Kwaʼ language

Kwaʼ
Kwaʼ
Region	Cameroon
Ethnicity	Bamileke
Native speakers	(1,000 cited 2000)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Grassfields Eastern Grassfields Mbam-Nkam Bamileke Kwaʼ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bko
Glottolog	kwaa1265

Kwaʼ (Bakwa) is a minor Bamileke language of Cameroon.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants^[2]
		Bilabial	Labio-dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal	Labial-velar
Plosive	voiceless			t			k	ʔ
	voiced	b		d			g
	prenasalized	ᵐb		ⁿd	ᶮdʒ		ᵑg
Nasal		m		n		ɲ	ŋ
Affricate	voiceless		pf		tʃ		kx
Affricate	voiced		bv		dʒ
Fricative	voiceless		f	s				h
Fricative	voiced		v				ɣ
Lateral				l
Approximant						j			w

This analysis differs from that of Tientcheu Tchameni (2008), who did not find /ʔ/, /pf/, /bv/, or /ɣ/. In contrast, Tientcheu Tchameni (2008) found /p/, /gɣ/, /ɰ/, /kf/, and /x/, which Talla Sandeu did not.^[3]

Vowels

Vowels^[4]
	Front				Central		Back
	[-round]		[+round]		Central		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i				ʉ	ʉː	u	uː
Close-mid	e	eː	ø	øː	ə	əː
Open-mid	ɛ				ə	əː	ɔ	ɔː
Open					a	aː

Tientcheu Tchameni (2008) did not include /ə/ or /əː/^[4] but did include /ɨ/, /o/, and /ɛː/.^[5]

Tones

Talla Sandeu (2020) and Tientcheu Tchameni (2008) agree on the number and characteristics of the tones. There are three simple tones (high, mid, and low) and two complex tones (rising and falling).^[6] Syllabic nasals can only carry simple tones, e.g., [m̀fū] 'leaf'.^[7]

Notes

↑ Kwaʼ at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
↑ Talla Sandeu 2020, pp. 29–30.
↑ Talla Sandeu 2020, p. 25, citing Tientcheu Tchameni 2008
1 2 Talla Sandeu 2020, p. 30.
↑ Talla Sandeu 2020, p. 20, citing Tientcheu Tchameni 2008, p. 40
↑ Talla Sandeu 2020, pp. 21, 29.
↑ Talla Sandeu 2020, p. 29.

References

Talla Sandeu, Cyrille (February 2020). De la standardisation du kwáʔ: D'une esquisse morphologique à l'orthographe (Master's thesis) (in French). University of Yaoundé I. HAL dumas-04283636.
Tientcheu Tchameni, N. N. (2008). Ésquisse phonologique du kwá' (code ALCAM 990) et proposition d'une orthographe (Master's thesis) (in French). Dschang: Université de Dschang.

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[e18-1] Kwaʼ at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[FOOTNOTETalla_Sandeu202029–30-2] Talla Sandeu 2020, pp. 29–30.

[3] Talla Sandeu 2020, p. 25, citing Tientcheu Tchameni 2008

[FOOTNOTETalla_Sandeu202030-4] 1 2 Talla Sandeu 2020, p. 30.

[5] Talla Sandeu 2020, p. 20, citing Tientcheu Tchameni 2008, p. 40

[FOOTNOTETalla_Sandeu202021,_29-6] Talla Sandeu 2020, pp. 21, 29.

[FOOTNOTETalla_Sandeu202029-7] Talla Sandeu 2020, p. 29.

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