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Kung language (Cameroon)

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Kung
Native toCameroon
Native speakers
The Nzonko dialect was spoken during the 2000s, but now probably extinct.

The Nkam dialect is originated from the frontier with Nigeria, today spoken a undated number of 12.

The Zoro dialect was discovered in 2003, now at least 1 person remember words of this dialect. (2019)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3kfl
Glottologkung1260
ELPKung

Kung is a Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon.

Consonants

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Tatang enumerates 24 plain consonants, 9 prenasalized consonants, 7 labialized consonants, and 6 palatalized consonants, for a total of 46.[2]

Labial Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Labial-velar Glottal
Stop /b/ /ᵐb/ // // /t/ /ⁿt/ /d/ /ⁿd/ // /k/ /ᵑk/ /ᵑg/ // // /k͡p/ /g͡b/ /ʔ/
Affricate /ᵐb͡v/ /t͡s/ /ⁿd͡z/ /t͡ʃ/ /d͡ʒ/
Fricative // // /s/ /z/ /ⁿz/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ /ⁿʒ/ /ʃʷ/ /ʒʲ/ /ɣ/
Nasal /m/ // /n/ /ɲ/ /ŋʷ/
Trill /ʙ/
Approximant /l/ // // /j/ /w/


Vowels

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Tatang counts 10 vowel phonemes.[2]

Front Central Back
Close /i/ /ɨ/ /ʉ/ /u/
Close-mid /e/ /o/
Open-mid /ɛ/ /ɔ/
Open /ä/

Tones

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In addition, Kung contrasts six tones--three level tones (high, mid, low) and three contour tones (rising, high-mid, and falling). Tatang argues that the contour tones are combinations of register tones.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Kung at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b c Tatang, Joyce Yasho (November 2016). Aspects of Kung Grammar (PDF) (MA thesis). University of Buea. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2023.

Further reading

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  • Di Carlo, Pierpaolo; Good, Jeff (2014). "What Are We Trying to Preserve? Diversity, Change, and Ideology at the Edge of the Cameroonian Grassfields". In Austin, Peter K.; Sallabank, Julia (eds.). Endangered Languages: Beliefs and Ideologies in Language Documentation and Revitalization. doi:10.5871/bacad/9780197265765.003.0012. ISBN 9780197265765.
  • Good, Jeff (2013). "A (micro-)accretion zone in a remnant zone?: Lower Fungom in areal-historical perspective". In Bickel, Balthasar; Grenoble, Lenore A.; Peterson, David A.; Timberlake, Alan (eds.). Language Typology and Historical Contingency: In honor of Johanna Nichols. Typological Studies in Language. Vol. 104. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 265–282.
  • Kießling, Roland (2019). "Salient features of the Kung noun class system in a Ring perspective". In Akumbu, Pius W.; Chie, Esther P. (eds.). Engagement with Africa: Linguistic Essays in Honor of Ngessimo M. Mutaka. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. pp. 139–161. ISBN 978-3-89645-768-4.
  • Lo, Ch'ang-p'ei (1945). "A Preliminary Study on the Trung Language of Kung Shan". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 8 (3/4): 343–348. doi:10.2307/2717821. JSTOR 2717821.
  • Schlenker, Rebecca (2012). Das Nominalklassensystem des Kung (Graslandbantu) (MA thesis). Universität Hamburg.