Bulu language

Bulu
Spoken in	Cameroon
Native speakers	858,000  (2007)
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu (Zone A) Beti Bulu
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bum

Bulu is the language of the Bulu people of Cameroon. The language had 174,000 native speakers in 1982, with some 800,000 second language speakers in 1991. Colonial and missionary groups formerly used Bulu as a lingua franca in the region for commercial, educational, and religious purposes, though it is today becoming less frequent in those spheres. Dialects include Bene, Yelinda, Yembana, Yengono, and Zaman.

Bulu speakers are concentrated primarily in Cameroon's South Province, with the largest number at Ebolowa and Sangmélima. Some speakers live in the Nyong-et-Mfoumou division of the Centre and the Haut-Nyong division of the East.

Bulu is a Bantu language. It is a dialect of the Beti language and is intelligible with Eton, Ewondo, and Fang.

References

• Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. "Bulu: A Language of Cameroon". Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Accessed 2 June 2006.

External links

• Map of Bulu language from the LL-Map Project
• Information on Bulu language from the MultiTree Project