Kpwe language

Not to be confused with Mboko language.

Kpwe (Mokpwe) is a Bantu language of Cameroon. It is mutually intelligible with Kole, and probably with Mboko (Wumboko) as well.

Kpwe
Mokpwe
Native to	Cameroon
Ethnicity	Kpwe, Mboko
Native speakers	(25,000 cited 2000–2014)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu (Zone A) Sawabantu (A.20) Kpwe
Dialects	Kole Mboko
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: bri – Kpwe bqm – Mboko (Wumboko) kme – Kole (Bakole)
Glottolog	mokp1239  Mokpwe wumb1241  Wumboko bako1250  Bakole
Guthrie code	A.21,22,231
ELP	Bakole

People	Bekpak
Language	Rikpa

There are multiple variants of the name: based on 'Kpwe' (Bakpwe, Mokpwe), on 'Kpe' (Mokpe), on 'Kweɾi' (Kwedi, Kweli, Kwili, Kwiri, Bakwedi, Bakwele, Bakweri, Vakweli, Bekwiri), as well as Ujuwa and Vambeng.

Phonology

The Kpwe phonological inventory is as follows,

Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Close-mid	e	o
Open-mid	ɛ	ɔ
Open	a

Consonants

		Bilabial	Coronal	Palatal	Velar	Labiovelar
Nasal		m	n	ɲ		ŋʷ · ŋm
Plosive	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿd	ᶮdʒ	ᵑɡ	ᵑɡb
	voiced	(b)		dʒ	(ɡ)	ɡb
	voiceless	(p)	t		k	kp
Fricative	voiceless	ɸ
	voiced	β
Rhotic			zr§
Lateral			l
Approximant				j		w

^§/zr/, the 'liquidized alveolar fricative', may be realized as [zr], [ʒr], [rz] or [rʒ]. This sound is rendered /s/ in some sources, and is cognate to /s/ in Bubia.

/p/ and /ɡ/ in parentheses are only found in loans, while /b/ is very uncommon and in many inflections freely alternates as [w].

Tone

Kpwe contrasts five tones on short syllables: high, downstepped high, low, rising and falling.

Literature

The first portions of the Bible were made available in Mokpwe in 2009. This was followed by the New Testament, translated with help from the Bakweri Language and Literacy Association, (BALALIA) on 29 March 2025. The New Testament is available online, in places such as YouVersion.