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Basaa language
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| Basaa | |
|---|---|
| Mbene | |
| ɓasaá, ɓàsàa | |
| Native to | Cameroon |
| Region | Centre and Littoral Provinces |
| Ethnicity | Basaa people |
Native speakers | 300,000 (2005 SIL)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | bas |
| ISO 639-3 | bas |
| Glottolog | basa1284 |
A.43a[2] | |
Basaa (also spelled Bassa, Basa, Bissa), or Mbene, is a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon by the Basaa people. It is spoken by about 300,000 people in the Centre and Littoral regions.
Maho (2009) lists North and South Kogo as dialects.
Background and Origin
[edit]Basaa is spoken by 230,000 speakers. They live in Nyong-et-Kelle (Central Region) and Sanaga Maritime (with the exception of the Edéa commune, which has a Bakoko majority) and most of Nkam commune (Littoral Region). In the western and northern parts of this department, the peripheral Basaa dialects are spoken: Yabasi in the commune of Yabassi, Diɓuum in the commune of Nkondjok (Diboum Canton), north of Ndemli and Dimbamban.
Similarly, Basaa Baduala is spoken in Wouri Department (Littoral Region), traditional Basaa territory that is being transformed by the growth of Douala. Basaa is also found in Océan Department (commune of Bipindi, Southern Region).
Hijuk is spoken only in the quarter of Niki in Batanga commune, in Yangben Canton (Ch. Paulian (1980)) by 400 people. Hijuk is a Basaa dialect, despite its geographical location in the southeast of Bokito arrondissement (Mbam-et-Inoubou department, Central Region).[3]
Phonology
[edit]Vowels
[edit]| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː | u uː |
| Close-mid | e eː | o oː |
| Open-mid | ɛ ɛː | ɔ ɔː |
| Open | a aː | |
Consonants
[edit]| Bilabial | Coronal | Palatal | Velar | Labial-velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | tʃ dʒ | k | kʷ ɡʷ | ||
| prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮdʒ | ᵑɡ | ||||
| implosive | ɓ | |||||||
| Fricative | ɸ β | s | x ɣ | χ | h ɦ | |||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ŋʷ | |||
| Tap | ɾ̥ ɾ | |||||||
| Lateral | l | |||||||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||||
- When not root-initial and not after a pause, the voiceless stops /p t k/ are realized as voiced stops or voiced fricatives.
Tone
[edit]Basaa contrasts four tones: high, low, high-to-low (falling) and low-to-high (rising).
Orthography
[edit]The language uses a Latin-based alphabet, with the addition of the letters Ɓɓ, Ɛɛ, Ŋŋ, Ɔɔ, ten multigraphs, as well as acute, grave, and circumflex accents:[4]
| Capital | Small |
|---|---|
| A | a |
| B | b |
| Ɓ | ɓ |
| C | c |
| D | d |
| E | e |
| Ɛ | ɛ |
| F | f |
| G | g |
| GW | gw |
| H | h |
| HY | hy |
| I | i |
| J | j |
| K | k |
| KW | kw |
| L | l |
| M | m |
| MB | mb |
| N | n |
| NJ | nj |
| NY | ny |
| ND | nd |
| Ŋ | ŋ |
| ŊG | ŋg |
| ŊGW | ŋgw |
| ŊW | ŋw |
| O | o |
| Ɔ | ɔ |
| P | p |
| R | r |
| S | s |
| T | t |
| U | u |
| V | v |
| W | w |
| Y | y |
Macron and caron diacritics may be used for marking tone in reference works, for example the dictionary by Pierre Emmanuel Njock.
References
[edit]- ^ Basaa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Binam Bikoi, Charles, ed. (2012). Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM) [Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon]. Atlas linguistique de l'Afrique centrale (ALAC) (in French). Vol. 1: Inventaire des langues. Yaoundé: CERDOTOLA. ISBN 9789956796069.
