Babanki language

The Babanki, or Kejom (Babanki: Kəjòm [kɘ̀d͡ʒɔ́m]), language is a Bantoid language that is spoken by the Babanki people of the Western Highlands of Cameroon.

Babanki
Kejom, Finge
Kəjòm[1]
Native toCameroon
RegionNorthwest
EthnicityKejom
Native speakers
39,000 (2011)[2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3bbk
Glottologbaba1266
ELPBabanki
Linguistic map of the Grassfields languages of northwestern Cameroon.

Geography and Classification

Babanki is a member of the Center Ring subfamily of the Grassfields languages, which is in turn a member of the extensive Southern Bantoid subfamily of the Atlantic-Congo branch of the hypothetical Niger-Congo language family.

According to Ethnologue, there were 39,000 speakers of Babanki as of 2011, although the Endangered Languages Project states that the 39,000 figure represents the ethnic population while actual speakers of the language number around 20,000.[3]

It is mainly spoken in the villages of Kejom Ketinguh and Kejom Keku (also known as Babanki Tungo and Big Babanki, respectively),[4][5] which are located in the Mezam department of the Northwest region of Cameroon. Languages spoken nearby include the closely related Ring languages Kom, Vengo, and Nsei to the east, and the more distantly related Eastern Grassfields languages Bafut, Mbili-Mbui, and Awing to the west. English, in particular Cameroonian Pidgin English, is commonly spoken as well, to the extent that the latter is beginning to replace Babanki in all domains, including the home.[5] Additionally, some speakers may speak French, Cameroon's other official language besides English, and speakers living in Kejom Keku may also speak the nearby Kom language, depending on their level of interaction with the Kom community.[5]

It has two main varieties, based on the two villages it is spoken in. They exhibit slight phonetic, phonological, and lexical differences but are mutually intelligible.[5] A distinct variety spoken by some members of a group of ethnic Fula who live in the hills surrounding Kejom Ketinguh has also been attested.[6]

Phonology

Consonants

Babanki has 25 consonant phonemes. Most consonants also appear in phonemic prenasalized, labialized, and palatalized forms, although it remains ambiguous as to whether Babanki actually has these secondary articulations or if they are simply consonant clusters of simple consonants with placeless nasals, /w/, or /j/, respectively.[5]

Babanki consonants[5]
  Bilabial Labio-
dental
Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Palatal Labial-
velar
Velar
Plosive  b    td          kɡ
Affricate    p͡fb͡v t͡sd͡z t͡ʃd͡ʒ         
Fricative    fv sz ʃʒ         
Nasal  m     n     ɲ     ŋ
Approximant              j  w  ɰ[lower-alpha 1]
Lateral approximant        l            

Babanki has some allophonic palatalization before front vowels /i e/. The velar plosives /k g/ are realized as palatalized [ ], respectively, and the labial-velar approximant /w/ is realized as a labial-palatal approximant [ɥ]. This variation also applies to labialized consonants (e.g. /kʷì/→[kᶣì] "up"), although labialized bilabials and labiodentals retain labial-velar secondary articulation.

Prenasalized consonants in Babanki (all oral consonants but /v/ can appear as prenasalized) are realized in several ways depending upon the manner of articulation of the consonant in question. Preceding an obstruent and following a vowel, prenasalization is generally realized as a homorganic nasal stop (e.g. /kɘ̀ⁿt͡ʃík/→[kɘ̀ɲt͡ʃíʔ] "lid"), while preceding a sonorant and following a vowel, prenasalization is generally realized without full oral closure which tends to cause the preceding vowel to be nasalized (e.g. /fɘ̀ⁿʃìk/→[fɘ̃̀ʃìʔ] "grass beetle"). Additionally, when a prenasalized consonant is word initial and has no preceding vowel, the nasal portion is often audibly syllabic and using the low tone (e.g. /ⁿdɔ̏ŋ/→[ǹdɔ̏ŋ] "potato").

Vowels

Babanki has eight vowel phonemes contrasting in height, roundness, and backing. Length distinction and nasalization also occur non-contrastively. Babanki is unusual in that it contrasts both the rounded and the unrounded close central vowels and the close and close-mid central unrounded vowels.

Babanki vowels[5]
  Front Central Back
Close i ɨʉ u
Close-mid e ɘ o
Open-mid (ɛː)[lower-alpha 2]   (ɔː)[lower-alpha 2]
Open a    

In open syllables, vowels /e/ and /o/ are realized as close-mid [e] and [o], while in closed syllables they are realized as open-mid [ɛ] and [ɔ] (compare [àbé] "liver" and [bɛ̀ʔ] "snatch", [ɘ̀kó] "money" and [kɔ́ʔ] "chop").

Tone

Babanki has both lexical tone and grammatical tone. At the phonological level it is described as simply having a distinction between low /˨/ and high /˦/ tonemes,[5] although a number of derived surface tonal sequences have been observed. Rarely, contour tones can occur in non-derived environments.

Babanki tone[5]
NameNotation
High˦
Downstepped highꜜ˦
Mid˧
Low˨
Low falling˨˩
High-mid falling˦˧
High-low falling˦˨
Low-high rising˨˦

The downstepped high and mid tones are phonetically identical, but are otherwise distinct; the downstepped high tone [ꜜ˦] occurs much more freely and creates a tone ceiling for successive high tones in the same tonal phrase, while the mid tone [˧] must precede a high tone and is restricted to a few specific environments.[7]

Phonotactics

Typically, Babanki words are composed of a CV(C) stem with optional (C)V prefixes and suffixes.[5] The stem-initial onset is where the majority of Babanki consonants occur exclusively;[lower-alpha 3] onsets of affixes and function words only permit the phonemes /t k f v s ʃ m n j ɰ/, and the only permissible coda consonants are /m n ŋ f s k/. Allophony is much more distinct in coda consonants; /k/ is realized as a glottal stop [ʔ], and rimes ending in the alveolar nasal /n/ whose nuclei are the non-high vowels /a e o/ (i.e. /an en on/) diphthongize, surfacing as [aɪ̯n~aɪ̯̃ ɛɪ̯n~ɛɪ̯̃ ɔɪ̯n~ɔɪ̯̃].[5]

Vowel coalescence is also quite significant in Babanki. It occurs in /Vɘ/ and /VCɘ/ sequences (excluding those where /C/ is /m/), where the final close-mid central unrounded vowel and (in the case of the latter) the coda consonant coalesce to a single phonetically long vowel [Vː], the quality of which cannot necessarily be determined by either vowel (although in /Vɘ/ sequences the phonetic long vowel is usually of the same quality as the phonemic first vowel). For example, the phrase [kɘ̀zɔ̀ː kɔ́m] "my speargrass" would be phonemically parsed:

kɘ̀zɔ̀ː kɔ́m

kɘ̀-zòn

C7-speargrass

ɘ́

ASS

kóm

1SG.POSS

kɘ̀-zòn ɘ́ kóm

C7-speargrass ASS 1SG.POSS

"my speargrass"

Here, the sequence /ònɘ́/ coalesces into the long vowel [ɔː]. Although virtually all long vowels that occur in Babanki are due to this process, there are a few instances of long vowels that are not clearly derived, such as in the words [ɘ̀kɔ̀ː] "which" and [ⁿbɛ̀ː] "term of address for fon".[5]

Sample

"The North Wind and the Sun" (from Faytak & Akumbu (2021))
Phonetic transcription[lower-alpha 4]Translation
ɘ̀fʷɔ́fꜜɘ́ gɘ̀ː kᶣì wɛ̂ː t͡ʃᶣìt͡ʃᶣì ǹtáŋmɘ́ à tóː ndɘ̀ t͡ʃòː ndɘ̀ sɘ́t͡sɛ̀ɪ̯n wùd͡ʒèʔ ɰ mɔ̀ʔ dàlɘ́ lɨ̀mtɘ́

vwě ꜜɰʉ́mɘ́ ɥìʔ á ɰɘ́ t͡ʃòː mbȉ ɘ̀ nɘ̀ wùd͡ʒèʔ nájì t͡súʔ dàlɘ́ lɨ̀mtɘ́ː wɛ́ɪ̯n mwâ tóː wɛ́ɪ̯n t͡ʃòː wút͡sɛ́ɪ̯n

