Moloko (Məlokwo) is an
Afro-Asiatic
The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...
language spoken in northern
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 ...
.
[
The highly endangered ]Baka
Baka, baká or BAKA may refer to:
Ethnicities and languages
* Baka people (Cameroon and Gabon), an African ethnic group
* Baka people (Congo and South Sudan), an African ethnic group
* Baka language, a dialect cluster of Cameroon and Gabon
* Baka ...
is either a dialect or a closely related language.
The Melokwo (8,500 speakers) traditionally inhabit the Moloko massif, an inselberg
An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain.
In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...
isolated in the plain, east of the Mandara Mountains
The Mandara Mountains are a volcanic range extending about 190 km (about 120 mi) along the northern part of the Cameroon–Nigeria border, from the Benue River in the south () to the north-west of Maroua in the north (). The highest el ...
, between the Mayo-Mangafé River and Mayo-Ranéo River. They live in the village of Mokyo and the surrounding areas of Makalingay canton, Tokombéré
Tokombéré is a town and commune in Cameroon. The town has approximately 10,000 inhabitants and the commune approximately 80,000. Surrounded by rocky hills, Tokombéré is a crossroads for multiple ethnic groups, including the Mada, Muyang, ...
arrondissement, Mayo-Sava
Mayo-Sava is a department of Extreme-Nord Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 2,736 km and at the 2005 Census had a total population of 348,890. The capital of the department is at Mora.
Subdivisions
The department is di ...
department.
According to local oral history, the Moloko communities are made up of three distinct ethnic groups, rather than a singular one. During the Fulani invasions of the 19th century, these groups sought refuge near the Moloko mountain, where they would eventually come to speak the same language.
Moloko language use, language contact, and multilingualism
A small number of Moloko speakers speak only one language. Most will speak three to five other languages. Those with several years of education also speak French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
. Men often marry women from neighboring language groups, so families may be multilingual, but the spoken language in the home is often the father's language. Friends often switch languages when talking, perhaps when talking in different areas, but also just to bond. Transactions in the market may be conducted in the language of trade, but people prefer to bargain in the language of the seller if possible. Language viability in Moloko is only at risk in communities where Moloko is not the dominant language, especially in cities such as Maroua
Maroua (Fula: Marwa 𞤥𞤢𞤪𞤱𞤢) is the capital of the Far North Region of Cameroon, stretching along the banks of the Ferngo and Kaliao Rivers, in the foothills of the Mandara Mountains. The city had 301,371 inhabitants at the 2005 C ...
or Yaoundé
Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...
. In cities, children grow up in communities where there are many different languages, so they tend to speak Fulfulde
Fula ,Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh also known as Fulani or Fulah (, , ; Adlam: , , ), is a Senegambian language spoken by around 30 million people as a set of various dialects in a continuum that stre ...
. In these kinds of places, there is a risk that Moloko will disappear in the next generation. Otherwise, where Melokwo people congregate, Moloko language use is strong in every age group and in every area of family life.
Phonology
Vowels
There exists one underlying vowel in Moloko, /a/, with four surface realizations. The insertion, or epenthesis
In phonology, epenthesis (; Greek ) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially in the beginning syllable ('' prothesis'') or in the ending syllable (''paragoge'') or in-between two syllabic sounds in a word. The word ''epenth ...
, of a schwa, /ə/, is required to break up clusters of consonants lacking a vowel. This epenthetic sound accounts for an additional six possible surface realizations.
The status of the epenthetic, as to whether it should be considered its own vowel, is contested. Some analyses consider the epenthetic to be its own unique vowel, thus making Moloko a two-vowel system.
The phonetic realization of both phonemes
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west o ...
can vary depending on a number of factors: roundedness
In phonetics, vowel roundedness is the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. It is labialization of a vowel. When a ''rounded'' vowel is pronounced, the lips form a circular opening, and ''unrounded'' vowels are pron ...