- ^ Hartell, Rhonda L. (1993). Alphabets of Africa. Dakar, Senegal: Regional Office for Education in Africa, Summer Institute of Linguistics, Unesco-Dakar Regional Office. p. 66. OCLC 35148690. OL 45066553M.
Further reading
[edit]- Makasso, Emmanuel-Moselly and Lee, Seunghun J. (2015). "Basaá". Illustrations of the IPA. Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 45 (1): 71–79. doi:10.1017/S0025100314000383
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link), with supplementary sound recordings.
- Hyman, Larry M. (2003). "Basaá (A.43)". In Nurse, Derek; Philippson, Gérard (eds.). The Bantu Languages (PDF). Routledge. pp. 257–282. ISBN 0-7007-1134-1.
| National | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
Basaa language
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Basaa (also known as Basa or Mbene) is a Bantu language spoken by approximately 500,000 people primarily in the Centre, Littoral, South, and West regions of Cameroon.[1] It is classified as a Narrow Bantu language in the Guthrie zone A.43 within the Niger-Congo language family.[2] The language serves as the primary means of communication for the Basaa ethnic community and exhibits relatively minor dialectal variation across its speaking areas.[2]
Linguistically, Basaa is notable for its phonological system, which includes seven vowels (short and long), a contrastive tone system with high and low tones, and a consonant inventory that features spirantization and voicing assimilation in certain positions.[2] The language employs a noun class system typical of Bantu languages, with 13 classes organized in singular-plural pairs, and allows for diminutive formation through reduplication.[2] Verb morphology is complex, involving root extensions such as causatives and applicatives, followed by tense-aspect markers, and the language follows a basic subject-auxiliary-verb-object word order.[3][2]
Basaa is considered a stable indigenous language, used as a first language by its entire ethnic community, though it is not formally taught in schools and has limited digital resources, including a full Bible translation released in 2022.[4][5] The language has around 12 dialects, including Bakem, Bon, Bibeng, Diboum, Log, Mpo, Mbang, Ndokama, Basso, Ndokbele, Ndokpenda, and Nyamtam, with the standard variety centered around the town of Pouma.[2] Descriptive studies on Basaa phonology, morphology, and syntax have been conducted by linguists such as Larry Hyman and Jean-Marie Marlo, contributing to broader understanding of Bantu languages in Central Africa.[2][3]
This paradigm highlights how class markers (hi-, dí-) trigger prefixal concord on modifiers and the verb, maintaining the Bantu agreement pattern despite variable noun morphology.[20]
For the causative derivation jɛ́s 'make eat' in the same tense:
These tables highlight how extensions integrate into the stem without altering the TAM marker, with HTS applying to the entire form.[2][21]
Overview
Classification and history
The Basaa language is classified as a Narrow Bantu language within the Niger-Congo family, specifically assigned the Guthrie code A.43 and placed in the A40 group of the Bantu classification system. This positioning reflects its geographical and linguistic ties to other A-zone Bantu languages spoken in southern Cameroon, including close relations to Makaa (A.83–84) and Ewondo (A.72), with which it shares significant lexical and morphological features such as noun class systems and verb extensions.[2][6] Historically, Basaa has undergone distinctive phonological innovations that set it apart from many other Bantu languages, notably the widespread loss of noun class prefixes, resulting in "prefixless" nouns where the class is often inferred from context or tone rather than overt morphology. This prefix loss is linked to broader sound changes, including the deletion of final vowels in verb stems and the emergence of "ghost consonants"—latent historical consonants that influence modern tonal and segmental patterns without surface realization. These developments have profoundly impacted verb morphology, allowing for more flexible syllable structures (open or closed) and constraining verb stems to a maximum of three syllables with specific consonant-vowel alternations, as reconstructed from Proto-Bantu forms.