Fanji language
Appearance
Fanji | |
---|---|
Bafanji | |
Chuufi | |
Region | Cameroon |
Ethnicity | Bafanji |
Native speakers | 17,000 (2008)[1] |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | bfj |
Glottolog | bafa1249 |
The Fanji language, Chuufi (Nchufie), is a Grassfields language and the language of the Bafanji people in the Northwest Region of Cameroon.[1][2] There are approximately 17,000 speakers. The language has a rich system of tonal morphology, including reduplication involving adjectives.
Phonology
Consonants
Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Stop | Plain | p | t | t͡ʃ | c͡ç | k |
Aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | t͡ʃʰ | c͡çʰ | kʰ | |
Prenasalised[1] | mb | nd | nd͡ʒ | ɲɟ | ŋɡ | |
Fricative | Voiceless | f | s | ʃ | ç | |
Voiced | z | ɣ | ||||
Approximant | Central | j | w | |||
Lateral | l | ʎ |
- ^ The prenasalised stops may also be considered voiced with redundant prenasalisation.
References
- ^ a b Fanji at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Silverman (1995:57)
- ^ Silverman (1995:58)
- Silverman, Daniel (1995), "Optional, conditional, and obligatory prenasalization in Bafanji", Journal of West African Languages, 25: 57–62