Mbuʼ, or Ajumbu, is a Southern Bantoid language of Cameroon. It is traditionally classified as a Western Beboid language, but that has not been demonstrated to be a valid family. Inasmuch as Western Beboid may be valid, Mbuʼ would appear to be the most divergent of its languages.

Mbuʼ
Ajumbu
Native toCameroon
Native speakers
200 (2011)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3muc
Glottologmbuu1238
ELPAjumbu

"Mbuʼ" is the name of the village the language is spoken in.

Phonology

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Mbu' Consonant phonemes[2]
Labial Dental Palatal Velar Glottal
Plain Labialized Plain Labial
Nasal m ɲ ŋ
Plosive voiceless k kp ʔ
voiced b g gb
Affricate voiceless t̪s̪
voiced d̪z̪
Fricative voiceless f ʃ
voiced v ʒ ɣ
Approximant j ɥ w
Mbu' Vowel Phonemes[2]
Front Central Back
Close i y ɨ u
Mid e ɛ ə o ɔ
Open a

There are three tones; high, mid, and low.

References

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  1. ^ Mbuʼ at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b Good, Jeff and Lovegren, Jesse and Mve, Jean Patrick and Tchiemouo, Nganguep Carine and Voll, Rebecca and Di Carlo, Pierpaolo. 2011. The languages of the Lower Fungom region of Cameroon: Grammatical overview. Africana Linguistica 17. 101–164.


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