, labialization
Labialization is a secondary articulatory feature of sounds in some languages. Labialized sounds involve the lips while the remainder of the oral cavity produces another sound. The term is normally restricted to consonants. When vowels involve ...
(roundedness), palatalization, or closeness to certain consonants. Each phoneme and its corresponding allophones are listed below.
* /a/
** (No variation)
** (Rounded)
** (Palatalized)
** (When adjacent to
** (When adjacent to
** (When adjacent to an inherent labialized velar
A labialized velar or labiovelar is a velar consonant that is labialized, with a -like secondary articulation. Common examples are , which are pronounced like a , with rounded lips, such as the labialized voiceless velar plosive and labialized ...
or /j/)
* /ə/
** (No variation)
** (Rounded)
** (Palatalized)
** (When adjacent to
** (When adjacent to
** (When adjacent to an inherent labialized velar
A labialized velar or labiovelar is a velar consonant that is labialized, with a -like secondary articulation. Common examples are , which are pronounced like a , with rounded lips, such as the labialized voiceless velar plosive and labialized ...
or /j/)
Consonants
Despite only having one vowel phoneme, there are 32 consonants in Moloko
Allophones
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor ''phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in ''s ...
are noted in parentheses, the alveolar Alveolus (; pl. alveoli, adj. alveolar) is a general anatomical term for a concave cavity or pit.
Uses in anatomy and zoology
* Pulmonary alveolus, an air sac in the lungs
** Alveolar cell or pneumocyte
** Alveolar duct
** Alveolar macrophage
* ...
sibilants
Sibilants are fricative consonants of higher amplitude and pitch, made by directing a stream of air with the tongue towards the teeth. Examples of sibilants are the consonants at the beginning of the English words ''sip'', ''zip'', ''ship'', and ...
/s z ts dz ⁿz/ can be realized postalveolar
Postalveolar or post-alveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the ''back'' of the alveolar ridge. Articulation is farther back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but no ...
sibilants ʒ tʃ dʒ ⁿʒ the alveolar nasal /n/ is realized as velar
Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth (known also as the velum).
Since the velar region of the roof of the mouth is relatively extensive an ...
word-finally. The glottal fricative /h/ may be realized as velar but the labialized fricative /hʷ/ does not appear to be realized as velar ʷ
Morphology
Noun Morphology
Moloko nouns are placed at the head of a noun phrase. No case markers are found in Moloko’s morphology. Instead, case markers are indicated through word order and the use of markings in verbs and adpositions (prepositions and postpositions).
Some characteristics of Moloko nouns are:
* Nouns can be pluralized using ''=ahaj.''
* Possessive pronouns may be used.
* Nouns are able to be counted.
* The derivational morpheme ''ga'' modifies a noun into an adjective.
Proper nouns in Moloko are commonly compounding, but may also be morphologically simple. People's names often have something to do with the circumstances or events around the time when they were born. A certain person’s name could be a noun, verb, compound, prepositional phrase, or even an entire clause. The names of twins are even determined based on their birth order.
Verb Morphology
Verbs in Moloko are formed through a partially agglutinative
In linguistics, agglutination is a morphological process in which words are formed by stringing together morphemes, each of which corresponds to a single syntactic feature. Languages that use agglutination widely are called agglutinative langu ...
process. To form a verb, prefixes and suffixes are attached to a consonantal skeleton. The resulting “verb complex” can be several phonological words in length. Differences in tense are expressed through alteration of the subject prefix.
Verbs have a spatial frame of reference
In physics and astronomy, a frame of reference (or reference frame) is an abstract coordinate system whose origin, orientation, and scale are specified by a set of reference points― geometric points whose position is identified both mathema ...
in addition to a temporal frame of reference. Both of these can be defined by the speaker through changing the vowel realization, changing tone, or using verbal extensions.
Further reading
*
* Boyd, Ginger (2002)
Initial analysis of the pitch system of Moloko nouns
WALS Congress, Buea, Cameroon, West African Linguistics Society
References
Biu-Mandara languages
Languages of Cameroon
{{BiuMandara-lang-stub