Vame or Pelasla is an
Afroasiatic
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 ...
.
Dialects
Dialects are Dəmwa (Dume?), Hurza, Mayo-Plata (Pəlasla, Gwendele), Mbərem (Vame-Mbreme), and Ndreme (Vame). Pelasla is the name preferred by ''ALCAM'' (2012), since Mayo-Plata (Pelasla) is the main market town.
The Pelasla inhabit the same massif as the
Wuzlam, whose customs they have adopted but not their language. Administrative censuses include them as part of the "
Ouldeme" people (in the canton of
Mayo-Ouldémé, arrondissement of
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, ...
, department of
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 ...
, Far North Region).
The name Vame-Mbreme should be avoided, since "Vame" is a
Wandala term, and includes Ndreme and Mbreme.
The Démwa, Ndreme and Mbérem live in the southern part of Mora-Massif canton (arrondissement of
Mora, department of
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 ...
, Far North Region), overlooking the Mayo-Plata depression. The Démwa are located to the north, towards the top of the massif, and the Ndreme and Mbérem to the east, in the mountain ranges overlooking the Mayo-Sava plain. The Hurza traditionally lived in the Hurza massif, isolated in the plain between
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 ...
and
Mayo-Ouldémé and overlooking the market of
Mémé (canton of Mémé, arrondissement of Mora). There are 8,500 speakers total, who have now descended to the surrounding plain and are mixed with other ethnic groups.
Writing system
Vame is a tonal language, but the tones are not marked.
References
* Social Anthropologist and linguist Olivier Nyssens (Belgium) stayed two years (1981–1983) with the Vame people, learned their language and wrote two articles.
* Linguist Daniel Barreteau made a comparative study of Vame along with other Mandara languages.
* French linguist Veronique de Colombel made a brief lexical comparative study of 17 mandara languages including Vame.
[1982 COLOMBEL Véronique de -- Esquisse d'une classification de 18 langues tchadiques du Nord-Cameroun : Ce qu'une étude historique et sociale des migrations peut apporter à cette vision de la parenté linguistique -- In : The Chad languages in the Hamitosemitic-Nigritic border area -- Berlin : D. Reimer, 1982.]
* SIl Linguist William Kinnaird wrote couple of article (2005-2006) on how to write Vame.
References
Biu-Mandara languages
Languages of Cameroon
{{BiuMandara-lang-stub