Ewondo language

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title: "Ewondo language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["beti-languages", "languages-of-cameroon"] description: "Bantu language spoken in Cameroon" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewondo_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Bantu language spoken in Cameroon ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]

Field	Value
name	Ewondo
altname	Beti
Cameroonian
region	Cameroon
speakers
date	1982
ref	e25
familycolor	Niger-Congo
fam2	Atlantic–Congo
fam3	Volta-Congo
fam4	Benue–Congo
fam5	Bantoid
fam6	Southern Bantoid
fam7	Bantu (Zone A)
fam8	Beti
official	Cameroon
image	File:Ewondo language on blackboard.jpg
imagecaption	Ewondo text on a blackboard at a school in Yaoundé, 2019
iso2	ewo
iso3	ewo
glotto	ewon1239
glottorefname	Ewondo
guthrie	A.72
ethnicity	Beti people
::

| name = Ewondo | altname = Beti Cameroonian | region = Cameroon | speakers = | date = 1982 | ref = e25 | familycolor = Niger-Congo | fam2 = Atlantic–Congo | fam3 = Volta-Congo | fam4 = Benue–Congo | fam5 = Bantoid | fam6 = Southern Bantoid | fam7 = Bantu (Zone A) | fam8 = Beti | official = Cameroon | image = File:Ewondo language on blackboard.jpg | imagesize = | imagealt = | imagecaption = Ewondo text on a blackboard at a school in Yaoundé, 2019 | imageheader = | iso2 = ewo | iso3 = ewo | glotto = ewon1239 | glottorefname = Ewondo | guthrie = A.72 | ethnicity = Beti people

Ewondo also known as Beti or Cameroonian is a Bantu language spoken by the Beti people (more precisely Beti be Nanga, the people of the forest, or simply Beti) of Cameroon. The language had 577,700 native speakers in 1982. Ewondo is a trade language. Dialects include Badjia (Bakjo), Bafeuk, Bemvele (Mvele, Yezum, Yesoum), Bane, Beti, Enoah, Evouzom, Mbida-Bani, Mvete, Mvog-Niengue, Omvang, Yabekolo (Yebekolo), Yabeka, and Yabekanga. Ewondo speakers live primarily in Cameroon's Centre Region and the northern part of the Océan division in the South Region.

Ewondo is a Bantu language. It is a language of the Beti people, and is intelligible with Eton.

In 2011, there was a concern among Cameroonian linguists that the language was being displaced in the country by French.

Distribution

Ewondo (Beti) covers the whole of the departments of Mfoundi, Mefou-et-Afamba, Mefou-et-Akono, Nyong-et-So'o, Nyong-et-Mfoumou (Central Region), and part of Océan Department (Southern Region).

History

The Ewondo language originated in the forests south of the Sanaga river.

Phonology

Consonants

::data[format=table] | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labio- velar | Glottal | Plosive | voiceless | voiced | prenasal | Affricate | voiceless | voiced | prenasal | Fricative | voiceless | voiced | prenasal | Nasal | Lateral | Rhotic | Approximant | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::

Vowels

::data[format=table]

Front	Central	Back	Close	Close-mid	Open-mid	Open
::

Alphabet system

::data[format=table title="Alphabet in Ewondo"]

Uppercase	Lowercase	Phonemes
A	B	D
a	b	d
a	b	d
::

The tones are indicated with diacritics on the vowels:

• the high tone is indicated with an acute accent: ;
• the high tone is indicated with a grave accent: ;
• the mid tone is indicated with a macron: ;
• the low tone, the most frequent tone, is indicated by the absence of diacritics: ;
• the rising tone is indicated with a caron: ;
• the falling tone is indicated with a circumflex: .

References

References

1. (August 2019)
2. (2012). "Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM)". CERDOTOLA.
3. Owona, Antoine. (2004). "L'orthographe harmonisée de l'ewondo".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::