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Baka language

Baka (also called Be-bayaga, Be-bayaka, and Bibaya de L’est) is a dialect clusterofUbangian languages spoken by the Baka PygmiesofCameroon and Gabon. The people are ethnically close related to the Aka, collectively known as the Mbenga (Bambenga).However, the languages are not related, apart from some vocabulary dealing with the forest economy, which suggests the Aka may have shifted to Bantu, with an estimated 15000 people have shifted.

Classification[edit]

Approximately 30% of Baka's vocabulary is not Ubangian. Much of this concerns a specialised forest economy, such as words for edible plants, medicinal plants, and honey collecting, and has been posited as the remnant of an ancestral Pygmy language which has otherwise vanished.^[2] However, apart from some words shared with the Aka, there is no evidence for a wider linguistic affiliation with any of the other Pygmy peoples.^[3]

Distribution[edit]

Baka is spoken much of the southeastern forest zone of Cameroon, in:^[4]

• Eastern Region
  • Kadey department (Ndélélé and Mbang communes)
  • Haut-Nyong department (Dimako, Doumé, Abong-Mbang, Lomié, and Ngoyla communes)
  • Boumba-et-Ngoko department (Moloundou, Yokadouma, and Gari-Gombo communes)
• Southern Region
  • Dja-et-Lobo department (Bengbis, Meyomessala, Sangmélima, Djoum, Oveng, and Mintom communes)

The Baka live together with other ethnic groups that are mainly located along the main roads. The Baka speak a language very close to that of the Ngbaka Ma'bo of the Central African Republic, which clearly indicates that the Baka of Cameroon had recently arrived from an area much further to the east. In Cameroon, they are referred to as Eastern Pygmies, as opposed to the Bagyali, Pygmy groups from Océan Department who speak a Bantu language (A80 subgroup). They number 25,000 in Cameroon. They are also found in Gabon (Phillips 1980) and in the Central African Republic.^[4]

Varieties[edit]

It is unclear if Gundi (Ngundi), Ganzi and Massa (Limassa), are mutually intelligible with Baka proper. Most Massa have shifted to Gundi, which is spoken by 9,000 people.^[1]

The Ngombe tribe speaks Gundi. It may have been confused in the literature with the Ngombe population speaking the Bangandu language.

Phonology[edit]

Consonants[edit]

/d͡z/ can also be heard as post-alveolar [d͡ʒ], among different dialects.^[5]

Vowels[edit]

^[6]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Baka Pygmies Culture and photos, with soundscapes of Baka camps in the rainforest
• Baka Forest People Archived 2008-12-11 at the Wayback Machine Information, videos, music and photos of the Baka from Moloundou region of Cameroon.
• Baka: A Highly Endangered Language of Northern Cameroun Baka information and word list
• ELAR collection: A documentation of the remnant Baka-Gundi language Limassa deposited by Benedikt Winkhart