ɘ̀fɔ́fꜜɘ́ gɘ̀ː kᶣìː mɘ̀ zìtɘ̀ sɘ̀ t͡ʃǒ nôː nàntô

ɰɘ̌ t͡ʃǒː ɰɔ́ʔtɘ̀ wùd͡ʒèʔ bɔ̀ŋsɘ̀ fʷɔ́mtɘ̀ dàlɘ́ lɨ̀mtɘ́ː wɛ́ɪ̯n á wɛ́ː wɛ̏ɪ̯n

kɘ̀ɲʉ̃ː kʲíkɘ́ ɰɔ́ʔ ɘ̀fʷɔ́fꜜɘ́ gɘ̀ː kᶣì ɰɘ̀ kʲé

t͡ʃᶣìt͡ʃᶣǐː zìtɘ̀ báɪ̯n ɘ̀ lɨ̀mɘ̀ wùd͡ʒèʔ zàŋsɘ̀ t͡sùʔ dàlɘ́ lɨ̀mtɘ́ː wɛ́ɪ̯n

kɘ́ t͡ʃòː ɘ̀fɔ́fꜜɘ́ gɘ̀ː kᶣì ɰɘ̀ bʲɨ́mɘ́ t͡ʃᶣìt͡ʃᶣǐː ꜜtóː t͡ʃòː

The North Wind and the Sun were arguing about who was stronger than who, until a traveler wearing a warm gown came.

They agreed that the person who would first make the traveler take off his gown was stronger than the other.

The North Wind then began to blow with great force.

As he blew stronger, the traveler instead wrapped his warm gown around his body.

This thing was too much, and the North Wind gave up.

Then the Sun began to shine and make places hot, and the traveler quickly took off his gown.

This surpassed the North Wind; he accepted that the Sun was stronger than him.

Phonemic transcription with interlinear gloss

ɘ̀-fʷóf

C3-wind

ɘ

ASS.C3

gɘ̀

part

ɘ̀

DIR

kʷì

above

wénɘ̀

with

t͡ʃʷìt͡ʃʷì

sun(C1)

ǹ-táŋmɘ́

PST-quarrel

COMP

à

FOC

tó-ɘ

be.strong-PROG

ndɘ̀

who

t͡ʃò-ɘ

pass-PROG

ndɘ̀

who

,

EMPH

sɘ́t͡sèn

until

wù-d͡ʒèk

C1.NMLZ-travel

while

ɰɘ̀

3SG.C1

mòk

wear

dálɘ̀

gown(C1)

lɨ̀mtɘ́

hot

.

come

ɘ̀-fʷóf ɘ gɘ̀ ɘ̀ kʷì wénɘ̀ t͡ʃʷìt͡ʃʷì ǹ-táŋmɘ́ à tó-ɘ ndɘ̀ t͡ʃò-ɘ ndɘ̀ , sɘ́t͡sèn wù-d͡ʒèk ɰɘ̀ mòk dálɘ̀ lɨ̀mtɘ́ .

C3-wind ASS.C3 part DIR above with sun(C1) PST-quarrel COMP FOC be.strong-PROG who pass-PROG who EMPH until C1.NMLZ-travel while 3SG.C1 wear gown(C1) hot come

The North Wind and the Sun were arguing about who was stronger than who, until a traveler wearing a warm gown came.

vɘ̀wé

3PL.C2

ɰʉ́mɘ́

agree

COMP

ɥìk

person(C1)

á

REL

ɰɘ́

3SG.C1

t͡ʃò-ɘ

pass-PROG

mbì

first

ɘ̀

CONJ

cause

COMP

wù-d͡ʒèk

C1.NMLZ-travel

nájì

DEM

t͡súk

remove

dálɘ̀

gown(C1)

lɨ̀mtɘ́

hot

ɘ́

ASS.C1

wén

3SG.POSS.C1

so

à

FOC

tó-ɘ

be.strong-PROG

wén

3SG.C1

t͡ʃò-ɘ

pass-PROG

wú-t͡sén.

C1.NMLZ-certain

vɘ̀wé ɰʉ́mɘ́ ɥìk á ɰɘ́ t͡ʃò-ɘ mbì ɘ̀ wù-d͡ʒèk nájì t͡súk dálɘ̀ lɨ̀mtɘ́ ɘ́ wén à tó-ɘ wén t͡ʃò-ɘ wú-t͡sén.

3PL.C2 agree COMP person(C1) REL 3SG.C1 pass-PROG first CONJ cause COMP C1.NMLZ-travel DEM remove gown(C1) hot ASS.C1 3SG.POSS.C1 so FOC be.strong-PROG 3SG.C1 pass-PROG C1.NMLZ-certain

They agreed that the person who would first make the traveler take off his gown was stronger than the other.

