Yemba language

Yemba
Yemba
Ashuŋne yémba
Dschang
Region	Cameroon
Ethnicity	Bamileke
Native speakers	~500,000 (2023)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Grassfields Eastern Grassfields Mbam-Nkam Bamileke West Bamileke Bamboutos Yemba; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ybb
Glottolog	yemb1246

Yɛmba or Yemba, also Yémba or Bamiléké Dschang, is a major Bamileke language in West Region of Cameroon. It was approximately spoken by 500,000 or so people in the country in 2023.^[1]

Despite originally being exclusively a spoken language, Yemba writing was developed by Maurice Tadadjeu (co-creator of the General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages) and Steven Bird. Their team developed a small Yemba - French Dictionary covering French translations of over 3,000 Yemba words and expressions.^[2] The Yemba alphabet is a subset of the International Phonetic Alphabet.

A machine backwards transformation of the dictionary was performed by independent scientists who created the French translation of Yemba words. The resulting dictionary was extended with French synonyms from the French version of the WordNet database. Furthermore, over 6,000 English, German, Czech, Spanish, Italian and Chinese words and expressions were translated into Yemba. A major outcome of this project is a collaborative online platform for extending Yemba translations and promoting the learning of the Yemba language. ^[3]

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	(p)	t		k	ʔ
Plosive	voiced	b	d		ɡ
Affricate		p͡f	t͡s	t͡ʃ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ
Fricative	voiced	v	z	ʒ	(ɣ)
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Rhotic			(r)
Approximant	lateral		(l)
Approximant	central	w		j

Sounds /t͡ʃ ʃ ʒ/ are included as phonemes in some analyses. In most analyses, they are considered as allophones of /t͡s s z/.
Sounds [p l ɣ] are consonant alternation sounds between the following consonants /b d ɡ/.
Alternation sounds of /j w/ are labialized and palatalized sounds [ɡʲ ɡʷ].
Graphemes of the alterations and allophones [t͡ʃ ʃ ʒ p l] are noted in the Yemba alphabet as c sh j p l.
An /r/ sound can also be included in the current language, and written in the Yemba alphabet as r.
The prosodies of palatalization and labialization [ʲ ʷ], are written orthographically with lowercase graphemes y w.
A grapheme for aspiration [ʰ] among consonants is written as h.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i	ʉ	u
Mid	e		o
Mid	ɛ		ɔ
Low		a

/ʉ/ is included as a phoneme in some analyses. In more abstract analyses, it is considered as a palatalization of /u/.
Vowel length is distinguished using double vowel sounds (ex. aa [aː])

Tone

Three tones are marked as high [á], mid [ā], or low [à]. Low tones are unmarked when written.^[4]

Orthography

Alphabet

The Yemba alphabet consists of 32 letters, including letters from the Latin alphabet as well as special graphemes.

Yemba alphabet
Uppercase	A	B	C	D	E	Ə	Ɛ	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	Ŋ	O	Ɔ	P	Pf	S	Sh	T	Ts	U	Ʉ	V	W	Y	Z	'
Lowercase	a	b	c	d	e	ə	ɛ	f	g	h	I	j	k	l	m	n	ŋ	o	ɔ	p	pf	s	sh	t	ts	u	ʉ	v	w	y	z	'

Although the letter "r" is not included in the Yemba alphabet, it is noteworthy that it appears in a few words, such as "mbrɛ", which means "bread". These instances are primarily words of foreign origin. Furthermore, the word "mbrɛ" can also be written as "mblɛ", just like "Rosi", meaning Russia, can be spelled "Losi". This situation raises the issue of standardizing loanwords that contain letters foreign to the Yemba language, so that these words adhere to the orthographic criteria of the language.

References

^ ^a ^b Yemba at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
^ Bird, Steven; Maurice, Tadadjeu (1997). Petit Dictionnaire Yémba - Français (PDF). ANACLAC (Association Nationale des Comités de langues du Cameroun).
^ "Yemba.net - Online Dictionaries and Learning Tools for the Yemba Language". Aleco. 2012-03-13. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
^ Harro, Gretchen; Haynes, Nancy (1991). Grammar Sketch of Yemba. Yaoundé: SIL.