Kwakum language

Kwakum
Native toCameroon
Native speakers
10,000 (2002)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3kwu
Glottologkwak1266
A.91[2]

Kwakum (ISO [kwu]) is classified as belonging to the Bantu subgroup A90 (Kaka) of the Zone “A” Bantu languages, and specifically labelled A91 by Guthrie.[3] According to one of the newest updates to the Bantu classification system,[4] other languages belonging to this subgroup are: Pol (A92a), Pɔmɔ (A92b), Kweso (A92C) and Kakɔ (A93). The Kwakum people refer to themselves (and their language) as either Kwakum or Bakoum (sometimes spelled Bakum). However, they say that the "Bakoum" pronunciation only began after the arrival of Europeans in Cameroon, though it is frequently used today.[5] Kwakum is mainly spoken in the East region of Cameroon, southwest of the city Bertoua.

  1. ^ Kwakum at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Guthrie, Malcolm. 1953. The Bantu languages of western equatorial Africa. London: Oxford University Press.
  4. ^ Maho, Jouni. 2003. A classification of the Bantu languages: An update of Guthrie’s referential system. In Derek Nurse & Gérard Philippson (eds.), The Bantu languages, 639–651. London: Routledge.
  5. ^ Hare, David (June 2018). "Tense in Kwakum Narrative Discourse" (PDF).