[2][7] Documentation of Basaa began in the early 20th century through European missionary and scholarly efforts in Cameroon, with initial grammatical sketches and vocabularies produced by figures such as H. Rosenhuber (1908), P. Scholaster (1914), and H. Schürle (1912), who focused on basic phonology and syntax amid colonial linguistic surveys. Mid-20th-century advancements include comprehensive studies by Cameroonian linguists like L.M. Bot Ba Njock (1970) on phonology and syntax, and D. Lemb and J. De Gastines (1973) on pedagogical grammar, alongside Larry M. Hyman's influential 2003 chapter in The Bantu Languages, which synthesized phonological innovations and their morphological effects (building on his earlier fieldwork from the 1970s–1980s). More recent overviews appear in the Oxford Guide to the Bantu Languages (Marten et al., 2025), providing updated analyses of its diachronic development within the A-group. Recent efforts include dictionary development via Webonary and contributions in the Oxford Guide to the Bantu Languages (2025), enhancing documentation.[2][8][9] The names Basaa (also spelled Basaá or Bassa) and Mbene derive from endonyms used by the speech community in southern Cameroon, with "Basaa" referring to both the people and their language, while "Mbene" (or variants like Mvele) denotes specific dialects or subgroups, such as those around Mbene town; these terms lack a deeply attested etymology beyond their Proto-Bantu roots tied to ethnic self-designation.[2][10]Geographic distribution and dialects
The Basaa language is primarily spoken in the Centre and Littoral regions of Cameroon, with significant presence in the departments of Nyong-et-Kellé, Sanaga-Maritime, Nkam, Wouri, and Océan, as well as adjacent areas in Mbam-et-Inoubou, Mbam-et-Kim, and Moungo.[11][2] Estimates of native speakers vary, with SIL reporting approximately 300,000 as of 2005 and some sources suggesting up to 500,000 in the 2020s, reflecting stable sociolinguistic vitality amid Cameroon's multilingual context.[11][12] Basaa features moderate dialectal variation, with the main varieties including Mbɛnɛ (central, serving as the basis for the standard form spoken around Pouma in Sanaga-Maritime) and Bakóko (western, in Nkam and Sanaga-Maritime). Other recognized dialects encompass Bakem, Bon, Bibeng, Diboum, Log, Mpo, Mbang, Ndokama, Basso, Ndokbele, Ndokpenda, and Nyamtam, which are largely mutually intelligible.[2][11] Closely related peripheral varieties include North and South Kogo (sometimes classified within the broader Basaa-Bakoko cluster), Yabasi, Diɓuum (also known as Diboum), and Basaa Baduala.[13] The critically endangered Hijuk language, closely related to Basaa with around 87% lexical similarity and spoken by fewer than 15 mother-tongue speakers (as of 2018) in Batanga village (Mbam Division, Centre Region), faces imminent extinction due to limited intergenerational transmission.[14] Sociolinguistically, Basaa serves as a language of wider communication in southern Cameroon, alongside Duala and Ewondo. It benefits from Cameroon's general policy promoting the use of indigenous languages in education and media, though implementation is limited. It is used in bilingual literacy programs, dictionary development, and some local broadcasting, though urbanization and migration to cities like Douala pose risks of shift toward French or Pidgin English among youth.[15][11]Phonology
Vowels
