Ghomalaʼ language

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Ghomalaʼ
Ghɔmáláʼ
Native to	Cameroon
Region	West Region (Cameroon)
Ethnicity	Bamileke
Native speakers	350,000 (2005)^[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Grassfields Eastern Grassfields Mbam-Nkam Bamileke Ghomalaʼ
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	`bbj`
Glottolog	`ghom1247`

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

Mifi, Koung-Khi and Hauts-Plateaux: most of the three departments (except extreme south and except pockets in the north and west)
Menoua: east of the department
Bamboutos: a corner in the south

Phonology

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Consonants

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		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k	ʔ
Plosive	voiced	b	d ~ l		ɡ ~ ɣ
Affricate	voiceless	pf	ts	tʃ ~ ʃ
Affricate	voiced	bv ~ v	dz	dʒ ~ ʒ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s			h
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Approximant		w		j ɥ̈

The glottal stop /ʔ/ only occurs as word-final.
[v l ʃ ʒ ɣ] are allophones of /b͜v d t͜ʃ d͜ʒ ɡ/.
/t d/, when occurring before close front-central vowel sounds /i ʉ/, can sound palatalized as [tʲ dʲ].
Sounds /p b t d k/, when preceding a /h/ sound, are realized as affricated [p͡ɸ b͡β t͡θ d͡ð k͡x].^[2]
/ɡ/, when occurring before central vowel sounds /ə ɐ/, may sound affricated as [ɡ͡ɣ].
A word-final /k/ sound, may be realized as uvular sounds [q χ].

Vowels

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	Front	Central	Back
High	i	ʉ	u
Mid	e	ə	o
Mid	ɛ	ɐ	ɔ
Low		a

Sounds /ɐ u ɔ/ when occurring with a velar nasal /ŋ/, can be realized as nasalized vowel sounds [ɐ̃ ũ ɔ̃].^[3]

Tone

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Tones are marked as high [á], low [à], mid (unmarked) [a], rising [ǎ], or falling [â].

References

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↑ Ghomalaʼ at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
↑ Nissim, Gabriel M. (1981). Le Bamileke-Ghomáláʼ (parler de Bandjoun, Cameroun): phonologie - morphologie nominale; comparaison avec des parlers voisins. Langues et civilisations à tradition orale. Paris: SELAF. ISBN 978-2-85297-104-2.
↑ Nissim, Gabriel M. (1981). Le Bamileke-Ghomáláʼ (Parler de Bandjoun, Cameroun). Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Sciéntifique.

Ghomalaʼ language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

v t e Languages of Cameroon
Official languages	French English
Major languages	Bamum Bulu Duala Ewondo Fulfulde Kom Lamnso Medumba
Pidgins	Cameroonian Pidgin English Camfranglais Ewondo Populaire Arabic
Indigenous and Immigrant languages	Chadian Arabic Afade Aghem Babanki Bafaw-Balong Bafia Baka Baldemu Bamali Bambalang Bana Bangolan Bankon Bata Bati Batu Bebele Bebil Beti Bikya Bishuo Bitare Bomwali Bonkeng Bube Bung Buwal Byep Caka Ceve Chamba Leko Cuvok Daba Dowayo Ɗugwor Duli Eman Esimbi Eton Evant Faʼ Fang Fanji Feʼfeʼ Fut Gawar Ghomalaʼ Gidar Glavda Gude Gunu Gvoko Hausa Hdi Hijuk Hina Hya Ipulo Iyive Jimi Jina Kaalong Kako Kali Kanuri Kare Kera Ki Kogo Kol Koma Kpwe Kuo Kutin Kwaʼ Kwakum Kwasio Laʼbi Lagwan Limba Limbum Luo Maɗa Mafa Majera Makaa Malgbe Manenguba Mangbai Manza Maslam Massa Matal Mazagway Mbəʼ Mboa Mbudum Mbuko Mbule Mbum Mefele Məgaka Mengisa Menyam Merey Mesaka Mfumte Mofu-Gudur Moloko Mono Mpade Mpumpong Mser Mundang Mungaka Musgu Muyang Nagumi Ndaʼndaʼ Ndai Nen Ngaʼka Ngambay Ngiemboon Ngomba Ngombale Ngwe Nimbari Njem Njerep Nkongho Noho Noni North Giziga North Mofu Northwest Gbaya Nyokon Nyong Nzakambay Nzanyi Nzime Oblo Oroko Pam Papia Parkwa Pinyin Pol Pongo Psikyɛ Rombi Sharwa South Giziga Suwu Swo Tibea Tikar To Tsuvan Tupuri Vame Vemgo-Mabas Vengo Vere Voko Wom Wuzlam Yamba Yambe Yasa Yedina Yemba Yeni Zizilivakan Zulgo-Gemzek Zumaya
Sign languages	Francophone African Sign Language Maroua Sign Language
See also: General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages