| Kwaʼ | |
|---|---|
| Region | Cameroon |
| Ethnicity | Bamileke |
Native speakers | (1,000 cited 2000)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bko |
| Glottolog | kwaa1265 |
Kwaʼ (Bakwa) is a minorBamileke language ofCameroon.
| Bilabial | Labio-dental | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | Labial-velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | t | k | ʔ | |||||
| voiced | b | d | g | ||||||
| prenasalized | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮdʒ | ᵑg | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||||
| Affricate | voiceless | pf | tʃ | kx | |||||
| voiced | bv | dʒ | |||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | h | |||||
| voiced | v | ɣ | |||||||
| Lateral | l | ||||||||
| Approximant | j | w | |||||||
This analysis differs from that of Tientcheu Tchameni (2008), who did not find/ʔ/,/pf/,/bv/, or/ɣ/. In contrast, Tientcheu Tchameni (2008) found/p/,/gɣ/,/ɰ/,/kf/, and/x/, which Talla Sandeu did not.[3]
| Front | Central | Back | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [-round] | [+round] | |||||||
| short | long | short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | i | ʉ | ʉː | u | uː | |||
| Close-mid | e | eː | ø | øː | ə | əː | ||
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | ɔː | |||||
| Open | a | aː | ||||||
Tientcheu Tchameni (2008) did not include/ə/ or/əː/[4] but did include/ɨ/,/o/, and/ɛː/.[5]
Talla Sandeu (2020) and Tientcheu Tchameni (2008) agree on the number and characteristics of the tones. There are three simple tones (high, mid, and low) and two complex tones (rising and falling).[6] Syllabic nasals can only carry simple tones, e.g.,[m̀fū]'leaf'.[7]
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