Bulu is a
Bantu language of the
Bulu people
The Beti-Pahuin are a Bantu ethnic group located in rain forest regions of Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and São Tomé and PrÃncipe. Though they separate themselves into several individual clans, they all share a ...
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 ...
. The language had 174,000
native speakers
A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
in 1982, with some 800,000 second language speakers in 1991. Its dialects include Bene, Yelinda, Yembana, Yengono, and Zaman. Bulu was formerly used by colonial and missionary groups as a ''
lingua franca'' in the region for commercial, educational, and religious purposes, though it is today becoming less frequent in those spheres.
Bulu belongs to the group of
Beti language
Beti is a group of Bantu languages, spoken by the Beti-Pahuin peoples who inhabit the rain forest regions of Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: RÃ ...
s and is intelligible with
Eton,
Ewondo, and
Fang.
Distribution
Bulu speakers are concentrated primarily in Cameroon's
South Province, with the largest number at
Ebolowa
Ebolowa is the capital of Cameroon's South Region. It has a population of 79,500 (2001 estimate). It is a colonial town and a notable agricultural centre.
Overview
The main crop is cocoa. It also hosts an important number of administrative se ...
and
Sangmélima. Some speakers live in the
Nyong-et-Mfoumou division of the
Centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
* Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
and the
Haut-Nyong division of the
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
.
According to ALCAM (2012), Bulu is spoken in the departments of
Mvila
Mvila is a department of South Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 8697 km and as of 2005 had a total population of 179,429. The capital of the department lies at Ebolowa.
Subdivisions
The department is divided adminis ...
and
Dja-et-Lobo (Southern Region), and also the south of the department of
Haute-Sanaga (Central Region) where the Yezum dialect of
Ewondo is also spoken. Along with the Yébékóló and Omvan languages, it is also spoken in the north of
Nyong-et-Mfoumou department (Central Region) and part of
Haut-Nyong department (south of
Nguelemendouka
Nguelemendouka is a town and commune in Cameroon.
See also
*Communes of Cameroon
The Arrondissements of Cameroon are the third-level units of administration in Cameroon. The arrondissements are organised by divisions and sub divisions of eac ...
commune, Eastern Region).
Phonology
Consonants
Vowels/Nasals
Writing system
The Bulu language was codified by the first Presbyterian missionaries who arrived in Cameroon. They made it a language of instruction in Protestant doctrine during the colonial era. This language has a dictionary (French-Bulu/Bulu-French) one of whose authors is Moïse Eyinga. The first novel written in Boulou is Nnanga Kôn.
EPC Alphabet
The Bulu alphabet of the Presbyterian Church of Cameroon consists of 24 letters: a, b, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, o, ô, p, s, t, u, v, w, y, z. é and è are variants of e in this alphabet.
PROPELCA alphabet
PROPELCA has also coded Bulu with an alphabet based on the
General Alphabet of Cameroonian Languages.
References
Beti languages
Languages of Cameroon
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