Kung language (Cameroon)

Kung
Kung
Native to	Cameroon
Native speakers	The Nzonko dialect was spoken during the 2000s, but now probably extinct. The Nkam dialect is originated from the frontier with Nigeria, today spoken a undated number of 12. The Zoro dialect was discovered in 2003, now at least 1 person remember words of this dialect. (2019)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo languages Benue–Congo languages Southern Bantoid languages Grassfields Ring Center Kung; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kfl
Glottolog	kung1260
ELP	Kung

Kung is a Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon.

Phonology

Consonants

Tatang (2016) enumerates 24 plain consonants, 9 prenasalized consonants, 7 labialized consonants, and 6 palatalized consonants, for a total of 46.

		Labial				Alveolar				Palatal (-alveolar)				Velar				Labial -velar	Glottal
		plain	pren.	pal.	lab.	plain	pren.	pal.	lab.	plain	pren.	pal.	lab.	plain	pren.	pal.	lab.	Labial -velar	Glottal
Nasal		m			mʷ	n				ɲ							ŋʷ
Plosive	voiceless					t	ⁿt	tʲ						k	ᵑk	kʲ	kʷ	kp	ʔ
Plosive	voiced	b	ᵐb	bʲ	bʷ	d	ⁿd								ᵑɡ			ɡb
Affricate	voiceless					ts				tʃ
Affricate	voiced		ᵐbv				ⁿdz			dʒ
Fricative	voiceless			fʲ	fʷ	s				ʃ			ʃʷ
Fricative	voiced					z	ⁿz			ʒ	ⁿʒ	ʒʲ		ɣ
Approximant						l		lʲ	lʷ	j							w
Trill		ʙ

Vowels

Tatang (2016) counts 10 vowel phonemes.

	Front	Central		Back
Close	i	ɨ	ʉ	u
Close-mid	e			o
Open-mid	ɛ			ɔ
Open		ä

Tones

Kung contrasts six tones: three level tones (high, mid, low) and three contour tones (rising, high-mid, and falling). Tatang (2016) argues that the contour tones are combinations of register tones.

References

↑ Kung at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
1 2 3 Tatang, Joyce Yasho (November 2016). Aspects of Kung Grammar (PDF) (MA thesis). University of Buea. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2023.

Di Carlo, Pierpaolo; Good, Jeff (2014). "What Are We Trying to Preserve? Diversity, Change, and Ideology at the Edge of the Cameroonian Grassfields". In Austin, Peter K.; Sallabank, Julia (eds.). Endangered Languages: Beliefs and Ideologies in Language Documentation and Revitalization. doi:10.5871/bacad/9780197265765.003.0012. ISBN 9780197265765.
Good, Jeff (2013). "A (micro-)accretion zone in a remnant zone?: Lower Fungom in areal-historical perspective". In Bickel, Balthasar; Grenoble, Lenore A.; Peterson, David A.; Timberlake, Alan (eds.). Language Typology and Historical Contingency: In honor of Johanna Nichols. Typological Studies in Language. Vol. 104. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 265–282.
Kießling, Roland (2019). "Salient features of the Kung noun class system in a Ring perspective". In Akumbu, Pius W.; Chie, Esther P. (eds.). Engagement with Africa: Linguistic Essays in Honor of Ngessimo M. Mutaka. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. pp. 139–161. ISBN 978-3-89645-768-4.
Lo, Ch'ang-p'ei (1945). "A Preliminary Study on the Trung Language of Kung Shan". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 8 (3/4): 343–348. doi:10.2307/2717821. JSTOR 2717821.

Schlenker, Rebecca (2012). Das Nominalklassensystem des Kung (Graslandbantu) (MA thesis). Universität Hamburg.

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

[Tatang-2] 1 2 3 Tatang, Joyce Yasho (November 2016). Aspects of Kung Grammar (PDF) (MA thesis). University of Buea. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2023.