| Ghomala | |
|---|---|
| Ghɔmálá’ | |
| Region | Cameroon |
| Ethnicity | Bamileke |
Native speakers | 350,000 (2005)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bbj |
| Glottolog | ghom1247 |
Ghɔmálá’ or Ghomala is a major Bamileke language spoken in Cameroon, originally in the following departments of the West region:
- Mifi, Koung-Khi and Hauts-Plateaux: most of the three departments (except extreme south and except pockets in the north and west)
- Menoua: east of the department
- Bamboutos: a corner in the south
It is spoken by an estimated 2 million people in two main population groups.[citation needed]
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | ʔ | |
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | |||
| Affricate | voiceless | p͡f | t͡s | t͡ʃ | ||
| voiced | b͡v | d͡z | d͡ʒ | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | (ʃ) | h | |
| voiced | (v) | (ʒ) | (ɣ) | |||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Approximant | lateral | (l) | ||||
| central | w | j | ||||
| centralized | ɥ̈ | |||||
- The glottal stop /ʔ/ only occurs as word-final.
- Sounds [v l ʃ ʒ ɣ] are alternative consonant sounds of /b͡v d t͡ʃ d͡ʒ ɡ/.
- /t d/, when occurring before close front-central vowel sounds /i ʉ/, can sound palatalized as [tʲ dʲ].
- Sounds /p b t d k/, when preceding a /h/ sound, are realized as affricated [p͡ɸ b͡β t͡θ d͡ð k͡x].
- /ɡ/, when occurring before central vowel sounds /ə ɐ/, may sound affricated as [ɡ͡ɣ].
- A word-final /k/ sound, may be realized as uvular sounds [q χ].
Vowels
[edit]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ʉ | u |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| ɛ | ɐ | ɔ | |
| Low | a |
- Sounds /ɐ u ɔ/ when occurring with a velar nasal /ŋ/, can be realized as nasalized vowel sounds [ɐ̃ ũ ɔ̃].[2]
Tone
[edit]Tones are marked as high [á], low [à], mid (unmarked) [a], rising [ǎ], or falling [â].
References
[edit]- ^ Ghomala at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Nissim, Gabriel M. (1981). Le Bamileke-Ghomálá' (Parler de Bandjoun, Cameroun). Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Sciéntifique.
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