Grassfields languages
Encyclopedia
The Grassfields or Grassfields Bantu languages, spoken in the Western grassfields of Cameroon
, are a branch of Benue–Congo and a sister group to the Bantu languages
. Better-known Grassfields peoples include the Eastern Grassfields languages Bamun, Yamba, and Bamileke
, and the Ring language Kom
.
The languages are closely related, sharing approximately half of their vocabulary.
The Grassfields languages were previously known as Grassfields Bantu and Semi-Bantu. They are sometimes classified on two levels, Wide Grassfields, which includes all the languages, and Narrow Grassfields, which excludes Menchum, Ambele, and sometimes the Southwestern Grassfields languages. These may form a group of their own, which Nurse (2003) calls Peripheral Grassfields but rejects.
Blench (2010) notes there is little evidence for the traditional assumption that Momo
belongs in Grassfields, and that it may actually be closer to the poorly established Tivoid
group; Western Momo is therefore renamed Southwest Grassfields to avoid confusion, and only Menchum and Ambele are left out of Narrow Grassfields. The classification of Amebele is unclear, though it is clearly divergent, and Menchum may be closer to the Tivoid languages
(Blench 2011).
The Eastern Grassfields languages share nasal noun-class
prefixes with the Bantu languages
, which are not found in the other branches of Grassfields. However, they appear to be more closely related to the rest of Grassfields than they are to Bantu.
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
, are a branch of Benue–Congo and a sister group to the Bantu languages
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
. Better-known Grassfields peoples include the Eastern Grassfields languages Bamun, Yamba, and Bamileke
Bamileke languages
Bamileke is a group of languages spoken by the Bamileke in the western grasslands of Cameroon.The languages, which might constitute two branches of Eastern Grassfields, are:...
, and the Ring language Kom
Kom language
The Kom language, Itaŋikom, is the language spoken by the Kom people of Cameroon. Schultz 1997a and Schutz 1997b contain a comprehensive description of the language's grammar.Kom is a tonal language with three tones.-References:*...
.
The languages are closely related, sharing approximately half of their vocabulary.
The Grassfields languages were previously known as Grassfields Bantu and Semi-Bantu. They are sometimes classified on two levels, Wide Grassfields, which includes all the languages, and Narrow Grassfields, which excludes Menchum, Ambele, and sometimes the Southwestern Grassfields languages. These may form a group of their own, which Nurse (2003) calls Peripheral Grassfields but rejects.
Blench (2010) notes there is little evidence for the traditional assumption that Momo
Momo languages
The Momo languages are a branch of the Grassfields languages spoken in the Western grassfields of Cameroon.The languages are:Ethnologue 16 adds Manka, but that is a Southwest Grassfields language....
belongs in Grassfields, and that it may actually be closer to the poorly established Tivoid
Tivoid languages
The Tivoid languages are a group of African languages, a sub-family of the Southern Bantoid group, spoken in parts of Nigeria and Cameroon.The majority are threatened with extinction. The largest of these languages by far is the Tiv language for which the group is named, with some 2 million speakers...
group; Western Momo is therefore renamed Southwest Grassfields to avoid confusion, and only Menchum and Ambele are left out of Narrow Grassfields. The classification of Amebele is unclear, though it is clearly divergent, and Menchum may be closer to the Tivoid languages
Tivoid languages
The Tivoid languages are a group of African languages, a sub-family of the Southern Bantoid group, spoken in parts of Nigeria and Cameroon.The majority are threatened with extinction. The largest of these languages by far is the Tiv language for which the group is named, with some 2 million speakers...
(Blench 2011).
- Narrow Grassfields
- RingRing languagesThe Ring or Ring Road languages, spoken in the Western grassfields of Cameroon, are sister group to the Bantu languages. The best known Ring language is Kom.The family is named after the old Ring Road of central Cameroon.-Languages:...
(Ring Road) - Eastern GrassfieldsEastern Grassfields languagesThe Eastern Grassfields languages, spoken in the Bamenda grassfields of Cameroon, are a branch of Bantoid languages including Bamun, Yamba, and Bamileke.There are four or five branches to the family:* Nkambe languages * Mbam–Nkam** Ngemba languages...
(Mbam–Nkam) - ? NdemliNdemli languageNdemli is a language of Cameroon. Recent classifications such as Nurse place it in with the Narrow Grassfields languages, though Ethnologue does not reflect this. Ethnologue states that it is "related to Tikar" and that "the Bandobo dialect of Tikar is very similar to Ndemli", though it is not...
- Southwest Grassfields (previously Western Momo)
- Ring
- ? Ambele
- ? MenchumMenchum languageMenchum, or Befang, is a divergent Bantoid language of Cameroon. It may be a Grassfields language or closer to Tivoid.Befang is the local town, and also the name of the Menchum dialect spoken there....
(Befang)
The Eastern Grassfields languages share nasal noun-class
Noun class
In linguistics, the term noun class refers to a system of categorizing nouns. A noun may belong to a given class because of characteristic features of its referent, such as sex, animacy, shape, but counting a given noun among nouns of such or another class is often clearly conventional...
prefixes with the Bantu languages
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
, which are not found in the other branches of Grassfields. However, they appear to be more closely related to the rest of Grassfields than they are to Bantu.