Mundang language explained

Mundang
Nativename:	zah Mundaŋ
States:	Chad, Cameroon
Date:	1982–2019
Ref:	e26
Familycolor:	Niger-Congo
Fam2:	Atlantic–Congo
Fam3:	Mbum–Day
Fam4:	Mbum
Fam5:	Northern Mbum
Fam6:	Tupuri–Mambai
Dia1:	Kabi (Kieziere)
Dia2:	Zasing (Torrock-Kaélé, Yasing)
Dia3:	Gelama
Iso3:	mua
Glotto:	mund1325
Glottorefname:	Mundang

Mundang is an Mbum language of southern Chad and northern Cameroon.

The Gelama dialect of Cameroon may be a separate language.

Distribution

Mundang, spoken in Cameroon by 44,700 speakers (SIL 1982), is mainly spoken in Mayo-Kani department, Far North Region, in the communes of Mindif, Moulvouday, and Kaélé. It is also spoken to a lesser extent in the south of Mayo-Kebi, in the east of Bibemi commune (Bénoué department, Northern Region), towards the Chadian border. Mundang of Lere (in Chad) and Mundang of Cameroon (centered in Lara and Kaélé) are highly similar.^[1]

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labio- velar	Glottal
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	voiced	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	prenasal	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	implosive	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Fricative	voiceless	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/
	voiced	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Nasal	voiced	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
	glottalized	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Tap		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Lateral			pronounced as /link/
Glide	central			pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
	glottalized			pronounced as /ʔj/		pronounced as /ʔw/

• /ɓ, ɗ/ may also be heard as laryngealized [ɓ̰, ɗ̰] among speakers.
• /ʔw/ can also be heard as two laryngealized allophones [ʔv̰, ʔw̰].
• Sounds /ɓ, k/ may be heard as fricatives [β, ɣ] in intervocalic positions.
• /h, w/ may be heard as palatal [ç, ɥ] when preceding /i/.
• /ɾ/ can also range to a retroflex [ɽ] among dialects or a trill [r] when geminated.

Vowels

Oral vowels!!Front!Central!Back

Close	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Near-close	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Close-mid	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Open-mid	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Open		pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/

• /ə/ may also range to a close [ɨ].^{[2] [3]}

Nasal vowels!!Front!Central!Back

Close	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Near-close	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Open-mid	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Open		pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/

Writing System

Mundang Alphabet

Majuscules	A	B	Ɓ	C	D	Ɗ	E	Ə	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	Ŋ	O	P	R	S	T	U	V	W	Y	Z
Minuscules	a	b	ɓ	c	d	ɗ	e	ə	f	g	h	i	j	k	l	m	n	ŋ	o	p	r	s	t	u	v	w	y	z

Nasalization is marked by a tilde: ã, ẽ, ə̃, ĩ, õ

Notes and References

1. Book: Binam Bikoi. Charles. 2012. Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM). Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon. 1: Inventaire des langues. fr. Yaoundé. CERDOTOLA. Atlas linguistique de l'Afrique centrale (ALAC). 9789956796069.
2. Book: Elders, Stefan . Grammaire Mundang . Leiden University . 2000.
3. Book: Elders, Stefan . Issues in comparative Kebi-Benue (Adamawa) . 2006 . In Africana Linguistica 12 . 37–88.