La'bi is the esoteric
ritual language
A sacred language, liturgical language or holy language is a language that is cultivated and used primarily for religious reasons (like church service) by people who speak another, primary language in their daily lives.
Some religions, or part ...
of male initiation among the
Gbaya Kara, the
Mbum, and some
Sara Laka, in the area of
Touboro
Touboro is a town and commune in North Region Cameroon.
Refugees
An April 10, 2014 report says:
"Thousands of refugees, fleeing the violence of armed groups ( Séléka and Anti-balaka) are concentrated in the towns of Mbaimboum and Touboro, o ...
near where the CAR, Chad, and Cameroon meet. It has no native speakers, but is used by 4,400 people. It is related to Mbum, with substantial loans from one or more
Sara languages
The Sara languages comprise over a dozen Bongo–Bagirmi languages spoken mainly in Chad; a few are also spoken in the north of the Central African Republic. They are members of the Central Sudanic language family. Greenberg (1966) treats all vari ...
.
A word list is given in Periquet (1915).
[Periquet, Louis. 1915. Rapport général sur la mission de délimitation Afrique Équatoriale Française-Cameroun (1912-1913-1914). Tome III, Vocabulaires. Paris: Ministère de colonies.]
References
Languages of Cameroon
Initiation languages
Mbum–Day languages
{{AtlanticCongo-lang-stub