The Mbum or Kebi-Benue languages (also known as Lakka in narrower scope) are a group of the
Mbum–Day branch of the
Adamawa languages
The Adamawa languages are a putative family of 80–90 languages scattered across the Adamawa Plateau in central Africa, in Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Chad, spoken altogether by only one and a half million people (as of 19 ...
, spoken in southern
Chad, northwestern
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...
, 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 ...
and eastern
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
. Their best-known member is
Mbum
Mbum Proper (also Mboum, Buna, Mboumtiba and Wuna) is a Adamawa–Ubangi language of Central Africa. It is spoken by about people in Cameroon and the Central African Republic.
History
The Mbum language is spoken by the Mbum people who inhabit ...
; other languages in the group include
Tupuri and
Kare
Kare or KARE may refer to:
* Kare (Žitorađa), a village in Serbia
* Kare language, several languages with the name
* Kare (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
* Kare Kauks (born 1961), Estonian singer
* Kåre or Kaare, ...
.
They were labeled "G6" in
Joseph Greenberg
Joseph Harold Greenberg (May 28, 1915 – May 7, 2001) was an American linguist, known mainly for his work concerning linguistic typology and the genetic classification of languages.
Life Early life and education
Joseph Greenberg was born on ...
's
Adamawa language-family proposal.
Languages
*Southern Mbum:
Mbum proper,
Mbere,
Gbete
* South West Mbum :
imbum of the Wimbum*Central Mbum
**Karang:
Karang (Mbum, Laka),
Nzakambay (Njak Mbai),
Pana,
Ngumi,
Kare
Kare or KARE may refer to:
* Kare (Žitorađa), a village in Serbia
* Kare language, several languages with the name
* Kare (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
* Kare Kauks (born 1961), Estonian singer
* Kåre or Kaare, ...
(Kãrɛ̃)
**Koh:
Kuo
"Guo", written in Chinese language, Chinese: wikt:郭, 郭, is one of the most common Chinese surnames and means "the wall that surrounds a city" in Chinese. It can also be transliterated into English as Cok, Gou, Quo, Quach, Quek, Que, Keh, ...
(Koh),
Sakpu
*Northern Mbum
**Dama–Galke:
Dama,
Ndai (Galke, Pormi),
Mono
Mono may refer to:
Common meanings
* Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease"
* Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono
* Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single
Music Performers
* Mono (Japanese b ...
,
Kali
Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tra ...
**Tupuri–Mambai:
Mangbai,
Mundang,
Tupuri
In addition,
Pondo,
Gonge,
Tale,
Laka,
Pam and
To are unclassified within Mbum. To is a secret male initiation language of the
Gbaya. Dek is purported in some sources but apparently unattested.
La'bi, an esoteric
ritual language of male initiation among the
Gbaya Kara, the
Mbum
Mbum Proper (also Mboum, Buna, Mboumtiba and Wuna) is a Adamawa–Ubangi language of Central Africa. It is spoken by about people in Cameroon and the Central African Republic.
History
The Mbum language is spoken by the Mbum people who inhabit ...
, and some
Sara Laka, is related to Mbum. It has 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 ...
. Other initiation languages in the Mbum family are To (Gbaya, but with partial Mbum origins), Dzel, and Ngarage.
[Elders, Stefan. 2006. Issues in comparative Kebi-Benue (Adamawa). Africana Linguistica XII. 37-88.]
See also
*
List of Proto-Lakka reconstructions (Wiktionary)
References
*Roger Blench, 2004
List of Adamawa languages(ms)
External links
A sociolinguistic survey of the Mambay language of Chad and Cameroon (PDF)by Cameron Hamm, 2002. SIL Electronic Survey Reports SILESR 2002–039.
{{Niger-Congo branches
Mbum–Day languages