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Mfumte language

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Mfumte
RegionCameroon
EthnicityMfumte
Native speakers
(24,700 Mfumte dialect cited 1982)[1]
6,000 Kwaja and Ndaktup (2000), unknown number Fum
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
nfu – Mfumte
fum – Fum
kdz – Kwaja (East Mfumte)
Glottologmfum1239  Mfumteic
fumm1238  Fum

Mfumte (Nfumte) is a Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon. It is not clear if the four varieties spoken by ethnic Mfumte—Ndaktup, Kwaja, Fum and Mfumte proper—are mutually intelligible or distinct languages; ability to communicate may be either due to inherent intelligibility or to bilingualism, while Fum and Mfumte may simply be the Nigerian and Cameroonian names for the same language.

Orthography

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The Mfumte alphabet has 40 letters, with 30 consonants and 10 vowels.[2]

Alphabet

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Mfumte alphabet[2]
Capital Lowercase IPA
Phoneme Allophones
A a /a/ [a]
B b /b/ [b]
Ch ch /t͡ʃ/ [t͡ʃ]
D d /d/ [d]
Dz dz /d͡z/ [d͡z]
E e /e/ [e], [ɛ]
Ə ə /ə/ [ə]
F f /f/ [f]
G g /g/ [g]
Gb gb /gb/ [gb]
Gh gh /ɣ/ [ɣ]
H h /h/ [h]
[ʔ]
I i /i/ [i]
Ɨ ɨ /ɯ/ [ɯ]
J j /d͡ʒ/ [d͡ʒ]
K k /k/ [k]
Kp kp /kp/ [kp]
L l /l/ [l]
M m /m/ [m]
N n /n/ [n]
Ny ny /ɲ/ [ɲ]
Ŋ ŋ /ŋ/ [ŋ]
O o /o/ [o]
Ɔ ɔ /ɔ/ [ɔ]
Ø ø /ø/ [ø]
P p /p/ [p]
R r /ɾ/ [ɾ]
S s /s/ [s]
Sh sh /ʃ/ [ʃ]
T t /t/ [t]
Ts ts /t͡s/ [t͡s]
U u /u/ [u]
Ʉ ʉ /y/ [y]
V v /v/ [v]
W w /w/ [w]
Wy wy /ɥ/ [ɥ]
Y y /j/ [j]
Z z /z/ [z]
Zh zh /ʒ/ [ʒ]

Multigraphs

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In addition to the single phonemes, Mfumte has prenasalized, palatalized, labio-palatalized, labialized, and velarized consonants.

Mfumte multigraphs[2]
Capital Lowercase IPA
Mp mp /ᵐp/
Mb mb /ᵐb/
Nt nt /ⁿt/
Nd nd /ⁿd/
Nk nk /ᵑk/
Ng ng /ᵑɡ/
Nkp nkp /ᵑᵐkp/
Ngb ngb /ᵑᵐgb/
Nts nts /ⁿt͡s/
Ndz ndz /ⁿd͡z/
Nj nj /ⁿd͡ʒ/
Mf mf /ᶬf/
Mv mv /ᶬv/
Ns ns /ⁿs/
Nsh nsh /ⁿʃ/
Ngh ngh /ᵑɣ/
Nh nh /ᵑh/
Py py //
By by //
Ky ky //
Gy gy //
Hy hy //
Mpy mpy /ᵐpʲ/
Mby mby /ᵐbʲ/
Nky nky /ᵑkʲ/
Ngy ngy /ᵑgʲ/
Mfy mfy /ᶬfʲ/
Nghy nghy /ᵑɣʲ/
Nhy nhy /ᵑhʲ/
Hwy hwy /hᶣ/
Nhwy nhwy /ᵑhᶣ/
Nghwy nghwy /ᵑɣᶣ/
Pw pw //
Kw kw //
Gw gw //
Fw fw //
Hw hw //
Nyw nyw /ɲʷ/
Nw nw //
Nkw nkw /ᵑkʷ/
Ngw ngw /ᵑgʷ/
Nghw nghw /ᵑɣʷ/
Nhw nhw /ᵑhʷ/
Bw bw /bᶭ/
Mbw mbw /ᵐbᶭ/

References

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  1. ^ Mfumte at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Fum at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Kwaja (East Mfumte) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b c Eyoh, Julius A.; Hedinger, Robert (June 2008). "Mfumte Orthography Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-03-16. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
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