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Nsei language

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Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon

Nsei
Kenswei Nsei
Native to	Cameroon
Native speakers	25,000 (2008)^[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Grassfields Ring South Nsei
Language codes
ISO 639-3	`ndb`
Glottolog	`kens1251`

Kenswei Nsei (Kensense), alsoNsei orMesing (Bamessing), is aGrassfields Bantu language ofCameroon.

Phonology

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Consonants

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Consonants^[2]
		Labial		Alveolar		Post-alveolar		Velar		Glottal
		-voice	+voice	-voice	+voice	-voice	+voice	-voice	+voice	-voice
Nasal	Plain		m		n		ɲ		ŋ
Nasal	Labialized						ɲʷ		ŋʷ
Plosive/ Affricate	Plain		b	t	d	t͡ʃ	d͡ʒ	k	g	ʔ
	Pre-nasalized		ᵐb	ⁿt	ⁿd	ⁿt͡ʃ	ⁿd͡ʒ	ᵑk	ᵑg
	Lablalized		bʷ	tʷ	dʷ	t͡ʃʷ	d͡ʒʷ	kʷ	gʷ
	Pre-nasalized and labialized		ᵐbʷ	ⁿtʷ	ⁿdʷ	ⁿt͡ʃʷ	ⁿd͡ʒʷ	ᵑkʷ	ᵑgʷ
Fricative	Plain	f	v	s	z				ɣ^[a]	h
	Pre-nasalized	ᶬf		ⁿs
	Labialized			sʷ	zʷ
	Pre-nasalized and labialized			ⁿsʷ
Approximant	Plain				l		j^[b]		w
Approximant	Labialized				lʷ		jʷ

^/ɣ/ becomes[ɰ] before back vowels.
^[j] is in free variation with[ʒ].

Vowels

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Vowels^[2]
	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ̝^[a]	u
Close-mid	e^[b]	ə^[c]	o^[d]
Open-mid	ɛ	ə^[c]	ɔ
Open	æ	ä^[e]

^/ɨ̝/ becomes[ɨ] before/ŋ/.
^/e/ becomes[ɪ] in short open syllables.
^/ə/ becomes[ɵ] before a pause when friction is present.
^/o/ becomes[ʊ] before a pause when friction is present.
^/ä/ becomes[ɒ] before[w].

Tone

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Nsei has both lexical and grammatical tone. There are at least two level tones (high, low, and possibly mid) and two contour tones (falling and rising).^[3]

References

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^Nsei atEthnologue (18th ed., 2015)(subscription required)
^^a ^bDeVries 2008.
^DeVries 2008, pp. 17–18.

Akeriweh (2000).A step towards the standardisation of Kə̀nswéynséy: (a grassfield bantu language (MA thesis). Yaoundé: Université de Yaoundé I.
DeVries, Aaron (2008).Kenswey Nsey (Bamessing): A Phonological Sketch(PDF). Yaoundé: SIL Cameroun. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 30 December 2023.
Lonbeck, Janelle (2013).The Noun Phrase in Kenswei Nsei (Bamessing)(PDF). Yaoundé: SIL Cameroon. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 8 December 2023.
Lonfo, Bertrand (2007).Morphologie nominale du kensweynse (MA thesis). Université de Yaoundé I.