View source for Feʼfeʼ language

{{Short description|Grassfields language spoken in Cameroon}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Feʼfeʼ
|altname=Nufi, Fotouni, Bafang<ref>[http://www.language-archives.org/language/fmp OLAC resources in and about the Feʼfeʼ language]. Open Language Archives.</ref>
|nativename=''Fèʼéfěʼè''
|states =[[Cameroon]]
|region=[[Haut-Nkam]] (Upper Nkam)
|ethnicity=[[Bamileke people|Bamileke Feʼefeʼe]]
|speakers=c. 140,000 
|date=2005
|ref=e18
|familycolor=Niger-Congo
|fam2=[[Atlantic–Congo]]
|fam3=[[Volta–Congo languages|Volta-Congo]]
|fam4=[[Benue–Congo]]
|fam5=[[Bantoid languages|Bantoid]]
|fam6=[[Southern Bantoid]]
|fam7=[[Grassfields languages|Grassfields]]
|fam8=[[Eastern Grassfields languages|Eastern Grassfields]]
|fam9=[[Mbam–Nkam languages|Mbam-Nkam]]
|fam10=[[Bamileke languages|Bamileke]]
|script=[[Latin script|Latin]]
|iso3=fmp
|glotto=fefe1239
|glottorefname=Feʼfeʼ
}}

[[File:Salut_nufi_mbə̄ə̄_lɑ́_flyers_promo.png | thumb | right | Communication in fe’efe’e translated to English and French ]]
'''Feʼfeʼ''' or commonly '''Feʼefeʼe''', also known as '''Nufi''' or '''Bafang''' ({{langx|fmp|Nufi}}), is a [[Bamileke language]] spoken in [[Cameroon]], around the town of [[Bafang]]. It was one of the four languages selected for ''option'' at the Collège Libermann at Douala (along with [[Duala language|Duala]], [[Basaa language|Basaa]] and [[Ghɔmálá' language|Ghɔmálá']]).<ref>{{cite book |first=Patrick |last=Renaud |chapter=Le Français au Cameroun |title=Le Français hors de France |editor-first=A. |editor-last=Valdman |publisher=Editions Honoré Champion |location=Paris |year=1979}}</ref>

==Phonology==

=== Consonants ===
Allophones are given in brackets. 

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Consonants<ref name=":0">{{Cite thesis |last=Hyman |first=Larry |date=1972 |degree=PhD |publisher=University of California |location=Los Angeles |title=A Phonological Study of Feʼfeʼ-Bamileke |url=https://linguistics.ucla.edu/images/stories/Hyman.1972.pdf}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPAlink|m}}
|{{IPAlink|n}}
|({{IPAlink|ɲ}})
|{{IPAlink|ŋ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
!<small>[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
|({{IPAlink|p}})
|{{IPAlink|t}}
|{{IPAlink|t͡ʃ}}
|{{IPAlink|k}}
|{{IPAlink|ʔ}}
|-
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|b}}
|{{IPAlink|d}}
|{{IPAlink|d͡ʒ}}
|{{IPAlink|ɡ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
!<small>[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|f}}
|{{IPAlink|s}}
|({{IPAlink|ʃ}})
|{{IPAlink|x}}
|
|-
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|v}}
|{{IPAlink|z}}
|({{IPAlink|ʒ}})
|({{IPAlink|ɣ}})
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|({{IPAlink|w}})
|({{IPAlink|l}})
|({{IPAlink|j}})
|
|
|}


=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Vowels<ref name=":0" />
!
!Front
!Mid
!Back
|-
!High
|{{IPAlink|i}}
|{{IPAlink|ɨ}}{{efn|Hyman (1972) uses {{IPAslink|ɯ}}, represented by {{angbr|ʉ}}.{{sfn|Hyman|1972|p=32}}}}
|{{IPAlink|u}}
|-
! rowspan="2" |Mid
|{{IPAlink|e}}
| rowspan="2" |(ə){{efn|Hyman (1972) uses {{IPAslink|ɤ}}.{{sfn|Hyman|1972|p=32}}}}
|{{IPAlink|o}}
|-
|({{IPAlink|ɛ}})
|({{IPAlink|ɔ}})
|-
!Low
|{{IPAlink|a}}
|
|{{IPAlink|ɑ}}
|}
{{noteslist}}

=== Tone ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Tone
!Low
!Raised-Low
!Mid
!High
|-
|Diacritic
|à
|ẚ
|a
|á
|-
|Example
|[pʉà]
|[pʉẚ]
|[pʉa]
|[pʉá]
|-
|Translation
|bag
|to bend over
|to go crazy
|two ''(2)''
|}
The language has a complex tone system, carefully described, along with other aspects of the phonology and morphology, in [[Larry Hyman|Hyman]] (1972).<ref name=":0"/>

== Writing system ==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Feʼfeʼ alphabet{{cn|date=May 2023}}
! Uppercase
| [[A (letter)|A]] || [[Ɑ]] || [[B (letter)|B]] || [[C (letter)|C]] || [[D (letter)|D]]
| [[E (letter)|E]] || [[Ə]] || [[F (letter)|F]] || [[G (letter)|G]] || [[Gh (digraph)|Gh]]
| [[H (letter)|H]] || [[I (letter)|I]] || [[J (letter)|J]] || [[K (letter)|K]] || [[L (letter)|L]]
| [[M (letter)|M]] || [[N (letter)|N]] || [[Ŋ]] || [[O (letter)|O]] || [[P (letter)|P]]
| [[S (letter)|S]] || [[Sh (digraph)|Sh]] || [[T (letter)|T]] || [[U (letter)|U]] || [[Ʉ]]
| [[V (letter)|V]] || [[W (letter)|W]] || [[Y (letter)|Y]] || [[Z (letter)|Z]] || [[Zh (digraph)|Zh]]
|| [[modifier letter apostrophe|ʼ]]
|-
! Lowercase
| a || ɑ || b || c || d
| e || ə || f || g || gh
| h || i || j || k || l
| m || n || ŋ || o || p
| s || sh || t || u || ʉ
| v || w || y || z ||zh
| ʼ
|}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Incubator|code=fmp}}
*[http://www.language-museum.com/encyclopedia/f/fefe.php Language Museum]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110823191455/http://opherden.com/Nufi_German.htm List of Nufi terms and their German translation]
*[http://www.resulam.com Résurrection des langues minoritaires]
*[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.resulam.lalphabam_new&hl=en Alphabet camerounais]

{{Languages of Cameroon}}
{{Grassfields Bantu languages}}

[[Category:Languages of Cameroon]]
[[Category:Bamileke languages]]


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{{gras-lang-stub}}