Bube language

"Bubi language" redirects here. For the other Gabonese language called Bubi, see Vove language. For the Bubi dialect of Kele, see Kele language (Gabon).

Bube
Native to	Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Cameroon
Ethnicity	Bubi, Wovea
Native speakers	51,000 (2011)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu (Zone A.30) perhaps Mbam? Bube
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bvb – inclusive code Individual code: bbx – Bubia (Wovea)
Glottolog	bube1242
Guthrie code	A.31, A.221
ELP	Bubia

Bube, Bohobé or Bube–Benga (Bobe, Bubi), is a Bantu or Bantoid language spoken by the Bubi, a Bantu people native to, and once the primary inhabitants of, Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea. The language was brought to Bioko from continental Africa more than three thousand years ago when the Bubi began arriving on the island.

It has around 50,000 speakers, with three variants: North, South and Central-East. It is noted for its tonal character and the divergence of words by gender. The language is also spoken by Bubi native to Gabon and Cameroon.

The Bube language is divided into six different dialects that vary in the northern and southern regions of Bioko Island. For example, in the North, people speak Rebola and its variations: Basile, Banapa and Basupa. However, in the North-East, Bakake is spoken.

Bube is also spoken in a small area on the mainland closest to the island, where speakers are shifting to Wumboko. This has been reported as "Bube", "Bubia" or "Wovea" (see Wovea people).

The first Bube-to-English primer was authored in 1875 by William Barleycorn, a colonial era Primitive Methodist missionary of Igbo and Fernandino descent, while he was serving in the Bubi village of Basupu. An official language dictionary and grammar guide was published by the ethnic Bubi scholar Justo Bolekia Boleká.

Other names

Other names and forms of the name include Bubé, eVoové, eBubée, Bhubhi, Bubi, Ibubi, Ibhubhi, Pove and Eviia.

Phonology

Vowels

Bube has 7 vowels that can be either short or long:

Vowel phonemes

	Front (short/long)	Back (short/long)
Close	i iː (ĩ)	u uː (ũ)
Close-mid	e eː (ẽ)	o oː (õ)
Open-mid	ɛ ɛː (ɛ̃)	ɔ ɔː (ɔ̃)
Open	a aː (ã)

The nasal vowels are allophones of respective oral vowels.

Consonants

Bube has 20 consonants. Some of them are prenasalized:

Consonant Phonomes

	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n	ɲ
Stop	p b mp mb		t d nt nd	c ɟ ɲc ɲɟ	k ɡ	ʔ
Fricative	f v		s ns			h
Approximant		l		j	w
Pharyngeal		ɾ

Numbers

Number	Northern Bube	Northwestern Bube	Southern Bube
1	buule	buule	muule
2	eppa	eppa	memba
3	betta	betta	metta
4	yeele	yeele	myeeme
5	betto	betto	metto
6	ra'a 6	ra'a 6	metto na muule 5+1
7	ra'a la buule 6+1	ra'a la buule 6+1	metto na memba 5+2
8	yeele ketoppa 4x2	ra'a la eppa 6+2	metto na metta 5+3
9	yeele ketoppa la buule 4x2+1	baa buule ka yo 10-1	metto na myeene 5+4
10	yo	yo	myo

See also

• Benga language

Bibliography

• Biddulph, Joseph, Fernandian (1988) The Bubi Bantu language of Bioco/Fernando Po. Pontypridd, Wales: Languages Information Centre, WorldCat no. 17838738.