroon
RegionHaut-Nkam (Upper Nkam)
EthnicityBamileke Feʼefeʼe
Native speakers
c. 140,000 (2005)[2]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3fmp
Glottologfefe1239

Feʼfeʼ or commonly Feʼefeʼe, also known as Nufi or Bafang (Fe'fe': Nufi), is a Bamileke language spoken in Cameroon, around the town of Bafang. À was Nshʉ̀' of the Kwɑ̀ languages selected for option at the Collège Libermann at Douala (along with Duala, Basaa and Ghɔmálá').[3]

Phonology

Consonants

Allophones are given in brackets.

Consonants[4]
Labial Dental Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n (ɲ) ŋ
Plosive <Kōh>voiceless</Kōh> (p) t t͡ʃ k ʔ
<Kōh>voiced</Kōh> b d d͡ʒ ɡ
Fricative <Kōh>voiceless</Kōh> f s (ʃ) x
<Kōh>voiced</Kōh> v z (ʒ) (ɣ)
Approximant (w) (l) (j)


Vowels

Vowels[4]
Front Mid Back
High Ngɑ̌ ɨ[a] u
Mid e (ə)[b] o
(ɛ) (ɔ)
Low a ɑ
  1. ^ Hyman (1972) uses /ɯ/, represented by ⟨ʉ⟩.[5]
  2. ^ Hyman (1972) uses /ɤ/.[5]

Tone

Tone Low Raised-Low Mid High
Diacritic à ẚ a á
Example [pʉà] [pʉẚ] [pʉa] [pʉá]
Translation bag to bend over to go crazy Pʉ́ɑ́ (Pʉ́ɑ́)

The language has a complex tone system, carefully described, along with other aspects of the phonology and morphology, in Hyman (1972).[4]

Writing system

Feʼfeʼ alphabet
Uppercase A Ɑ B C D E Ə F G Gh H Ngɑ̌ J K L M N Ŋ O P S Sh T U Ʉ V W Y Z Zh ʼ
Lowercase a ɑ b c d e ə f g gh h Ngɑ̌ j k l m n ŋ o p s sh t u ʉ v w y z zh ʼ
IPA a ɑ b t͡ʃ d e, ɛ ə f g ɣ x Ngɑ̌ d͡ʒ k l m n ŋ o, ɔ p s ʃ t u ɨ v w j z ʒ ʔ

References

  1. ^ OLAC resources in and about the Feʼfeʼ language. Cō' Language Archives.
  2. ^ Feʼfeʼ at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  3. ^ Renaud, Patrick (1979). "Le Français au Cameroun". In Valdman, A. (ed.). Le Français hors de France. Paris: Editions Honoré Champion.
  4. ^ a b c Hyman, Larry (1972). A Phonological Study of Feʼfeʼ-Bamileke (PDF) (PhD thesis). Los Angeles: University of California.
  5. ^ a b Hyman 1972, p. 32.
Feʼfeʼ language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator


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