Mfumte language
| Mfumte | |
|---|---|
| Region | Cameroon |
| Ethnicity | Mfumte |
Native speakers | (24,700 Mfumte dialect cited 1982)[1] 6,000 Kwaja and Ndaktup (2000), unknown number Fum |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:nfu – Mfumtefum – Fumkdz – Kwaja (East Mfumte) |
| Glottolog | mfum1239 Mfumteicfumm1238 Fum |
Mfumte (Nfumte) is a Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon. It is not clear if the four varieties spoken by ethnic Mfumte—Ndaktup, Kwaja, Fum and Mfumte proper—are mutually intelligible or distinct languages; ability to communicate may be either due to inherent intelligibility or to bilingualism, while Fum and Mfumte may simply be the Nigerian and Cameroonian names for the same language.
Orthography
The Mfumte alphabet has 40 letters, with 30 consonants and 10 vowels.[2]
Alphabet
| Capital | Lowercase | IPA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phoneme | Allophones | ||
| A | a | /a/ | [a] |
| B | b | /b/ | [b] |
| Ch | ch | /t͡ʃ/ | [t͡ʃ] |
| D | d | /d/ | [d] |
| Dz | dz | /d͡z/ | [d͡z] |
| E | e | /e/ | [e], [ɛ] |
| Ə | ə | /ə/ | [ə] |
| F | f | /f/ | [f] |
| G | g | /g/ | [g] |
| Gb | gb | /gb/ | [gb] |
| Gh | gh | /ɣ/ | [ɣ] |
| H | h | /h/ | [h] |
| ’ | ’ | [ʔ] | |
| I | i | /i/ | [i] |
| Ɨ | ɨ | /ɯ/ | [ɯ] |
| J | j | /d͡ʒ/ | [d͡ʒ] |
| K | k | /k/ | [k] |
| Kp | kp | /kp/ | [kp] |
| L | l | /l/ | [l] |
| M | m | /m/ | [m] |
| N | n | /n/ | [n] |
| Ny | ny | /ɲ/ | [ɲ] |
| Ŋ | ŋ | /ŋ/ | [ŋ] |
| O | o | /o/ | [o] |
| Ɔ | ɔ | /ɔ/ | [ɔ] |
| Ø | ø | /ø/ | [ø] |
| P | p | /p/ | [p] |
| R | r | /ɾ/ | [ɾ] |
| S | s | /s/ | [s] |
| Sh | sh | /ʃ/ | [ʃ] |
| T | t | /t/ | [t] |
| Ts | ts | /t͡s/ | [t͡s] |
| U | u | /u/ | [u] |
| Ʉ | ʉ | /y/ | [y] |
| V | v | /v/ | [v] |
| W | w | /w/ | [w] |
| Wy | wy | /ɥ/ | [ɥ] |
| Y | y | /j/ | [j] |
| Z | z | /z/ | [z] |
| Zh | zh | /ʒ/ | [ʒ] |
Multigraphs
In addition to the single phonemes, Mfumte has prenasalized, palatalized, labio-palatalized, labialized, and velarized consonants.
| Capital | Lowercase | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Mp | mp | /ᵐp/ |
| Mb | mb | /ᵐb/ |
| Nt | nt | /ⁿt/ |
| Nd | nd | /ⁿd/ |
| Nk | nk | /ᵑk/ |
| Ng | ng | /ᵑɡ/ |
| Nkp | nkp | /ᵑᵐkp/ |
| Ngb | ngb | /ᵑᵐgb/ |
| Nts | nts | /ⁿt͡s/ |
| Ndz | ndz | /ⁿd͡z/ |
| Nj | nj | /ⁿd͡ʒ/ |
| Mf | mf | /ᶬf/ |
| Mv | mv | /ᶬv/ |
| Ns | ns | /ⁿs/ |
| Nsh | nsh | /ⁿʃ/ |
| Ngh | ngh | /ᵑɣ/ |
| Nh | nh | /ᵑh/ |
| Py | py | /pʲ/ |
| By | by | /bʲ/ |
| Ky | ky | /kʲ/ |
| Gy | gy | /gʲ/ |
| Hy | hy | /hʲ/ |
| Mpy | mpy | /ᵐpʲ/ |
| Mby | mby | /ᵐbʲ/ |
| Nky | nky | /ᵑkʲ/ |
| Ngy | ngy | /ᵑgʲ/ |
| Mfy | mfy | /ᶬfʲ/ |
| Nghy | nghy | /ᵑɣʲ/ |
| Nhy | nhy | /ᵑhʲ/ |
| Hwy | hwy | /hᶣ/ |
| Nhwy | nhwy | /ᵑhᶣ/ |
| Nghwy | nghwy | /ᵑɣᶣ/ |
| Pw | pw | /pʷ/ |
| Kw | kw | /kʷ/ |
| Gw | gw | /gʷ/ |
| Fw | fw | /fʷ/ |
| Hw | hw | /hʷ/ |
| Nyw | nyw | /ɲʷ/ |
| Nw | nw | /nʷ/ |
| Nkw | nkw | /ᵑkʷ/ |
| Ngw | ngw | /ᵑgʷ/ |
| Nghw | nghw | /ᵑɣʷ/ |
| Nhw | nhw | /ᵑhʷ/ |
| Bw | bw | /bᶭ/ |
| Mbw | mbw | /ᵐbᶭ/ |
References
- ^ Mfumte at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Fum at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Kwaja (East Mfumte) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - ^ a b c Eyoh, Julius A.; Hedinger, Robert (June 2008). "Mfumte Orthography Guide". Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
Further reading
- Baeke, Viviane (1984). "Les objets rituels des sociétés initiatiques chez les Wuli du Cameroun occidental" [The Ritual Objects of Wuli Initiatory Societies (Western Cameroon)]. Systèmes de pensée en Afrique noire (in French). 8. doi:10.4000/span.1061.
- Mbongue, Joseph; Grant, Caroline; Griffin, Margie; Seguin, Lawrence M. (September 1994). A rapid appraisal survey of Dzodinka (ALCAM 904) and Mfumte (ALCAM 905), Donga Mantung Division, Northwest Province (Report). SIL Global. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
- Eyoh, Julius A.; Moveh Lenda, Oliver (2007). Nwà' tɔtɔ́mə̀ A a, B b, Ch ch mfí̵ti (in English and Mfumte).
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - McLean, Greg L. (2015). A Recorded Text Survey of the Mfumte Speech Varieties and Rapid Appraisal Survey of Dzodinka (Report). SIL Electronic Survey Reports. Vol. 2015–004. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
- McLean, Greg L. (2014). A Sketch Grammar of the Central Mfumte Language (Report). SIL Global. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
- Michael, Nathan. Conflict Resolution Systems in Wulí' Culture Donga-Mantung Division, Northwest Region (Report). SIL Global. Retrieved January 3, 2026.