Bulu language
| Bulu | |
|---|---|
| Bulu-Bene | |
| Bulu (Nkobô Bulu) | |
| Region | Cameroon |
| Ethnicity | Bulu people |
Native speakers | 860,000 (2007)[1] |
?
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bum |
| Glottolog | bulu1251 |
A.74[2] | |
Bulu is a
Bulu belongs to the group of
.Distribution
Bulu speakers are concentrated primarily in Cameroon's
According to ALCAM (2012), Bulu is spoken in the departments of Mvila 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 commune, Eastern Region).[3]
Phonology
Here is the phonological inventory of Bulu.[4][5]
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | lab. | ||||||
Plosive
|
voiceless | p | t
|
k | |||
| voiced | b | d
|
ɡ | ||||
| prenasalized | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᵑɡ | ||||
Affricate
|
voiceless | tʃ | kp | kpʷ | |||
| voiced | dʒ | ɡb | ɡbʷ | ||||
| prenasalized voiceless | ᵑkp | ᵑkpʷ | |||||
| prenasalied voiced | ᵑɡb | ᵑɡbʷ | |||||
Fricative
|
voiceless | f | s | h | |||
| voiced | v | z | |||||
| prenasalized | ᶬv | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n
|
ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Lateral | l
|
||||||
Approximant
|
j | w | |||||
Vowels/Nasals
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i ĩ | u ũ | |
| Close-mid | e ẽ | o | |
| Mid | ə | ||
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ ɔ̃ | |
| Open | a ã |
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
| Uppercase | A | B | C | D | E | Ə | F | I | J | K | L | M | N | Ŋ | NY | O | Ɔ | S | T | U | V | Y | Z | ʼ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase | a | b | c | d | e | ə | f | i | j | k | l | m | n | ŋ | ny | o | ɔ | s | t | u | v | y | z | ʼ |
References
- ^ Bulu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ISBN 9789956796069.
- ^ Abomo-Maurin, Marie-Rose (2006). Parlons boulou: Langue bantou du Cameroun. L'Harmattan.
- ^ Ndi, Germaine Télesphore (2001). Esquisse d'une Analyse Syntactique de la Phrase Búlù: Approche Générative. Université de Yaoundé.
| National | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
 | This article about a language spoken in Cameroon is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |