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Fang language
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Fang language
Fang (/ˈfɒŋ/) is a Central African language spoken by around one million people, most of them in Equatorial Guinea and northern Gabon, where it is the dominant Bantu language; Fang is also spoken in southern Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, and small fractions of the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe. It is related to the Bulu and Ewondo languages of southern Cameroon.
Between 1970 and 1979, Fang replaced Spanish as the main language of the administration of Equatorial Guinea under the government of Macías Nguema, although it never became official and was imposed during his term, as an attempt to "Africanize" the country.
There are many different variants of Fang in northern Gabon and southern Cameroon. Maho (2009) lists Southwest Fang as a distinct language. The other dialects are Ntumu, Okak, Mekê, Atsi (Batsi), Nzaman and Mveny (Mvaïe).
According to ALCAM (2012), Fang is mainly spoken in northern Gabon and also Equatorial Guinea. Dialects include Ntumu, Mvany, and Okak. In Cameroon, Fang is spoken in the southern half of Dja-et-Lobo department (Southern Region) south of Djoum. It is also spoken in the southeast of Mvila department: south of Mvangan, plus small isolated parts of Océan department between Lolodorf and Kribi where the Okak dialect is spoken. The other dialects, Mvany and Ntumu, are spoken in Vallée-du-Ntem department.
Despite Fang's lack of any well-defined literary corpus, it is of note that linguists have, in the past, made attempts to compile dictionaries and lexicons for the Fang language. The two most notable ones to be proposed or fully compiled were made by Maillard (2007) and Bibang (2014). Neither created a direct Fang-English dictionary, but opted instead to separate the two languages via third European languages (French and Spanish, respectively) as a bridge for various loanwords.
The translation efforts to English have been done through Romance languages: specifically, Spanish and French. The latter of the two languages would likely have had the most impact on the language, given the occupation of Gabon by the French during the existence of French Equatorial Africa (itself part of French West Africa), which lasted 75 years from 1885 to 1960. To a lesser extent, in São Tomé and Príncipe, Portuguese also likely has influenced the dialects of Fang present there, due to the country being occupied by Portugal for most of the islands' history of habitation.
The phonology of Fang is listed below.
In Fang, there are 24 plain consonants. The majority of them can become prenasalized:
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Fang language
Fang (/ˈfɒŋ/) is a Central African language spoken by around one million people, most of them in Equatorial Guinea and northern Gabon, where it is the dominant Bantu language; Fang is also spoken in southern Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, and small fractions of the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe. It is related to the Bulu and Ewondo languages of southern Cameroon.
Between 1970 and 1979, Fang replaced Spanish as the main language of the administration of Equatorial Guinea under the government of Macías Nguema, although it never became official and was imposed during his term, as an attempt to "Africanize" the country.
There are many different variants of Fang in northern Gabon and southern Cameroon. Maho (2009) lists Southwest Fang as a distinct language. The other dialects are Ntumu, Okak, Mekê, Atsi (Batsi), Nzaman and Mveny (Mvaïe).
According to ALCAM (2012), Fang is mainly spoken in northern Gabon and also Equatorial Guinea. Dialects include Ntumu, Mvany, and Okak. In Cameroon, Fang is spoken in the southern half of Dja-et-Lobo department (Southern Region) south of Djoum. It is also spoken in the southeast of Mvila department: south of Mvangan, plus small isolated parts of Océan department between Lolodorf and Kribi where the Okak dialect is spoken. The other dialects, Mvany and Ntumu, are spoken in Vallée-du-Ntem department.
Despite Fang's lack of any well-defined literary corpus, it is of note that linguists have, in the past, made attempts to compile dictionaries and lexicons for the Fang language. The two most notable ones to be proposed or fully compiled were made by Maillard (2007) and Bibang (2014). Neither created a direct Fang-English dictionary, but opted instead to separate the two languages via third European languages (French and Spanish, respectively) as a bridge for various loanwords.
The translation efforts to English have been done through Romance languages: specifically, Spanish and French. The latter of the two languages would likely have had the most impact on the language, given the occupation of Gabon by the French during the existence of French Equatorial Africa (itself part of French West Africa), which lasted 75 years from 1885 to 1960. To a lesser extent, in São Tomé and Príncipe, Portuguese also likely has influenced the dialects of Fang present there, due to the country being occupied by Portugal for most of the islands' history of habitation.
The phonology of Fang is listed below.
In Fang, there are 24 plain consonants. The majority of them can become prenasalized:
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