Mbum Proper (also Mboum, Buna, Mboumtiba and Wuna) is a Adamawa–Ubangi language of

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

. It is spoken by about people in

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

and the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

History

The Mbum language is spoken by the Mbum people who inhabit Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Chad. While their origins are unclear, some believe that the Mbum were one of the earliest ethnic groups of the

Adamawa Region The Adamawa Region () is a constituent region of the Cameroon, Republic of Cameroon. It borders the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre and East Region (Cameroon), East regions to the south, the Northwest Region (Cameroon), Northwest and West Re ...

. The Mbum people have such a close relationship with the Dii people, and one which has persisted for so long, that outsiders often have a hard time distinguishing them. In the early nineteenth century, both groups came under the rule of the Fulani Muslims, who they are said to have intermarried in large numbers. Despite this, the Mbum and Dii peoples still managed to hold on to their traditional spiritual beliefs until the twentieth century. The Mbum converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, while the Dii converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

Varieties

Mbum is a complex

dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety (linguistics), language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulat ...

consisting of several varieties. ''ALCAM'' (2012) considers ''Mbum'', ''Larang'', ''Pana'' and ''Gbata'' to be four distinct but closely related languages. Pana (also spoken in Chad), Karang, Kali-dek and Kuo are eastern varieties that may be separate languages. To the south, ''Gbata'' is spoken in the northern part of the arrondissement of Bélabo in Lom-et-Djerem department, Eastern Region. There, it is spoken in Woutchaba and Deng-Deng, located to the west and east of the Sanaga River, respectively. Blench (2006) considers Gbete (Gbata) to be a separate language. The LiMbum is spoken to the South West especially in the Donga Mantung and around the Nkambe and Ndu Sub Divisions.

Distribution

Mbum is spoken in: *Adamaoua Region ** Vina department (

Ngaoundéré Ngaoundéré or N'Gaoundéré (Fula: N'gamdere, , 𞤲'𞤺𞤢𞤥𞤣𞤫𞥅𞤪𞤫𞥅) is the capital of the Adamawa Region of Cameroon. It had a population of 152,700 at the 2005 census. According to the film ''Les Mairuuwas – Maitre de l ...

and Mbe communes) ** Djerem department ( Ngaoundal and Tibati communes) ** Faro-et-Déo department ( Tignère communes) *North Region ** Mayo-Rey department (

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 ...

commune) ** Faro department (

Poli DNA polymerase iota is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''POLI'' gene. It is found in higher eukaryotes, and is believed to have arisen from a gene duplication from Pol η. Pol ι, is a Y family polymerase that is involved in transl ...

commune) * North West Region* Limbum is spoken in the Donga Mantung Particularly in Ndu and Nkambe Subdivisions.

History

Varieties

Distribution

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

References

Further reading