Ghomalaʼ language

Ghomalaʼ
Ghɔmáláʼ
Native toCameroon
RegionWest Region (Cameroon)
EthnicityBamileke
Native speakers
350,000 (2005)
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3bbj
Glottologghom1247

Ghomala or Ghɔmáláʼ is a major Bamileke language spoken in Cameroon, originally in the following departments of the West region:

Phonology

Consonants

Ghomalaʼ consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced b d ɡ
Affricate voiceless pf ts tʃ
voiced bv dz dʒ
Fricative voiceless f s (ʃ) h
voiced (v) (ʒ) (ɣ)
Approximant unrounded (l) j ɰ
rounded ɥ w

Vowels

Ghomalaʼ vowels
Front Central Back
Close i ʉ u
Mid e ə o
ɛ ɐ ɔ
Open a

Tone

Six-way tone contrast
ToneIsolationContext
H fɐ́⁵⁵'parent'ǒ ꜜjɔ́ fɐ́⁵⁵'you saw the parent'
ꜜH dhə́⁵⁵'spouse'ǒ ꜜjɔ́ ꜜdhə́⁴⁴'you saw the spouse'
L tsə̀²²'cola nut'ǒ ꜜjɔ́ tsə̀²²'you saw the cola nut'
LL tಹ'pot'ǒ ꜜjɔ́ tಹ'you saw the pot'
LH bvʉ̌²⁵'dog'ǒ ꜜjɔ́ ꜜbvʉ́⁴⁴'you saw the dog'
HL bɰə̂⁵¹'madman'ǒ ꜜjɔ́ bɰə̂⁵¹'you saw the madman'

Orthography

Ghomalaʼ alphabet
Majuscule forms (also called uppercase or capital letters)
ABBvCDDzEƏAəƐFGGhHIJKLMNNyNtŊŊkOƆPPfMpfRSShTTsUɄVZZhWYʼ
Minuscule forms (also called lowercase or small letters)
abbvcddzeəaəɛfgghhijklmnnyntŋŋkoɔppfmpfrsshttsuʉvzzhwyʼ
IPA phonemes (?)
abbvtʃddzeəɐɛfgɣhidʒklmnɲⁿtŋᵑkoɔppfᶬpfrsʃttsuʉvzʒwjʔ

References

  1. ↑ Ghomalaʼ at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. 1 2 Rolle 2025, p. 361, 362.
  3. 1 2 Nissim 1981.
  4. ↑ Nissim (1981, p. 150, 153) cited in Rolle (2025, p. 363)
  5. ↑ Kayum Fokoue 2011, p. 10, 11.

Bibliography