The Fanji language, Chuufiè (chufieʼ), is a Grassfields Bantu language and the language of the Bafanji people in the Northwest Region of Cameroon.[1][2] There are approximately 17,000 speakers. The language has a rich system of tonal morphology, including reduplication involving adjectives.
| Fanji | |
|---|---|
| Bafanji | |
| Chuufieʼ | |
| Region | Cameroon |
| Ethnicity | Bafanji |
Native speakers | 17,000 (2008)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bfj |
| Glottolog | bafa1249 |
Bafanji speakers, who number 8,500, call their language Chuufi. It is spoken south of Ndop in Ngoketunjia Department, Northwest Region. It is closely related to Bamali, Mengambo, and Bambalang.[3]
Phonology
editConsonants
edit| Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Plosive | Plain | p | t | t͡ʃ | c͡ç | k |
| Aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | t͡ʃʰ | c͡çʰ | kʰ | |
| Prenasalised[1] | ᵐb | ⁿd | ⁿd͡ʒ | ᶮɟ | ᵑɡ | |
| Fricative | Voiceless | f | s | ʃ | ç | |
| Voiced | z | ɣ | ||||
| Approximant | Central | j | w | |||
| Lateral | l | ʎ | ||||
- ^ The prenasalised stops may also be considered voiced with redundant prenasalisation.
References
edit- ^ a b Fanji at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Silverman (1995:57)
- ^ 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.
- ^ Silverman (1995:58)
- Silverman, Daniel (1995), "Optional, conditional, and obligatory prenasalization in Bafanji", Journal of West African Languages, 25: 57–62
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