The Bafut language, ''Fut'', is an
Eastern Grassfields language of the
Niger–Congo languages
Niger–Congo is a hypothetical language family spoken over the majority of sub-Saharan Africa. It unites the Mande languages, the Atlantic-Congo languages (which share a characteristic noun class system), and possibly several smaller groups of ...
, and related to
Bamum Bamum, also spelled Bamoum, Bamun, or Bamoun, may refer to:
*The Bamum people
*The Bamum kingdom
*The Bamum language
*The Bamum script
** Bamum (Unicode block)
* Bamum Scripts and Archives Project
{{Disambig
Language and nationality disambiguation ...
. Oral tradition traces dynastic origins to the
Ndobo
Ngiri is a Bantu language closely related to Lingala
Lingala (Ngala) (Lingala: ''Lingála'') is a Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capi ...
or
Tikari areas. It is spoken by people of
Bafut Subdivision
The Bafut Subdivision or the Kingdom/Chiefdom/Fondom of Bafut is a commune in the Mezam Department of Northwest Province, Cameroon. It is located in the Western Grassfields region - a name for the Northwest Province and surrounding grassland area ...
, Tuba, in the division of
Mezam
Mezam is a division of the North West Region of Cameroon. The department covers an area of 1745 km and as of 2005 had a total population of 524,127. The capital of the department lies at Bamenda.
Subdivisions
The department is divided admini ...
and in the division of
Metchum in
Northwest Province, Cameroon
The Northwest Region, or North-West Region () is one of ten regions in Cameroon. Its regional capital is Bamenda. The Northwest Region was part of the Southern Cameroons, found in the western highlands of Cameroon. It is bordered to the south ...
.
The Bafut language was alphabetized by
SIL International
SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics) is an evangelical Christian non-profit organization whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to ex ...
consultant
Joseph Mfonyam Joseph Ngwa Mfonyam (born February 7, 1948, in Bafut in the North West Province of Cameroon) works with the Bafut Language Association as an SIL International consultant.
Life
Mfonyam studied linguistics at the University of Yaoundé, getting his ...
in 1982. Since then, some literature has been translated into Bafut, most notably the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
in 2000.
Writing system
References
External links
* ELAR archive o
Bafut
Ngemba languages
Languages of Cameroon
{{Cameroon-lang-stub