Mungbam language

Mungbam is a Southern Bantoid language of the Lower Fungom region of Cameroon. It is traditionally classified as a Western Beboid language, but the language family is disputed.^[2] Good et al. uses a more accurate name, the 'Yemne-Kimbi group,' but proposes the term 'Beboid.'^[3]

The language is spoken in four villages, Abar, Munken, Ngun, and Biya (formerly known as 'Za''^[4]). Speakers from each village consider their speech to be distinct, but the dialects are loosely classified as one language because they heavily overlap in grammar and vocabulary and are mutually intelligible.^[5] There is no name for the language as a whole. The village name Abar is sometimes used. The name "Mungbam" is a quasi-acronym of the village names plus Missong, which used to be considered a fifth dialect. Speakers from the four villages plus Missong regularly interact with each other in markets, at school, and during celebrations. The language is spoken by approximately 2,000 speakers across the villages, by some young people and all adults.^[6] Most Mungbam speakers now use Cameroonian pidgin to communicate with speakers of other languages. This does not seem to be contributing to the decline of Mungbam.^[7] Mungbam is classified as a threatened 6b language.^[6]