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Baldemu language

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Chadic language spoken in Cameroon
Baldemu
Mbazlam
Baldare
Native toCameroon
RegionFar North Province
Native speakers4 (2003)
Language familyAfro-Asiatic
Language codes
ISO 639-3bdn
Glottologbald1241
ELPBaldemu
Coordinates: 10°51′N 14°38′E / 10.850°N 14.633°E / 10.850; 14.633

Baldemu, or Mbazlam, is a nearly extinct Afro-Asiatic language spoken in northern Cameroon. Baldamu is spoken in Bogo commune, Diamaré department, Far North Region by only 5 speakers as of 2012. Speakers have been shifting to Fulfulde.

Name

The language is (or was) known as Baldemu or Baldare to its speakers. It is sometimes rendered Baldamu, Balda, Mbazlam, or Mbazla.

Baldamu is mentioned in Bryan and Westermann's Handbook of African Languages under the name Balda, suspected to be only a toponym. It is most closely related to Giziga, Mofu Duvangar, and Mofu Gudur according to C. Seignobos and H. Tourneux.

Status

Since migrating from the surrounding mountains to the village of Balda, Baldemu speakers have shifted to Fulfulde. Baldemu speakers who migrated to Kaélé similarly shifted to Mundang.

References

  1. ^ Baldemu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Gravina, R. (2011). Internal classification of Chadic Biu-Mandara. In Topics in Chadic Linguistics VI, Papers from the 5th Biennial International Colloquium on the Chadic Languages (pp. 67-84).
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Brye, E. (2003). A rapid appraisal language survey of the Baldemu language. SIL Electronic Survey Reports, 15, 13.

Further reading

  • MacEachern, S. (2002). Residuals and resistance: Languages and history in the Mandara Mountains. When languages collide: Perspectives on language conflict, language competition and language coexistence, 21-44.
  • Seignobos, C., & Tourneux, H. (1984). Note sur les Baldamu et leur langue (Nord-Cameroun). Africana Marburgensia, 17(1), 13-30.
  • Tourneux, H. (1987). Note complémentaire sur les Baldamu et leur langue. Africana Marburgensia, 20(1), 52-58.

External links

  • Baldemu at the Endangered Languages Project
Languages of Cameroon
Official languages
Major languages
Pidgins
Indigenous and Imnigrant languages
Sign languages
Immigrant languages
See also: General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages
Biu–Mandara languages
Tera (A.1)
Bura–Higi
Bura–Marghi (A.2)
Higi (A.3)
Others
Wandala
(Mandara) (A.4)
East
West
Others
Mafa (A.5)
Northeast
South (A)
South (B)
South (C)
South (D)
Others
Daba (A.7)
North
South
Bata
(Gbwata) (A.8)
Mandage
(Kotoko) (B.1)
North
South
Others
East–
Central
Munjuk (B.2)
Mida'a (< B.1)
Others
Others
Italics indicate extinct languages. See also: Chadic languages


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