The Basaa language features a vowel inventory of seven phonemes, articulated in front (/i, e, ɛ/), central (/a/), and back (/ɔ, o, u/) positions, each realized in short and long variants that contrast phonemically.[7] Long vowels are bimoraic and occur exclusively in open syllables, while short vowels may appear in both open and closed syllables, followed by sonorants or obstruents.[7] This length distinction is phonologically significant, as it can alter word meanings, with vowels distributed freely across all syllable positions in the word.[2] Vowel length is demonstrated by minimal pairs such as lɔ̀ 'to come' and lɔ̀ɔ̀ 'to surpass', or lá 'to taste' and láá 'how'.[16] Another pair includes kúr 'blow' and kúúr 'maritime tortoise'.[16] These contrasts highlight how duration serves as a key feature in the language's phonological system, independent of qualitative changes in vowel height or backness.[7] An important allophonic process involves nasalization of vowels preceding nasal consonants, as in áŋ 'count', where the vowel acquires nasal resonance without creating a separate phoneme.[2] This contextual nasalization contributes to the phonetic realization of vowels in nasal environments but does not affect the underlying phonemic inventory.[2] Vowel length and quality also interact briefly with tone, as the mora—rather than the syllable—bears tonal features, influencing prosodic patterns.[16]| Position | High | Mid | Low |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front | i, iː | e, eː | ɛ, ɛː |
| Central | a, aː | ||
| Back | u, uː | o, oː | ɔ, ɔː |
Consonants
The Basaa language has a consonant inventory comprising 22 phonemes contrasting in initial position, categorized by their primary articulatory features. These include bilabial and alveolar plosives (/p, b, t, d/), velar plosives (/k, g/), implosive stop (/ɓ/), labial and labiodental fricatives (/f, v/), alveolar and velar fricatives (/s, z, h, x/), bilabial, alveolar, palatal, and velar nasals (/m, n, ɲ, ŋ/), alveolar lateral (/l/), and labial and palatal approximants (/w, j/). Prenasalized stops such as /mb, nd, ŋg/ and labialized variants like /kʷ, gʷ/ are also phonemic, contributing to contrasts and appearing in specific morphological contexts.[2][7] The plosives are voiceless in stem-initial position (/p, t, k/) but exhibit allophonic voicing and spirantization to [b, d, g] or fricatives [β, ɾ, ɣ] intervocalically, while implosive /ɓ/ surfaces as approximant [β] following vowels. Fricatives like /s/ vary allophonically to in non-initial positions, neutralizing with /h/, and /x/ may labialize to [xʷ] before rounded vowels. Nasals are homorganic when prenasalizing following stops, and approximants /w, j/ can centralize in certain prosodic environments. These variations are conditioned by position relative to vowels and prosodic boundaries, reflecting Basaa's sensitivity to stem structure.[2][7] Syllable structure in Basaa is predominantly CV, with closed syllables (CVC) permitted stem-finally and limited onset clusters restricted to prenasalized stops (e.g., /mb-, nd-, ŋg-/). The prosodic stem allows up to four consonants (C1-C4), but with decreasing inventory size: 22 in C1 (full contrasts), 12 in C2, 6 in C3, and only /n, s, k/ in C4, implying that complex onsets like /kw-/ or /gw-/ occur only initially. This distribution prevents illicit clusters and supports morpheme concatenation without hiatus.[2] Representative minimal pairs illustrate key contrasts, such as /ba/ 'they' versus /ɓa/ 'two', highlighting the distinction between plain voiced /b/ and implosive /ɓ/. Similarly, /sa/ 'buy' contrasts with /za/ 'know', distinguishing alveolar fricatives /s/ and /z/.[7]Tone and prosody
Bàsàá employs a tonal system where tone serves both lexical and grammatical functions, distinguishing meanings of words and marking categories such as tense-aspect-mood (TAM).[2] Underlyingly, the language distinguishes two level tones: high (H) and low (L).[7] On the surface, these yield four contrastive tones: high (H), low (L), falling (HL), and rising (LH), with contours arising from tonal interactions.[7] Lexically, tones create minimal pairs, such as kón 'rice' (H) versus kòn 'charcoal' (L), and yà 'egg' (L) versus yá 'housefly' (H).[2] Grammatically, tones function in derivations and inflection; for instance, the verb root sép 'beat' (H) becomes síbíl in the passive applicative form due to a floating L tone and subsequent adjustments.[2] Additionally, a melodic high tone (MH) associates with certain TAMs, docking onto the final tone-bearing unit (TBU) of the verb and spreading leftward, as in the recent past à-bí-kɛ̂ 'he went' where MH spreads over the root.[17] A key process in Bàsàá tonology is high tone spreading (HTS), whereby an underlying H tone spreads rightward to one or more following moras, often resulting in a falling contour on the target.[18] For example, the underlying /kɛmbɛ/ (H on first syllable, L on second) surfaces as kɛmbê 'goat' with HTS yielding [H-HL].[2] In verbs, HTS applies post-lexically, spreading the H of a prefix or root to adjacent low-toned elements, as seen in mɛ̂-ndɛ̂ 'I love' from underlying /mɛ-H ndɛ-L/.[2] Downstep (!H) occurs when a floating L intervenes between H tones, lowering the following H relative to prior ones; this is evident in phrases like nɛ̂cɛ̂p !wɔ̂ŋ 'your branch,' where the floating L from the possessive triggers !H on the final H.[2] Downstep can also arise without an intervening L in recursive phonological phrases, marking phrase boundaries.[19] Phrase-level sandhi further conditions tone, as HTS is blocked at the right edge of a phonological phrase (φ), preventing spread across constituents; for instance, the H on pú 'on' does not spread to ndá 'path' in pú ndá due to the φ boundary.[18] Bàsàá lacks word-level stress, with prosody primarily governed by tone and phrasing rather than fixed accent.[7] At the sentence level, prosodic structure organizes into phonological phrases (φ) and intonational phrases (ι), with recursive embedding possible; downstep often signals lower φ levels within an ι.[19] Intonation shows minimal interaction with lexical tone, lacking boundary tones in declaratives or interrogatives, though register lowering (↓H) can affect H tones under phrasal influence, as in questions where final H may downstep.[16] Contour tones simplify in connected speech across phrases, such as tatâ 'father' reducing to level high in tatá wɛ̂s 'our father.'[2] Vowel length may subtly interact with tone perception in prosodic contexts, enhancing contour realization on long vowels.[7]Grammar
Nominal morphology
The Basaa language features an atypical noun class system compared to most Bantu languages, with 13 classes (1, 1a, 2, 3, 3a, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, and 19) that are often marked by suffixes, stems, or residual prefixes rather than the consistent prefixing typical of Proto-Bantu.[2] This system has undergone significant evolution, including the loss of prefixes in classes such as 7, 9, and 10, where class membership is indicated primarily through the noun stem or tonal patterns, while other classes retain prefixes like li- (class 5) or hi- (class 19).[2] Nouns generally consist of a class marker followed by a stem, but the absence of obligatory prefixes in several classes distinguishes Basaa from more conservative Bantu varieties, reflecting historical phonological changes that eroded prefixal morphology.[2] The agreement system in Basaa requires adjectives, pronouns, and verbs to concord with the noun's class, typically via prefixes on these elements, even when the noun itself lacks a visible prefix.[2] For instance, in class 5, the adjective prefix is li-, as in li-pá lɛ́ lɛ́-mú 'this big forest', where li-pá is the noun 'forest' and li-mú agrees in class.[2] Pronouns also follow class-specific prefixes, such as w- for class 1 (w-ɔ́ 'he/she') or y- for class 9 (y-ɛ́ 'it').[2] Verbal agreement prefixes include a- for class 1 and ɓá- for class 2, ensuring concord across the noun phrase and predicate, as seen in mùt á-dí 'the person eats'.[2] Nominal derivation in Basaa often involves class shifts to express diminutives or augmentatives, frequently accompanied by reduplication of the stem when moving to classes 19 (singular diminutive) or 13 (plural diminutive).[2] For example, the noun yép 'house' (class 7) shifts to hi-yéyép 'small house' in class 19, illustrating diminutive formation without altering the core stem significantly.[2] The following table presents a representative paradigm for the noun 'bird' (nuní), showing singular in class 19 (hi-nuní) and plural in class 13 (dí-nuní), with agreement examples on an adjective (kɛ́ŋí 'big') and a verb (jɛ́ 'eat').[20]| Form | Noun | Adjective Agreement | Verb Agreement Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular (19) | hi-nuní | hi-kɛ́ŋí hi-nuní | hi-nuní hy-á-jɛ́ |
