Bamum (Shü Pamom "language of the Bamum", or ''Shümom'' "Mum language"), also spelled Bamun or in its
French spelling Bamoun, is an
Eastern Grassfields language 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 ...
, with approximately 420,000 speakers.
The language is well known for its
original script developed by
King Njoya and his palace circle in the
Kingdom of Bamum
The Kingdom of Bamoun (also spelled Bamoum, Bamun, Bamoun, or Mum) (1394–c. 1916) is a pre-colonial Central African state in what is now northwest Cameroon. It was founded by the Bamun, an ethnic group from northeast Cameroon. Its capital was th ...
around 1895. Cameroonian musician
Claude Ndam was a native speaker of the language and sang it in his music.
Phonology
Bamum has
tone, vowel length, diphthongs and
coda consonants.
Vowels
The simple vowels are:
Bamum vowels can be normal or half-long /ˑ/.
Consonants
The consonants are:
Tones
Bamum has five tones
[Nchare (2012).]
References
Languages of Cameroon
Languages of Nigeria
Nun languages
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