Nyong language
Leko language spoken in Cameroon and Nigeria
title: "Nyong language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["leko-languages", "languages-of-nigeria", "languages-of-cameroon"] description: "Leko language spoken in Cameroon and Nigeria" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyong_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Leko language spoken in Cameroon and Nigeria ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Nyong |
| altname | Mumbake |
| nativename | Nyɔŋ Nyanga |
| states | Nigeria, Cameroon |
| region | Adamawa State |
| speakers | 30,000 in Cameroon |
| date | 2008 census |
| ref | e18 |
| familycolor | Niger-Congo |
| fam2 | Atlantic–Congo |
| fam3 | Leko–Nimbari |
| fam4 | Leko |
| iso3 | muo |
| glotto | nyon1241 |
| glottorefname | Nyong |
| :: |
|name=Nyong |altname=Mumbake |nativename=Nyɔŋ Nyanga |states=Nigeria, Cameroon |region=Adamawa State |speakers=30,000 in Cameroon |date=2008 census |ref=e18 |familycolor=Niger-Congo |fam2=Atlantic–Congo |fam3=Leko–Nimbari |fam4=Leko |iso3=muo |glotto=nyon1241 |glottorefname=Nyong
Nyong (Daganyonga), also known as Mubako and Bali-Kumbat, is a Leko language spoken in two well-separated enclaves in Cameroon and Nigeria. Cameroonian speakers consider themselves to be ethnically Chamba.
Nyong is linguistically distinct from nearby languages. It is instead more similar to the Chamba language which is spoken to the north. Nyong and Chamba have 85% lexical similarity.
Distribution
Ethnologue (22nd ed.) lists the following Nyong villages and locations.
- Cameroon
- Mezam division, Santa subdivision: Baligham village
- Ngo-Ketunjia division, Balikumbat subdivision: Baligashu, Baligansin, and Balikumbat villages on Ndop plain
- Nigeria
- Adamawa State: Mayo Belwa LGA
- Taraba State: Zing LGA. 6 villages.
Phonology
The vowels of Nyong are /i/, /u/, /e/, /o/, /ə/ /ɛ/, /ɔ/, and /a/. Length contrast exists in all vowels except /ə/ and /o/, which are always short. There are five tones: high, mid, low, rising, and falling.
::data[format=table title="Consonant Phonemes"]
| Labial | Dental/Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | Glottal | Nasal | Stop | Affricate | Approximant | Fricative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||||||
| p, b | t, d | k, g | ||||||||
| nd | ŋɡ | kp, gb | ||||||||
| l | j | w | ||||||||
| f, v | s, z | h | ||||||||
| :: |
References
References
- Blench, Roger. (2019). "An Atlas of Nigerian Languages". Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
- "Mubako".
- Griffin, Margaret A.. (1994). "A rapid appraisal survey of Mubako (ALCAM 300 Samba leekɔ)".
- Kouonang, Alice. (1983). "Esquisse phonologique du parler bali-kumbat".
::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. ::