ɘ̀-fʷóf

C3-wind

ɘ

ASS.C3

gɘ̀

part

ɘ̀

DIR

kʷì

above

ɘ́

SUBJ.C3

mɘ̀

then

zìtɘ̀

start

sɘ̀

PRS

t͡ʃò-ɘ

pass-PROG

nókɘ̀

really

nàntô.

much

ɘ̀-fʷóf ɘ gɘ̀ ɘ̀ kʷì ɘ́ mɘ̀ zìtɘ̀ sɘ̀ t͡ʃò-ɘ nókɘ̀ nàntô.

C3-wind ASS.C3 part DIR above SUBJ.C3 then start PRS pass-PROG really much

The North Wind then began to blow with great force.

ɰɘ̀

3SG.C3

ɘ́

SUBJ.C3

so

t͡ʃò-ɘ

pass-PROG

ɰóktɘ̀

be.big

wù-d͡ʒèk

C1.NMLZ-travel

DEM

bòŋsɘ̀

instead

fʷómtɘ̀

fold

dálɘ̀

gown(C1)

lɨ̀mtɘ́

hot

ɘ́

ASS.C1

wén

3SG.POSS.C1

á

to

wén

3SG.POSS.C3

ɘ̀-wén.

C3-body

ɰɘ̀ ɘ́ t͡ʃò-ɘ ɰóktɘ̀ wù-d͡ʒèk bòŋsɘ̀ fʷómtɘ̀ dálɘ̀ lɨ̀mtɘ́ ɘ́ wén á wén ɘ̀-wén.

3SG.C3 SUBJ.C3 so pass-PROG be.big C1.NMLZ-travel DEM instead fold gown(C1) hot ASS.C1 3SG.POSS.C1 to 3SG.POSS.C3 C3-body

As he blew stronger, the traveler instead wrapped his warm gown around his body.

kɘ̀-ɲʉ́

C7-thing

ɘ̀

ASS.C7

kí-kɘ́

this-C7

ɰɔ́k

be.big

ɘ̀-fʷóf

C3-wind

ɘ

ASS.C3

gɘ̀

part

ɘ̀

DIR

kʷì

above

ɰɘ̀

3SG.C3

.

allow

kɘ̀-ɲʉ́ ɘ̀ kí-kɘ́ ɰɔ́k ɘ̀-fʷóf ɘ gɘ̀ ɘ̀ kʷì ɰɘ̀ .

C7-thing ASS.C7 this-C7 be.big C3-wind ASS.C3 part DIR above 3SG.C3 allow

This thing was too much, and the North Wind gave up.

t͡ʃʷìt͡ʃʷì

sun(C1)

zìtɘ̀

start

bán

shine

ɘ̀

CONJ

lɨ̀mɘ̀

hot-PROG

come

wù-d͡ʒèk

C1.NMLZ-travel

DEM

zàŋsɘ̀

hurry

t͡sùk

remove

dálɘ̀

gown(C1)

lɨ̀mtɘ́

hot

ɘ́

ASS.C1

wén.

3SG.POSS.C1

t͡ʃʷìt͡ʃʷì zìtɘ̀ bán ɘ̀ lɨ̀mɘ̀ wù-d͡ʒèk zàŋsɘ̀ t͡sùk dálɘ̀ lɨ̀mtɘ́ ɘ́ wén.

sun(C1) start shine CONJ hot-PROG come C1.NMLZ-travel DEM hurry remove gown(C1) hot ASS.C1 3SG.POSS.C1

Then the Sun began to shine and make places hot, and the traveler quickly took off his gown.

kɘ́

3SG.C7

t͡ʃò

pass

ɘ̀-fʷóf

C3-wind

ɘ

ASS.C3

gɘ̀

part

ɘ̀

DIR

kʷì

above

ɰɘ̀

3SG.C3

bʲɨ́mɘ́

accept

COMP

t͡ʃʷìt͡ʃʷì

sun(C1)

ɘ́

SUBJ.C1

tó-ɘ

be.strong-PROG

t͡ʃò-ɘ

pass-PROG

.

3SG.C3

kɘ́ t͡ʃò ɘ̀-fʷóf ɘ gɘ̀ ɘ̀ kʷì ɰɘ̀ bʲɨ́mɘ́ t͡ʃʷìt͡ʃʷì ɘ́ tó-ɘ t͡ʃò-ɘ .

