Feʼfeʼ
Nufi, Fotouni, Bafang[1]
Fèʼéfěʼè
Native toCameroon
RegionHaut-Nkam (Upper Nkam)
EthnicityBamileke Feʼefeʼe
Native speakers
c. 140,000 (2005)[2]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3fmp
Glottologfefe1239

Feʼfeʼ or commonly Feʼefeʼe, also known as Nufi or Bafang (Fe'fe': Nufi), is a Bamileke language spoken in Cameroon, around the town of Bafang. It was one of the four languages selected for option at the Collège Libermann at Douala (along with Duala, Basaa and Ghɔmálá').[3]

Writing system

Feʼfeʼ alphabet
Uppercase ABCD EƏFGGh HIJKL MNŊOP SShTUɄ VWYZZh ʼ
Lowercase aɑbcd eəfggh hijkl mnŋop sshtuʉ vwyzzh ʼ

Phonology

Consonants

Allophones are given in brackets.

Labial Dental Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n (ɲ) ŋ
Plosive voiceless (p) t t͡ʃ k ʔ
voiced b d d͡ʒ ɡ
Fricative voiceless f s (ʃ) x
voiced v z (ʒ) (ɣ)
Approximant (w) (l) (j)

[4]

Vowels

Front Mid Back
High i ɨ u
Mid e (ə) o
(ɛ) (ɔ)
Low a ɑ

[4]

Tone

The language has a complex tone system, carefully described, along with other aspects of the phonology and morphology, in Hyman (1972).[4]

References

  1. OLAC resources in and about the Feʼfeʼ language. Open Language Archives.
  2. Feʼfeʼ at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  3. Patrick Renaud, Le Français au Cameroun in: Le Français hors de France sous la direction de A. Valdman, Editions Honoré Champion, Paris, 1979.
  4. 1 2 3 Hyman, Larry (1972). "A Phonological Study of Feʼ Feʼ Bamileke" (PDF).


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