Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something
Nothing was collected or created yet.
Kpwe language
View on Wikipedia| Kpwe | |
|---|---|
| Mokpwe | |
| Native to | Cameroon |
| Ethnicity | Kpwe, Mboko |
Native speakers | (25,000 cited 2000–2014)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:bri – Kpwebqm – Mboko (Wumboko)kme – Kole (Bakole) |
| Glottolog | mokp1239 Mokpwewumb1241 Wumbokobako1250 Bakole |
A.21,22,231[2] | |
| ELP | Bakole |
| People | Bekpak |
|---|---|
| Language | Rikpa |
Kpwe (Mokpwe) is a Bantu language of Cameroon. It is mutually intelligible with Kole, and probably with Mboko (Wumboko) as well.
There are multiple variants of the name: based on 'Kpwe' (Bakpwe, Mokpwe), on 'Kpe' (Mokpe), on 'Kweɾi' (Kwedi, Kweli, Kwili, Kwiri, Bakwedi, Bakwele, Bakweri, Vakweli, Bekwiri), as well as Ujuwa and Vambeng.
Phonology
[edit]The Kpwe phonological inventory is as follows,[3]
Vowels
[edit]| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Close-mid | e | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ |
| Open | a | |
Consonants
[edit]| Bilabial | Coronal | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋʷ · ŋm | ||
| Plosive | prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮdʒ | ᵑɡ | ᵑɡb |
| voiced | (b) | dʒ | (ɡ) | ɡb | ||
| voiceless | (p) | t | k | kp | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | ɸ | ||||
| voiced | β | |||||
| Rhotic | zr§ | |||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||
§/zr/, the 'liquidized alveolar fricative', may be realized as [zr], [ʒr], [rz] or [rʒ]. This sound is rendered /s/ in some sources, and is cognate to /s/ in Bubia.
/p/ and /ɡ/ in parentheses are only found in loans, while /b/ is very uncommon and in many inflections freely alternates as [w].
Tone
[edit]Kpwe contrasts five tones on short syllables: high, downstepped high, low, rising and falling.
Literature
[edit]The first portions of the Bible were made available in Mokpwe in 2009.[4] This was followed by the New Testament, translated with help from the Bakweri Language and Literacy Association, (BALALIA) on 29 March 2025.[5] The New Testament is available online, in places such as YouVersion.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ Kpwe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Mboko (Wumboko) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Kole (Bakole) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Atindogbé (2013) A grammatical sketch of Mòkpè (Bakweri), African Study Monographs, Suppl. 45: 5–163
- ^ "Mokpwe language resources | Joshua Project". joshuaproject.net. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
- ^ ThePost (2025-04-09). "New Testament Launched In Mokpe To Preserve Bakweri Language, Spread Gospel - The Post NewsPaper". Retrieved 2025-10-09.
- ^ Download the Bible in Mokpwe - Bakweri (Cameroon) - Download now or read online. | YouVersion.
 | This Bantu language-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |