| Baka | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Cameroon,Gabon; minor groups separate in theCentral African Republic |
| Ethnicity | Baka |
Native speakers | (70,000 cited 1988–2010)[1] |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:bkc – Bakagdi – Gundi (Ngundi)gnz – Ganzibme – Massa (Limassa) |
| Glottolog | baka1271 |
| ELP | |
Baka (also calledBe-bayaga, Be-bayaka, andBibaya de L’est) is adialect cluster ofUbangian languages spoken by theBakaPygmies ofCameroon andGabon. Ethnically, the people are closely related to theAka, collectively known as theMbenga (Bambenga). However, the languages are not closely elated within theAtlantic-Congo family, apart from some vocabulary dealing with the forest economy, which suggests the Aka may have shifted toBantu, with an estimated 15,000 people having done so.
Baka is spoken in much of the southeastern forest zone of Cameroon, in:[2]
The Baka live together with other ethnic groups that are generally located along the main roads. The Baka speak a language very close to that of theNgbaka Ma'bo of theCentral African Republic, which clearly indicates that the Baka of Cameroon had recently arrived from an area much further to the east. In Cameroon, they are referred to as Eastern Pygmies, as opposed to theBagyali, Pygmy groups fromOcéan Department who speak a Bantu language (A80 subgroup). The Baka number 25,000 in Cameroon. They are also found in Gabon (Phillips 1980) and in the Central African Republic.[2]
Approximately 30% of Baka's vocabulary is notUbangian. Much of this concerns a specialized forest economy, such as words for edible plants, medicinal plants, and honey collecting, and has been posited as the remnant of an ancestralPygmy language which has otherwise vanished.[3] However, apart from some words shared with the Aka, there is no evidence for a wider linguistic affiliation with any of the other Pygmy peoples.[4]
It is unclear if Gundi (Ngundi), Ganzi, and Massa (Limassa), aremutually intelligible with Baka proper. Most Massa have shifted to Gundi, which is spoken by 9,000 people.[1]
The Ngombe tribe speaks Gundi. It may have been confused in the literature with theNgombe population speaking theBangandu language.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labio- velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | plain | p | t | k | k͡p | ʔ | |
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | ɡ͡b | |||
| prenasalized | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᵑɡ | ᵑɡ͡b | |||
| implosive | ɓ | ɗ | |||||
| Fricative | plain | ɸ | s | h | |||
| voiced | β | ||||||
| Affricate | voiced | d͡z ~d͡ʒ | |||||
| prenasalized | ⁿd͡z ~ⁿd͡ʒ | ||||||
| Lateral | l | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ||||
| Semivowel | j | w | |||||
/d͡z/ can also be heard as post-alveolar [d͡ʒ], among different dialects.[5]
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Close-mid | e | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ |
| Open | a | |
Baka does not have a standard orthography, and there are many different ways to write it. The following is a 2009 recommendation which is supported by theMinistry of Scientific Research and Innovation [fr]. It is based on theGeneral Alphabet of Cameroon Languages.
| Baka alphabet (2009)[7] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | B | Ɓ | D | Ɗ | E | Ɛ | G | GB | H | I | J | K | KP | L | M | MB | N | ND | NG | NGB | NJ | NY | O | Ɔ | P | S | T | U | W | Y | ʼ |
| a | b | ɓ | d | ɗ | e | ɛ | g | gb | h | i | j | k | kp | l | m | mb | n | nd | ng | ngb | nj | ny | o | ɔ | p | s | t | u | w | y | ʼ |
| Pronunciation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| /a/ | /b/ | /ɓ/ | /d/ | /ɗ/ | /e/ | /ɛ/ | /ɡ/ | /ɡ͡b/ | /h/ | /i/ | /d͡ʒ/ | /k/ | /k͡p/ | /l/ | /m/ | /ᵐb/ | /n/ | /ⁿd/ | /ŋ/ | /ᵑɡ͡b/ | /ⁿd͡ʒ/ | /ɲ/ | /o/ | /ɔ/ | /p/ | /s/ | /t/ | /u/ | /w/ | /j/ | /ʔ/ |
Tones are indicated by diacritics: the acute for high tone (á é ɛ́ í ó ɔ́ ú), and the grave for low tone (à è ɛ̀ ì ò ɔ̀ ù), middle tone is not indicated)
Brisson uses a noticeably different orthography in his dictionaries. He noticeably uses theglottal stop (ʔ) instead of the apostrophe.[8]
