Bube language explained

Bube
Bubi
States:Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Cameroon
Ethnicity:Bubi, Wovea
Speakers:51,000
Date:2011
Ref:e18
Familycolor:Niger-Congo
Fam2:Atlantic–Congo
Fam3:Volta-Congo
Fam4:Benue–Congo
Fam5:Bantoid
Fam6:Southern Bantoid
Fam7:Bantu
Fam8:Mbam-Bube-Jarawan
Protoname:Pre-Bube
Minority:Equatorial Guinea
Iso3:bvb
Lc1:bbx
Ld1:Bubia (Wovea)
Guthrie:A.31, A.221
Glotto:bube1242
Glottorefname:Bube
Map:Lenguas de Guinea Ecuatorial.png

Bube, Bubi, Bohobé or Bube–Benga (Bobe, Bubi) is a Bantu language spoken by the Bubi, a Bantu people native to, and once the primary inhabitants of Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea. The language was brought to Bioko from continental Africa more than three thousand years ago when the Bubi began settling on the island.[1]

It has around 50,000 speakers, with three variants: North, South and Central-East. It is noted for its tonal character and the divergence of words by gender. The language is also spoken by the Bubi native to Gabon and Cameroon.

The Bube language is divided into six different dialects that vary in the northern and southern regions of Bioko Island. For example, in the North, people speak Rebola and its variations: Basile, Banapa and Basupa. However, in the North-East, Bakake is spoken.

Bube is also spoken in a small area on the mainland closest to the island, where speakers are shifting to Wumboko.[2] This has been reported as "Bube", "Bubia" or "Wovea" (see Wovea people).

The first works on the Bube language were those of the Baptist missionary John Clarke, published in 1846 and 1848.[3] A later Bube-to-English primer was authored in 1875 by William Barleycorn, a colonial era Primitive Methodist missionary of Igbo and Fernandino descent, while he was serving in the Bubi village of Basupu. An official language dictionary and grammar guide was published by the ethnic Bubi scholar Justo Bolekia Boleká.

Other names

Other names and forms of the name include Bubé, eVoové, eBubée, Bhubhi, Bubi, Ibubi, Ibhubhi, Pove and Eviia.

Phonology

Vowels

Bube has 7 vowels that can be either short or long:

Vowel phonemes
FrontBack
Closepronounced as /link/ (pronounced as /link/)pronounced as /link/ (pronounced as /link/)
Close-midpronounced as /link/ (pronounced as /link/)pronounced as /link/ (pronounced as /link/)
Open-midpronounced as /link/ (pronounced as /link/)pronounced as /link/ (pronounced as /link/)
Openpronounced as /link/ (pronounced as /link/)

The nasal vowels are allophones of respective oral vowels.

Consonants

Bube has 29 consonants. Some of them are prenasalized:

Consonant Phonemes
LabialDental/
Alveolar
PalatalVelarGlottal
Nasalpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Stoppronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Fricativepronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
pronounced as /ink/
pronounced as /ink/
Approximantpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Rhoticpronounced as /ink/

Numbers

The numbers one through ten in Bube are as follows:[4]

NumberNorthern BubeNorthwestern BubeSouthern Bube
1 buule muule
2 eppa memba
3 betta metta
4 yeele myeeme
5 betto metto
6 ra'a
6
metto na muule
5+1
7 ra'a la buule
6+1
metto na memba
5+2
8 yeele ketoppa
4x2
ra'a la eppa
6+2
metto na metta
5+3
9 yeele ketoppa la buule
4x2+1
baa buule ka yo
10-1
metto na myeene
5+4
10 yo myo

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/19990903061913/http://www.equatorialguinea.org/event1390/event_show.htm?doc_id=2715 EquatorialGuinea.org; Retrieved 12/08/1998
  2. Harald Hammarström (2013) Review of the Ethnologue, 16th Ed.
  3. See Bibliography.
  4. C. Junyent, Las lenguas del mundo, p. 66