Feʼfeʼ or commonly Feʼefeʼe, also known as Nufi or Bafang (Fe'fe': Nufi), is a Bamileke language spoken in Cameroon, around the town of Bafang. It was one of the four languages selected for option at the Collège Libermann at Douala (along with Duala, Basaa and Ghɔmálá').[3]
Writing system
| Uppercase | A | Ɑ | B | C | D | E | Ə | F | G | Gh | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | Ŋ | O | P | S | Sh | T | U | Ʉ | V | W | Y | Z | Zh | ʼ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase | a | ɑ | b | c | d | e | ə | f | g | gh | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | ŋ | o | p | s | sh | t | u | ʉ | v | w | y | z | zh | ʼ |
Phonology
Consonants
Allophones are given in brackets.
| Labial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | (ɲ) | ŋ | ||
| Plosive | voiceless | (p) | t | t͡ʃ | k | ʔ |
| voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | (ʃ) | x | |
| voiced | v | z | (ʒ) | (ɣ) | ||
| Approximant | (w) | (l) | (j) | |||
Vowels
| Front | Mid | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ɨ[a] | u |
| Mid | e | (ə)[b] | o |
| (ɛ) | (ɔ) | ||
| Low | a | ɑ |
Tone
| Tone | Low | Raised-Low | Mid | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diacritic | à | ẚ | a | á |
| Example | [pʉà] | [pʉẚ] | [pʉa] | [pʉá] |
| Translation | bag | to bend over | to go crazy | two (2) |
The language has a complex tone system, carefully described, along with other aspects of the phonology and morphology, in Hyman (1972).[4]
References
- ^ OLAC resources in and about the Feʼfeʼ language. Open Language Archives.
- ^ Feʼfeʼ at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Renaud, Patrick (1979). "Le Français au Cameroun". In Valdman, A. (ed.). Le Français hors de France. Paris: Editions Honoré Champion.
- ^ a b c Hyman, Larry (1972). A Phonological Study of Feʼfeʼ-Bamileke (PDF) (PhD thesis). Los Angeles: University of California.
- ^ a b Hyman 1972, p. 32.
External links
- Language Museum
- List of Nufi terms and their German translation
- Résurrection des langues minoritaires
- Alphabet camerounais
