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] </ref>]]
The '''General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages''' is an ] system created in the late 1970s for all ].<ref name=Tadadjeu>Tadadjeu, Maurice and Etienne Sadembouo. 1979. . The '''General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages''' is an ] system created in the late 1970s for all ].<ref name=Tadadjeu>Tadadjeu, Maurice and Etienne Sadembouo. 1979. .
Departement des Langues Africaines et Linguistique, Université de Yaoundé, Cameroun.</ref><ref></ref> Consonant and vowel letters are not to contain diacritics, though {{angbr|ẅ}} is a temporary exception. The alphabet is not used sufficiently for the one unique letter, a ], to have been added to Unicode. Departement des Langues Africaines et Linguistique, Université de Yaoundé, Cameroun.</ref><ref></ref> Consonant and vowel letters are not to contain diacritics, though {{angbr|ẅ}} is a temporary exception. The alphabet is not used sufficiently for the one unique letter, a ], to have been added to Unicode; in any case, that letter has now been replaced.


] and ] were central to this effort. ] and ] were central to this effort.


==Consonants== ==Consonants==
Uncommon consonants that do not make a phonemic contrast within a language with similar but more common consonants are not provided for. These include {{IPA|/ɸ/, /β/, /θ/, /ð/}}. However, the alphabet provides a stock of digraphs for unknown sounds that may be discovered among unwritten languages in the future.<ref name=Sadembouo/>
{|class="wikitable" align=center {|class="wikitable" align=center
|+Cameroonian consonants<ref name=Tadadjeu/> |+Cameroonian consonants<ref name=Tadadjeu/><ref name=Sadembouo/>
|- |-
!colspan=2| ||Bilabial!!labio-<br>dental!!inter-<br>dental!!dental/<br>alveolar!!pre-<br>palatal!!palatal!!velar!!labio-<br>velar!!glottal !colspan=2| ||Bilabial!!labio-<br>dental!!inter-<br>dental!!dental/<br>alveolar!!pre-<br>palatal!!palatal!!velar!!labio-<br>velar!!glottal
|- |-
!rowspan=2|Stop||voiceless !rowspan=2|Stop||voiceless
|p|| || ||t|| || ||k||kp||] |p|| || ||t|| || ||k||kp||] {{IPA|}}
|- |-
!voiced !voiced
|b|| || ||d|| || ||g||gb|| |b|| || ||d|| || ||g||gb||
|- |-
!colspan=2|Implosive !colspan=2|Implosive/glottalized
|ɓ|| || ||ɗ|| ||ƴ|| || || |ɓ|| || ||ɗ|| ||ƴ {{IPA|}}|| || ||
|- |-
!rowspan=2|Affricate||voiceless !rowspan=2|Affricate||voiceless
| ||pf||tf||ts||c|| || ||kf|| | ||pf||tf||ts||c {{IPA|}}|| || ||kf||
|- |-
!voiced !voiced
| ||bv||dv||dz||j|| || ||gv|| | ||bv||dv||dz||j {{IPA|}}|| || ||gv||
|- |-
!rowspan=2|Fricative||voiceless !rowspan=2|Fricative||voiceless
| ||f|| ||s||sh|| ||x||xf||h | ||f|| ||s||sh {{IPA|}}||hy ||x||xf||h
|- |-
!voiced !voiced
| ||v|| ||z||zh|| ||gh||hv|| | ||v|| ||z||zh {{IPA|}}|| ||gh {{IPA|}}||hv||
|- |-
!colspan=2|Nasal !colspan=2|Nasal
|m|| || ||n|| ||ny||ŋ||ŋm|| |m|| || ||n|| ||ny {{IPA|}}||ŋ||ŋm||
|- |-
!rowspan=3|Lateral||approximant !rowspan=3|Lateral||approximant
| || || ||l|| || || || || | ||lv || ||l|| || || || ||
|- |-
!{{nowrap|voiceless fric.}} !{{nowrap|voiceless fric.}}
| || || ||sl|| || || || || | || || ||sl {{IPA|}}|| || || || ||
|- |-
!voiced fric. !voiced fric.
| || || ||zl|| || || || || | || || ||zl {{IPA|}}|| || || || ||
|- |-
!colspan=2|Vibrant !colspan=2|Vibrant
|]**||vb|| ||r|| || || || || |br {{IPA|}}||vb {{IPA|}}|| ||r|| || || || ||
|- |-
!colspan=2|Glide !colspan=2|Glide
|ẅ|| || || || ||y|| ||w|| |ẅ|| || || || ||y|| ||w||
|} |}

<nowiki>**</nowiki> Like {{angbr IPA|ɓ}}, but with the top hook turned to the left.


Aspirated consonants are written ''ph, th, kh'' etc. Palatalized and labialized consonants are ''py, ty, ky'' and ''pw, tw, kw'' etc. Retroflex consonants are written either ''Cr'' or with a cedilla: ''tr, sr'' or ''ţ, ş'', etc. Prenasalized consonants are ''mb, nd, ŋg'' etc. Preglottalized consonants are ''ʼb, ʼd, ʼm'' etc. Geminant consonants are written double. Aspirated consonants are written ''ph, th, kh'' etc. Palatalized and labialized consonants are ''py, ty, ky'' and ''pw, tw, kw'' etc. Retroflex consonants are written either ''Cr'' or with a cedilla: ''tr, sr'' or ''ţ, ş'', etc. Prenasalized consonants are ''mb, nd, ŋg'' etc. Preglottalized consonants are ''ʼb, ʼd, ʼm'' etc. Geminant consonants are written double.


==Vowels== ==Vowels==
Vowels that appear phonetically in Cameroonian languages, but do not make phonemic distinctions, are not provided for. These include {{IPA|, , }}.<ref name=Sadembouo/>
{|class="wikitable" align=center {|class="wikitable" align=center
|+Cameroonian vowels<ref name=Tadadjeu> |+Cameroonian vowels<ref name=Tadadjeu/>
|- |-
! ||Front<br>unrounded||front/central<br>rounded||central/back<br>unrounded||back<br>rounded ! ||Front<br>unrounded||front<br>rounded||central<br>unrounded||back<br>unrounded||back<br>rounded
|- |-
!High !High
|i||ɨ ||ʉ ||u |i || ||ɨ ||ʉ {{IPA|}} ||u
|- |-
!Mid-high !Mid-high
|e||ø||ɤ||o |e ||ø || || ||o
|- |-
!Mid-low !Mid-low
|ɛ||œ||ə||ɔ |ɛ || ||ə || ||ɔ
|- |-
!Low !Low
|æ|| ||a/ɑ||α | || ||a ||α ||
|} |}


The descriptions of {{angbr|ɨ}} and {{angbr|ʉ}} are inconsistent, with {{angbr|ɨ}} being either IPA {{IPA|}} or {{IPA|}}. The identifications above are how they are described with actual examples.<ref name=Tadadjeu/>{{rp|27}} Additional IPA vowels are available if needed.<ref name=Tadadjeu/>{{rp|13}}
⚫ {{angbr|ɨ}} and {{angbr|ʉ}} do not have their IPA values. {{angbr|ɨ}} is a rounded (IPA or ) and {{angbr|ʉ}} is an unrounded (IPA or ). Long vowels are written double. Nasal vowels may be written with a cedilla: ''a̧'' etc. or with a single following nasal consonant: ''aŋ'' etc. (presumably assimilating to any following consonant), in which case would be written with a double nasal: ''aŋŋ'' etc. Harmonic vowels are written with a sub-dot, as {{angbr IPA|bibị}} for {{IPA|}}.

