| Mbum | |
|---|---|
| Mboum, Buna, Mboumtiba and Wuna | |
| Native to | Cameroon,Central African Republic |
Native speakers | (51,000 cited 1982–1996)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mdd |
| Glottolog | mbum1254 |
Mbum Proper (alsoMboum, Buna, Mboumtiba and Wuna)[2] is aAdamawa–Ubangi language ofCentral Africa.[3][4][1] It is spoken by about 50,000 people inCameroon and theCentral African Republic.[1]
The Mbum language is spoken by theMbum people who inhabit Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Chad. While their origins are unclear, some believe that the Mbum were one of the earliest ethnic groups of theAdamawa Region.[3]
The Mbum people have such a close relationship with theDii people, and one which has persisted for so long, that outsiders often have a hard time distinguishing them.[3] In the early nineteenth century, both groups came under the rule of theFulani Muslims, who they are said to have intermarried in large numbers. Despite this, the Mbum and Dii peoples still managed to hold on to their traditional spiritual beliefs until the twentieth century. The Mbum converted toIslam, while the Dii converted toChristianity.[5]
Mbum is a complexdialect continuum consisting of several varieties.ALCAM (2012) considersMbum,Larang,Pana andGbata to be four distinct but closely related languages. Pana (also spoken in Chad), Karang, Kali-dek and Kuo are eastern varieties that may be separate languages.[6]
To the south,Gbata is spoken in the northern part of the arrondissement ofBélabo inLom-et-Djerem department, Eastern Region. There, it is spoken in Woutchaba and Deng-Deng, located to the west and east of theSanaga River, respectively.[6] Blench (2006) considers Gbete (Gbata) to be a separate language.
The LiMbum is spoken to the South West especially in the Donga Mantung and around the Nkambe and Ndu Sub Divisions.
Mbum is spoken in:[6]
Limbum is spoken in the Donga Mantung Particularly in Ndu and Nkambe Subdivisions.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labio- velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | p | t | k | k͡p | ||
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | ɡ͡b | |||
| prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᵑɡ | ᵑᵐɡ͡b | |||
| implosive | ɓ | ɗ | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | h | |||
| voiced | v | z | |||||
| prenasal | ᶬv | ⁿz | |||||
| Trill/Tap | ⱱ | r | |||||
| Lateral | l | ||||||
| Approximant | j | w | |||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | iĩ | uũ | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | aã |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)