Cameroonian English

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Cameroon English
RegionCameroon
Native speakers
17 million Anglophone Cameroonian (2011)[1]
Indo-European
Early forms
Latin (English alphabet)
Unified English Braille
Official status
Official language in
 Cameroon
Language codes
ISO 639-1en
ISO 639-2eng
ISO 639-3eng
Glottologcame1256
IETFen-CM
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Cameroon English is an

English dialect spoken predominantly in Cameroon, mostly learned as a second language.[2] It shares some similarities with English varieties in neighbouring West Africa, as Cameroon lies at the west of Central Africa.[3] It is primarily spoken in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon.[4]

Northwest_Region_location in Cameroon

Southwest_Region_location in Cameroon


It is a

postcolonial variety of English, long in use in the territory (Southern Cameroons
, now split into Northwest and Southwest). Over the years, it has developed characteristic features, particularly in lexis but also in phonology and grammar. Those characteristics were once regarded as errors but are now increasingly accepted as distinctive Cameroonian contributions to the English language.

Phonological features

The phonemes

merge to /ɔː/, making "cot", "caught" and "cut" homophones.[2] Similarly, "lock" and "luck" are pronounced alike. And "white-collar worker" sometimes becomes "white-colour worker" in Cameroon.[5]

Expressions

Characteristic turns of phrase in the country or local coinages:[5]

  • "detailly" = in detail
  • "to see with me" = to agree with me; to see my point of view
  • "installmentally" = by installments
  • "of recent" = recently; lately

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9783110170535.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-134-26428-5
    .
  3. ^ Kouega (2007): "Cameroon is a Central African country whose variety of English shares a number of features with West African Englishes."
  4. ^ Anchimbe, Eric A. "Multilingual backgrounds and the identity issue in Cameroon." Anuario del Seminario de Filología Vasca" Julio de Urquijo" 39.2 (2011): 33-48.
  5. ^
    ISBN 90-272-8670-1
    .

Further reading


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