⚫ Long vowels are written double. Nasal vowels are written with a cedilla: ''a̧'' etc., rather than with a tilde to leave room for tone marking, or with a single following nasal consonant: ''aŋ'' etc. (presumably assimilating to any following consonant), in which case would be written with a double nasal: ''aŋŋ'' etc. Harmonic vowels are written with a sub-dot, as {{angbr IPA|bibị}} for {{IPA|}}.{{what|date=December 2024}}


==Tones== ==Tones==
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{{Languages of Cameroon}} {{Languages of Cameroon}}

Latest revision as of 16:44, 8 January 2025

B with a left hook, a letter unique to the General Alphabet. It is now apparently replaced by ⟨br⟩.

The General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages is an orthographic system created in the late 1970s for all Cameroonian languages. Consonant and vowel letters are not to contain diacritics, though ⟨ẅ⟩ is a temporary exception. The alphabet is not used sufficiently for the one unique letter, a bilabial trill, to have been added to Unicode; in any case, that letter has now been replaced.

Maurice Tadadjeu and Etienne Sadembouo were central to this effort.

Consonants

Uncommon consonants that do not make a phonemic contrast within a language with similar but more common consonants are not provided for. These include /ɸ/, /β/, /θ/, /ð/. However, the alphabet provides a stock of digraphs for unknown sounds that may be discovered among unwritten languages in the future.

Cameroonian consonants
Bilabial labio-
dental		 inter-
dental		 dental/
alveolar		 pre-
palatal		 palatal velar labio-
velar		 glottal
Stop voiceless p t k kp ʼ
voiced b d g gb
Implosive/glottalized ɓ ɗ ƴ
Affricate voiceless pf tf ts c kf
voiced bv dv dz j gv
Fricative voiceless f s sh hy x xf h
voiced v z zh gh hv
Nasal m n ny ŋ ŋm
Lateral approximant lv l
voiceless fric. sl
voiced fric. zl
Vibrant br vb r
Glide ẅ y w

Aspirated consonants are written ph, th, kh etc. Palatalized and labialized consonants are py, ty, ky and pw, tw, kw etc. Retroflex consonants are written either Cr or with a cedilla: tr, sr or ţ, ş, etc. Prenasalized consonants are mb, nd, ŋg etc. Preglottalized consonants are ʼb, ʼd, ʼm etc. Geminant consonants are written double.

Vowels

Vowels that appear phonetically in Cameroonian languages, but do not make phonemic distinctions, are not provided for. These include , , .

Cameroonian vowels
Front
unrounded		 front
rounded		 central
unrounded		 back
unrounded		 back
rounded
High i ɨ ʉ u
Mid-high e ø o
Mid-low ɛ ə ɔ
Low a α

The descriptions of ⟨ɨ⟩ and ⟨ʉ⟩ are inconsistent, with ⟨ɨ⟩ being either IPA or . The identifications above are how they are described with actual examples. Additional IPA vowels are available if needed.

Long vowels are written double. Nasal vowels are written with a cedilla: a̧ etc., rather than with a tilde to leave room for tone marking, or with a single following nasal consonant: aŋ etc. (presumably assimilating to any following consonant), in which case would be written with a double nasal: aŋŋ etc. Harmonic vowels are written with a sub-dot, as ⟨bibị⟩ for .

Tones

Tone is written as in the IPA, with the addition of a vertical mark for mid-low tone: ⟨á ā a̍ à, â ǎ⟩ etc. (the opposite of the value of the vertical mark elsewhere). Where rising and falling tones only occur on long vowels, they are decomposed: ⟨áà, àá⟩ etc. The high tone mark is used for contrastive stress in languages that do not have tone.

See also

References

  1. ^ Etienne Sadembouo. 2023. Alphabet Générale des Langues Camerounaises : 1979-2019, quel accueil et quelle perspective après 40 ans d’adoption ?
  2. ^ Tadadjeu, Maurice and Etienne Sadembouo. 1979. Alphabet Générale des Langues Camerounaises. Departement des Langues Africaines et Linguistique, Université de Yaoundé, Cameroun.
  3. Bird, Stephen. 2001. "Orthography and Identity in Cameroon."

External links

Languages of Cameroon
Official languages
Major languages
Pidgins
Indigenous and Imnigrant languages
Sign languages
Immigrant languages
See also: General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages
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