Oroko language
| Oroko | |
|---|---|
| Balondo | |
| Native to | Cameroon |
| Region | Southwest and Kribi |
Native speakers | (110,000 cited 2000)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bdu |
| Glottolog | orok1266 |
A.101 (ex-A.11,12)[2] | |
Oroko, also Bakundu-Balue or Balundu-Bima, is a Sawa Bantu dialect cluster spoken in Cameroon.
Varieties are Kundu/Nkundu (Lokundu, Bakundu), Lue (Lolue, Balue), Mbonge, Ekombe, Londo (Londo ba Nanga; cf. Londo), Londo ba Diko, Ngolo (Longolo; cf. Ngolo dialect), Bima, Tanga (Lotanga, Batanga), and Koko (Lokoko, Bakoko: distinct from Bakoko language). Maho (2009) treats these as ten distinct languages.
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]| Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Alveolar | Post-alv./ Palatal |
Velar | Labial- velar | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | lab. | |||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
| Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | kʷ[a] | k͡p | |
| voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡʷ | ||||
| prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮd͡ʒ | ᵑɡ | ᵑɡʷ[b] | ᵑᵐɡ͡b | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | ɸ[c] | f | s | ||||
| voiced/pren. | β[d] | ᶬf, ᶬv[e] | ||||||
| prenasal | ⁿf[f], ⁿv[g] | |||||||
| Liquid | l ~ r | |||||||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||||
- ^ is heard in the dialects of Londo, Lokundu, Longolo, Lokoko, Lotanga.
- ^ is heard in the Lotanga dialect.
- ^ is a realization of /f/ across dialects.
- ^ is a realization of /b/ across dialects.
- ^ is heard in the Longolo dialect.
- ^ is heard in the Lokoko dialect.
- ^ is heard in the Bima and Londo dialects.
- [r] is used interchangeably with /l/ among speakers.[3]
Vowels
[edit]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e | o | |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
Writing system
[edit]| a | b | c | ɗ | e | ɛ | f | i | j | k | kp | m | mb | n | nd | ng | ngb | nj | ny | ŋ | o | ɔ | s | t | u | w | y |
References
[edit]- ^ Oroko at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Friesen, Dan T. (2002). Oroko orthography development: Linguistic and sociolinguistic factors. University of North Dakota.
- ^ Oroko Language Development Committee (OLDC) (November 2004). ABC wa Oroko - The Oroko alphabet chart. OLDC.
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