3SG.C7 pass C3-wind ASS.C3 part DIR above 3SG.C3 accept COMP sun(C1) SUBJ.C1 be.strong-PROG pass-PROG 3SG.C3

This surpassed the North Wind; he accepted that the Sun was stronger than him.

Linguistic studies

Linguistic research has been conducted in the Babanki community since the late 1970s. SIL Cameroon and the Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy (CABTAL) have been actively engaged with the Babanki language and community since 1988 and 2004, respectively. [4]

Babanki phonology

Akumbu, Pius W. (1999). Nominal phonological processes in Babanki. University of Yaounde MA thesis.

Hyman, Larry M. (1979). Tonology of the Babanki noun. Studies in African Linguistics 10. 159–178.

Mutaka, Ngessimo & Esther Phubon. (2006). Vowel raising in Babanki. Journal of West African Languages 33 (1). 71–88.

Phubon, Esther. (1999). Aspects of Babanki phonology. University of Buea BA long essay.

Phubon, Esther. (2002). Phonology of the Babanki verb. University of Buea MA thesis.

Phubon, Esther. (2007). Lexical phonology of Babanki. University of Yaounde 1 DEA thesis.

Phubon, Esther. (2014). Phrasal phonology of Babanki: An outgrowth of other components of the grammar. University of Yaounde 1 dissertation.

Tamanji, Pius N. (1987). Phonology of Babanki. MA thesis, University of Yaounde.

Babanki grammar

Akumbu, Pius W. (2008). Kejom (Babanki) – English lexicon. Ga’a Kejom Development Committee. Bamenda: AGWECAMS.

Akumbu, Pius W. (2009). Kejom tense system. In Tanda, Vincent, Pius Tamanji and Henry Jick. (eds.), Language, literature and social discourse in Africa: Essays in honor of Emmanuel N. Chia, 183–200. Buea: University of Buea.

Akumbu, Pius W. & Evelyn F. Chibaka. (2012). A pedagogic grammar of Babanki. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.

Fungeh Abongkeyung Landeà. (2022). Babanki for beginners.

Babanki sociolinguistics

Brye, Edward. 2001. Sociolinguistic survey of Babanki. (824) Yaounde: SIL.

Notes

  1. Also transcribed as [ɣ] by some researchers.
  2. The long open-mid vowels /ɛː/ and /ɔː/ are only marginally phonemic.
  3. A notable exception to this is the consonants /j/ and /v/, which only appear in the onsets of a few stems but are relatively common in affixes and function words.
  4. In this passage, the low falling tone [˨˩] is transcribed using the diacritic for extra low tone, e.g. [ȅ]

Further reading

  • Faytak, Matthew and Akumbu, Pius W. (2021). "Kejom (Babanki)". Illustrations of the IPA. Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 51 (2): 333–354. doi:10.1017/S0025100319000264{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link), with supplementary sound recordings.

References

  1. Keyeh, Emmanuel (2007). Dzàŋ bè nyòˀ gàˀa Kəjòm (Read and also write the Kejom language). Yaounde, Republic of Cameroon: CABTAL.
  2. Babanki at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  3. "Babanki". Endangered Languages Project.
  4. Akumbu, Pius W. (2018-03-19). "Babanki literacy classes and community-based language research". Insights from Practices in Community-Based Research (PDF). De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 266–279. doi:10.1515/9783110527018-015. ISBN 978-3-11-052701-8.
  5. Faytak, Matthew; Akumbu, Pius W. (August 2021). "Kejom (Babanki)". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 51 (2): 333–354. doi:10.1017/S0025100319000264. S2CID 235915107. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
  6. Akumbu, Pius W.; Asonganyi, Esther P. (December 2010). "Language in Contact: The Case of the Fulɓe Dialect of Kejom (Babanki)". African Study Monographs. 31 (4): 173–187. doi:10.14989/139265.
  7. Hyman, Larry H. (July 1979). "Tonology of the Babanki Noun". Studies in African Linguistics. 10 (2): 159–178.

C1:noun class 1 C2:noun class 2 C3:noun class 3 C7:noun class 7 ASS:associative marker SUBJ:subject marker DIR:directive CONJ:conjunction that appears specifically between serialized verbs

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