Bulu language

Bulu is a Bantu language of the Bulu people of Cameroon. The language had 174,000 native speakers in 1982, with some 800,000 second language speakers in 1991. Its dialects include Bene, Yelinda, Yembana, Yengono, and Zaman. Bulu was formerly used by colonial and missionary groups as a lingua franca in the region for commercial, educational, and religious purposes, though it is today becoming less frequent in those spheres.

Not to be confused with Bulu language (Oceanic).
Bulu
Bulu-Bene
Bulu (Nkobô Bulu)
RegionCameroon
EthnicityBulu people
Native speakers
860,000 (2007)[1]
Dialects
  • Bulu
  • Bene
Language codes
ISO 639-3bum
Glottologbulu1251
A.74[2]

Bulu belongs to the group of Beti languages and is intelligible with Eton, Ewondo, and Fang.

Distribution

Bulu speakers are concentrated primarily in Cameroon's South Province, with the largest number at Ebolowa and Sangmélima. Some speakers live in the Nyong-et-Mfoumou division of the Centre and the Haut-Nyong division of the East.

According to ALCAM (2012), Bulu is spoken in the departments of Mvila and Dja-et-Lobo (Southern Region), and also the south of the department of Haute-Sanaga (Central Region) where the Yezum dialect of Ewondo is also spoken. Along with the Yébékóló and Omvan languages, it is also spoken in the north of Nyong-et-Mfoumou department (Central Region) and part of Haut-Nyong department (south of Nguelemendouka commune, Eastern Region).[3]

Phonology

Consonants
Bilabial Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
plain lab.
Plosive voiceless p t c k ʔ
voiced b d ɟ ɡ
prenasal mb nd ŋɡ
Fricative voiceless f s h
voiced v z
prenasal ɱv
Affricate voiceless kp kpʷ
voiced ɡb ɡbʷ
prenasal-vl. ŋkp ŋkpʷ
prenasal-vd. ŋɡb ŋɡbʷ
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Lateral l
Approximant j w

Vowels/Nasals
Front Central Back
Close i ĩ u ũ
Close-mid e ẽ o
Mid ə
Open-mid ɛ ɔ ɔ̃
Open a ã

[4][5]

References
  1. Bulu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. Binam Bikoi, Charles, ed. (2012). Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM) [Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon]. Atlas linguistique de l'Afrique centrale (ALAC) (in French). Volume 1: Inventaire des langues. Yaoundé: CERDOTOLA. ISBN 9789956796069. |volume= has extra text (help)
  4. "Systèmes alphabétiques des langues africaines d'après Alphabets des langues africaines Unesco-SIL 1993". Alphabets des langues africaines. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
  5. Abomo-Maurin, Marie-Rose (2006). Parlons boulou: Langue bantou du Cameroun. L'Harmattan.


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