Bana language
Appearance
Bana | |
---|---|
Native to | Cameroon |
Region | Far North Region, Cameroon |
Native speakers | 23,000 (2007)[1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | bcw |
Glottolog | bana1305 |
ELP | Bana |
Bana | |
---|---|
Language | koma kabana |
Bana is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in northern Cameroon. Dialects include Gamboura and Gili.[1]
Bana is spoken in the canton of Guili, in the northern part of the commune of Bourrha (department of Mayo-Tsanaga, Far North Region). The speakers call their language koma kabana 'the language of the Bana'.[2]
Phonology
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labialized velar | Uvular | Labialized uvular | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ŋʷ | ||||
Voiceless plosive | p | t | k | kʷ | ʔ ʔʷ | |||
Voiced plosive | b | d | ɡ | ɡʷ | ||||
Prenasalized plosive | mb | nd ndz | ŋɡ | ŋɡʷ | ||||
Implosive | ɓ | ɗ | ||||||
Affricate | ts dz | |||||||
Fricative | f v | s z | χ ʁ | χʷ ʁʷ | ||||
Flap | ⱱ | ɾ | ||||||
Approximant | j | w |
The vowels of Bana are /ɨ ə ɛ/, which can occur with high, falling, low, or rising tone. [3]
Notes
- ^ a b Bana at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Binam Bikoi, Charles, ed. (2012). Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM) [Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon]. Atlas linguistique de l'Afrique centrale (ALAC) (in French). Vol. 1: Inventaire des langues. Yaoundé: CERDOTOLA. ISBN 9789956796069.
- ^ Hofmann, Erica. 1990. A preliminary phonology of bana. University of Victoria. (MA thesis).
References
- Hofmann, Erica (1990). A Preliminary Phonology of Bana (PDF) (M.A. thesis). University of Victoria. OCLC 27946722.