Baka (also called ''Be-bayaga, Be-bayaka,'' and ''Bibaya de L’est'') is a
dialect cluster of
Ubangian languages
The Ubangian languages form a diverse linkage of some seventy languages centered on the Central African Republic. They are the predominant languages of the CAR, spoken by 2–3 million people, and include the national language, Sango. They are ...
spoken by the
Baka Pygmies
In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a pop ...
of
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
and
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...
. The people are ethnically close to the
Aka, the two together called the
Mbenga (''Bambenga''), but the languages are not related, apart from some vocabulary dealing with the forest economy, which suggests the Aka may have shifted to
Bantu, probably 15000 people have shifted.
Classification
Some 30% of Baka vocabulary is not
Ubangian
The Ubangian languages form a diverse linkage of some seventy languages centered on the Central African Republic. They are the predominant languages of the CAR, spoken by 2–3 million people, and include the national language, Sango. They ar ...
. Much of this concerns a specialised forest economy, such as words for edible plants, medicinal plants, and honey collecting, and has been posited as the remnant of an ancestral
Pygmy language which has otherwise vanished. 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.
Distribution
Baka is spoken much of the southeastern forest zone of Cameroon, in:
*Eastern Region
**
Kadey department (
Ndélélé and
Mbang communes)
**
Haut-Nyong department (
Dimako,
Doumé,
Abong-Mbang,
Lomié, and
Ngoyla communes)
**
Boumba-et-Ngoko
Boumba-et-Ngoko is a department of East Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 30,389 km and as of 2001 had a total population of 116,702. The capital of the department lies at Yokadouma.
Subdivisions
The department is div ...
department (
Moloundou
Moloundou is an ''arrondissement'' (district) in the Boumba-et-Ngoko Division of southeastern Cameroon's East Province. Mouloundou is close to Boumba Bek and Nki National Parks on the Dja River. It has a mayor and several decentralised admini ...
,
Yokadouma
Yokadouma is a town and Catholic bishopric in eastern Cameroon, lying near the border with the Central African Republic. It was an early French administrative centre.
During the colonial period, Yokadouma was the centre for a widespread but ill-f ...
, and
Gari-Gombo communes)
*Southern Region
**
Dja-et-Lobo department (
Bengbis,
Meyomessala,
Sangmélima,
Djoum
Djoum is a town in South Province, Cameroon, South Province, Cameroon.
History
The first inhabitants of modern-day Djoum were the Baka people (Cameroon and Gabon), Baka peoples.
The rural municipality was formed in 1952. The town was later div ...
,
Oveng, and
Mintom communes)
The Baka live together with other ethnic groups who are mainly located along the main roads. The Baka speak a language very close to that of the
Ngbaka Ma'bo of the Central 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 the
Bagyali, Pygmy groups from
Océan
Océan is a department of South Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 11,280 km and as of 2001 had a total population of 133,062. The capital of the department lies at Kribi.
Subdivisions
The department is divided adminis ...
Department who speak a
Bantu language (
A80 subgroup). They number 25,000 in Cameroon. They are also found in Gabon (Phillips 1980) and in the Central African Republic.
Varieties
It is unclear if Gundi (Ngundi), Ganzi and Massa (Limassa), are
mutually intelligible with Baka proper. Most Massa have shifted to Gundi, which is spoken by 9,000 people.
[
The Ngombe tribe speaks Gundi. It may have been confused in the literature with the Ngombe population speaking the Bangandu language.
]
Phonology
Consonants
/d͡z/ can also be heard as post-alveolar ͡ʒ among different dialects.
Vowels
References
External links
Baka Pygmies
Culture and photos, with soundscapes of Baka camps in the rainforest
Baka Forest People
Information, videos, music and photos of the Baka from Moloundou region of Cameroon.
Baka: A Highly Endangered Language of Northern Cameroun
Baka information and word list
*ELAR collection
A documentation of the remnant Baka-Gundi language Limassa
deposited by Benedikt Winkhart
{{Authority control
Ngbaka languages
African Pygmies
Languages of Cameroon
Languages of Gabon