Bamum language
Benue–Congo language spoken in Cameroon
title: "Bamum language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["languages-of-cameroon", "languages-of-nigeria", "nun-languages"] description: "Benue–Congo language spoken in Cameroon" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamum_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Benue–Congo language spoken in Cameroon ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Bamum |
| altname | Shüpamom |
| nativename | |
| region | Cameroon, Nigeria |
| ethnicity | Bamum people |
| speakers | 600,000 |
| date | 2022 |
| ref | e18 |
| familycolor | Niger-Congo |
| fam2 | Atlantic–Congo |
| fam3 | Volta-Congo |
| fam4 | Benue–Congo |
| fam5 | Bantoid |
| fam6 | Southern Bantoid |
| fam7 | Grassfields |
| fam8 | Eastern Grassfields |
| fam9 | Mbam-Nkam |
| fam10 | Nun |
| dia1 | Bapi |
| script | Latin script, Bamum syllabary (being revived) |
| map | Shumom-text.jpg |
| mapcaption | Page from a manuscript in the Bamum script |
| iso3 | bax |
| glotto | bamu1253 |
| glottorefname | Bamum |
| :: |
|name=Bamum | altname = Shüpamom |nativename= |region= Cameroon, Nigeria |ethnicity=Bamum people |speakers=600,000 |date=2022 |ref=e18 |familycolor=Niger-Congo |fam2=Atlantic–Congo |fam3=Volta-Congo |fam4=Benue–Congo |fam5=Bantoid |fam6=Southern Bantoid |fam7=Grassfields |fam8=Eastern Grassfields |fam9=Mbam-Nkam |fam10=Nun |dia1=Bapi |script=Latin script, Bamum syllabary (being revived) |map=Shumom-text.jpg |mapcaption=Page from a manuscript in the Bamum script |iso3=bax |glotto=bamu1253 |glottorefname=Bamum
Bamum (Shü Pamom , or Shümom ), also known as Shupamem, Bamun, or Bamoun, is an Eastern Grassfields language of Cameroon, with approximately 600,000-700,000 speakers in 2025. The language is well known for its original script developed by King Njoya and his palace circle in the Kingdom of Bamum around 1895. Cameroonian musician Claude Ndam was a native speaker of the language and sang it in his music.
Phonology
Bamum has tone, vowel length, diphthongs and coda consonants.
Vowels
Nchare claims ten monophthongs, only eight of which (excluding and ) have a length distinction. Matateyou shows short and long examples of all ten vowel qualities. The orthography in angle brackets is based on the General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages as used by Matateyou. ::data[format=table] | Front | Central | Back | Unrounded || Rounded | Unrounded | Unrounded || Rounded | Close | Mid | Open-mid | Open | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::
Consonants
The consonants are displayed as following:
::data[format=table] | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial- velar | Glottal | Plosive | Plain | Voiceless | Voiced | Prenasal | Voiceless | Voiced | Fricative | Plain | Voiceless | Voiced | Prenasal | Voiceless | Voiced | Nasal | Rhotic | Approximant | Plain | Prenasal | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::
Tones
Bamum has four or five tones. Mateteyou's analysis includes a mid tone, while Nchare's analysis includes downstep. Bamum distinguishes between lexical and grammatical tone.
::data[format=table]
| Diacritic | Nchare | Matateyou |
|---|---|---|
| à | low | low |
| á | high | high |
| ā | ― | mid |
| ǎ | rising | rising |
| â | falling | falling |
| ꜜ | downstep | ― |
| :: |
References
Bibliography
References
- (September 2025). "An overview of Bamum phonology and orthography, with an additional focus on character and word frequencies in recent poetry". Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- (September 2025). "An overview of Bamum phonology and orthography, with an additional focus on character and word frequencies in recent poetry". Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Kell, Cathy. (14 September 2005). "Cameroon: Claude Ndam : Committed To Culture". Cameroon Tribune.
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