Bana
Native toCameroon
RegionFar North Region, Cameroon
Native speakers
23,000 (2007)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3bcw
Glottologbana1305
ELPBana
Bana
Languagekoma kabana

Bana is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in northern Cameroon. Dialects include Gamboura and Gili.[1]

Bana is spoken in the canton of Guili, in the northern part of the commune of Bourrha (department of Mayo-Tsanaga, Far North Region). The speakers call their language koma kabana 'the language of the Bana'.[2]

Phonology

Consonants
LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarLabialized velarUvularLabialized uvularGlottal
Nasal mnŋŋʷ
Voiceless plosive ptkʔ ʔʷ
Voiced plosive bdɡɡʷ
Prenasalized plosive mbnd ndzŋɡŋɡʷ
Implosive ɓɗ
Affricate ts dz
Fricative f vs zχ ʁχʷ ʁʷ
Flap ɾ
Approximant jw

The vowels of Bana are /ɨ ə ɛ/, which can occur with high, falling, low, or rising tone. [3]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Bana at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. 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.
  3. Hofmann, Erica. 1990. A preliminary phonology of bana. University of Victoria. (MA thesis).

References


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