| Kenyang | |
|---|---|
| Nyang | |
| Native to | Cameroon |
| Native speakers | (65,000 cited 1992) |
| Language family | Niger–Congo? |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ken |
| Glottolog | keny1279 |
Kenyang (Nyang, Banyang, Manyang) is the most spoken language of the Mamfe language group. It is spoken in the Manyu and Meme departments of the Southwest Region of Cameroon. Kenyang speakers in Cameroon are known as Bayangi (Bayangui) people and are called Bayangi (Bayangui).
There are three main dialects of Kenyang: Lower Kenyang, spoken in Eyumojock and Mamfe Central subdivisions, Upper Kenyang, spoken in Upper Bayang subdivision and Kitwii, spoken in Meme department. The Upper Kenyang and Lower Kenyang dialects are more closely related to each other than to Kitwii. Variant names of Kitwii include, Kicwe, Twii, Bakoni, Northern Balong, Upper Balong and Manyeman.
Phonology and orthography
The phonemes of Kenyang are listed in the tables below, with their orthographic representation written in angled brackets:
Consonants
| Consonant | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Alveolo-palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | ɲ ⟨ny⟩ | ŋ ⟨ŋ⟩ | |||
| Plosive | Voiceless | p ⟨p⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ | k ⟨k⟩ | k͡p ⟨kp⟩ | ||
| Voiced | b ⟨b⟩ | d ⟨d⟩ | ɡ ⟨g⟩ | ɡ͡b ⟨gb⟩ | |||
| Affricate | Voiceless | tʃ ⟨ch⟩ | |||||
| Voiced | dʒ ⟨j⟩ | ||||||
| Fricative | Voiceless | f ⟨f⟩ | s ⟨s⟩ | ||||
| Voiced | β ⟨bh⟩ | ɣ ⟨gh⟩ | |||||
| Trill | r ⟨r⟩ | ||||||
| Approximant | j ⟨y⟩ | w ⟨w⟩ | |||||
The voiceless stops /p t k/ are realized as unreleased word-finally: ('to descend'), ('to wipe') and ('to grind'). Before front vowels, /t/ and /d/ are in free variation between being dental and interdental: ('to sell') and ('coat'). Elsewhere /t/ and /d/ are alveolar. /m/ is realized as labiodental before /f/: ('buffalo').
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrounded | Rounded | |||
| Close | i ⟨i⟩ | ɨ ⟨ɨ⟩ | ɯ ⟨ʉ⟩ | u ⟨u⟩ |
| Close-mid | e ⟨e⟩ | o ⟨o⟩ | ||
| Open-mid | ɛ ⟨ɛ⟩ | ɔ ⟨ɔ⟩ | ||
| Open | a ⟨a⟩ | |||
All vowels in Kenyang become nasalized when following a nasal consonant, or when preceding a nasal consonant. For example, ('to chew'). /ɛ/ is realized as a close-mid central vowel in closed syllables: ('to wipe').
References
- Kenyang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- Mbuagbaw, Tanyi Eyong (September 2008). "The Standardisation and Modernisation of Kenyang". CiteSeerX 10.1.1.511.5303.
- Mbuagbaw, Tanyi Eyong (2000). Kenyang Segmental Phonology. Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy. pp. 19–45.
- Mbuagbaw, Tanyi Eyong (1999). Kenyang Orthography Guide. Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy. pp. 4–7.
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