Ewondo or Kolo is the language of the
Ewondo people (more precisely Beti be Kolo or simply Kolo-Beti) 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; th ...
. The language had 577,700 native speakers in 1982. Ewondo is a
trade language
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
. Dialects include Badjia (Bakjo), Bafeuk, Bamvele (Mvele, Yezum, Yesoum), Bane, Beti, Enoah, Evouzok, Fong, Mbida-Bani, Mvete, Mvog-Niengue, Omvang, Yabekolo (Yebekolo), Yabeka, and Yabekanga. Ewondo speakers live primarily in Cameroon's
Centre Region and the northern part of the Océan division in the
South Region.
Ewondo is a
Bantu language
The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages.
T ...
. It is a dialect of the
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, and São Tomé and Príncipe. The varieties, which are largely mutually ...
(Yaunde-Fang), and is intelligible with
Bulu,
Eton, and
Fang
A fang is a long, pointed tooth. In mammals, a fang is a modified maxillary tooth, used for biting and tearing flesh. In snakes, it is a specialized tooth that is associated with a venom gland (see snake venom). Spiders also have external fan ...
.
In 2011 there was a concern among Cameroonian linguists that the language was being displaced in the country by French.
Distribution
Ewondo (Beti) covers the whole of the departments of
Mfoundi,
Mefou-et-Afamba,
Mefou-et-Akono,
Nyong-et-So'o,
Nyong-et-Mfoumou
Nyong-et-Mfoumou is a department of Centre Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 6,172 km and as of 2001 had a total population of 130,321. The capital of the department lies at Akonolinga.
Subdivisions
The department is divid ...
(Central Region), and part of
Océan
Océan is a department of South Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 11,280 km and as of 2001 had a total population of 133,062. The capital of the department lies at Kribi.
Subdivisions
The department is divided admini ...
Department (Southern Region).
History
The Ewondo language originated in the forests south of the Sanaga river.
Phonology
Consonants
Vowels
Alphabet system
The tones are indicated with diacritics on the vowels:
* the high tone is indicated with an acute accent: ;
* the mid tone is indicated with a macron: ;
* the low tone, the most frequent tone, is indicated by the absence of diacritics: ;
* the rising tone is indicated with a caron: ;
* the falling tone is indicated with a circumflex: .
See also
*
Ewondo Populaire
Ewondo Populaire, also known as Pidgin A70, is a Beti-based pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: t ...
References
External links
Ewondo alphabet and pronunciationDatabase of audio recordings in Ewondo - basic Catholic prayers
{{Authority control
Beti languages
Languages of Cameroon