Zulgo-Gemzek is an

Afro-Asiatic The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of th ...

language spoken in northern

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. Dialects are Gemzek, Mineo, and Zulgo (Zəlgwa). Blench (2006) considers Zəlgwa-Minew and Gemzek to be distinct languages.Blench, 2006
The Afro-Asiatic Languages: Classification and Reference List
(ms) Zulgo-Gemzek only possesses two

vowel A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...

phonemes A phoneme () is any set of similar speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word from another. All languages con ...

: ə and a, one of the smallest vowel inventories of any language in the world.

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Tones

Zulgo-Gemzek has three phonemic tones: high, mid, and low.

Dialects

According to the ''Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon'' (2012), Zelgwa and Minew make up a single language called Zelgwa Minew. The Zelgwa and Minew varieties are very close to each other. Gemzek is rather different from these two languages and is treated as a separate language by the ''Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon''. The Zelgwa, as well as the Gemzek, inhabit the massifs of the same name that form the eastern edge of the

Mandara Mountains The Mandara Mountains are a volcanic range extending about 190 km (about 120 mi) along the northern part of the Cameroon–Nigeria border, from the Benue River in the south () to the north-west of Maroua in the north (). The highest ...

, north of Meri, as well as the neighboring plain to the east and the plateau to the west ( Sérawa canton,

Tokombéré Tokombéré is a town and Communes of Cameroon, 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, includ ...

commune,

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 div ...

department, Far North Region). The Minew inhabit the western edge of the

(Gaboua canton, Koza commune,

Mayo-Tsanaga Mayo-Tsanaga is a department of Extreme-Nord Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 4,393 km and at the 2005 Census had a total population of 699,971. The capital of the department is at Mokolo. It is located within the Man ...

department, Far North Region), some 10 kilometers from Sérawa. Gemzek and Zelgwa are two distinct languages, although there is some mutual intelligibility between them. The Gemzek (8,000-10,000 speakers) inhabit the Gemzek massif, which forms the eastern edge of the

north of Méri, as well as the adjacent plain to the east and the plateau to the west ( Sérawa canton,

commune,

department, Far North Region).

Notes

References

External links

An outline sketch of Gemzek Grammar
Languages of Cameroon Biu-Mandara languages {{BiuMandara-lang-stub