| Plural (13) | dí-nuní | dí-kɛ́ŋí dí-nuní | dí-nuní dy-á-jɛ́ |
Verbal morphology
The verbal morphology of Basaa, a Narrow Bantu language (A43a), is characterized by a templatic structure that incorporates subject and object agreement prefixes, a verbal root, optional derivational extensions, and tense-aspect-mood (TAM) markers, often realized through suffixes, auxiliaries, and tone. The core verb stem consists of the root—typically monosyllabic or bisyllabic—followed by extensions that modify the verb's valency or aspectual properties, and concluding with TAM elements; the final vowel, a hallmark of Bantu verb morphology, is frequently elided in Basaa. Subject agreement is prefixed to the verb stem, reflecting the noun class of the subject (e.g., a- for class 1 singular), while object pronouns or agreement markers may infix before the root. This system aligns with broader Bantu patterns but shows innovations, such as reliance on tonal melodies and clitics for many TAM distinctions rather than extensive prefixation.[2][3] Derivational extensions attach to the root to create new verb stems, altering meaning through valency changes or aspectual nuances, and are subject to phonological processes like vowel height harmony (VHH) and high tone spreading (HTS). The causative extension, marked by -s (direct) or -Vh/-ha (indirect), increases valency by adding a causer, as in the root jɛ́ 'eat' deriving jɛ́s 'make eat'. The passive, realized as -a after closed syllables or -ɓa after open syllables, decreases valency by promoting the object to subject, exemplified by sɔ́mb 'buy' becoming sómbâ 'be bought'. The reciprocal extension -an (or -na) indicates mutual action, reducing valency, as seen in jí 'know' to jínâ 'know each other'. Other extensions include the applicative -l or -nɛ́ (e.g., lím 'be silent' to límíl 'be silent for someone') and stative -ík for resulting states. These extensions can stack, though order is templatic (e.g., reciprocal before causative), and tone from the root spreads rightward, often assigning a high tone (H) to the extension if the root bears H. Stem-initial consonant mutations occur due to adjacent sounds, such as nasal assimilation or spirantization in certain derivations.[2][21] Tense, aspect, and mood are primarily encoded through suffixes on the verb stem, preverbal auxiliaries or clitics, and tonal patterns, with the language distinguishing a range of categories via melodic high tones (H) that override lexical tones in specific contexts. The simple present (or imperfective) employs a preverbal marker like n@-, as in a n@-jɛ́ 'he eats' (subject prefix a- class 1, root jɛ́). The past tense uses auxiliaries like bí- (recent past), yielding a bí-jɛ́ 'he ate'. The future is prefixed by hɛ́- or realized via auxiliaries like gá, e.g., a gá jɛ́ 'he will eat'. Aspectual distinctions include the perfective (unmarked or -í), progressive (yé auxiliary, e.g., a yé jɛ́ 'he is eating'), and habitual (ḿ-...-a, e.g., a ḿ-ɓɛnɛ́ jɛ́ 'he often eats'). Mood markers, such as the subjunctive -e, appear in dependent clauses. Noun class agreement influences verb prefixes, linking verbal inflection to the nominal system. Tone plays a crucial role, with H-toned morphemes like auxiliaries creating a right-spreading melodic pattern that distinguishes TAM categories.[2][22][17] To illustrate, consider the conjugation of the base verb jɛ́ 'eat' (root with H tone) in the simple present tense across subject classes, showing prefix agreement and the preverbal marker n@-:| Subject Class | Example Form | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| 1sg (ń-) | ń- n@-jɛ́ | I eat |
| 1 (a-) | a n@-jɛ́ | he/she eats |
| 2 (ba-) | ba n@-jɛ́ | they eat |
| 6 (ma-) | ma n@-jɛ́ | they (cl.6) eat |
| Subject Class | Example Form | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| 1sg (ń-) | ń- n@-jɛ́s | I make eat |
| 1 (a-) | a n@-jɛ́s | he/she makes eat |
| 2 (ba-) | ba n@-jɛ́s | they make eat |
| 6 (ma-) | ma n@-jɛ́s | they (cl.6) make eat |