Makaa–Njem languages

The Makaa–Njem languages are a group of Bantu languages spoken in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo. They are coded Zone A.80 in Guthrie's classification.

Makaa–Njem
Geographic distribution	Southern Cameroon and neighbouring areas
Linguistic classification	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Bantu (Zone A.80–90) Makaa–Njem
Subdivisions	Mvumboic (Kwasio) Pomo–Bomwali
Glottolog	maka1323
The Makaa–Njem languages (excluding Kako)

According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), adding the Kako languages (Guthrie's A.90) forms a valid node, called Pomo–Bomwali (Kairn Klieman 1997).

Languages

Kako

The Guthrie Kako (A.90) languages are:

• Kwakum
• Pol (Pomo, Kweso)
• Kako.

Makaa–Njem

The Guthrie Makaa–Njem (A.80) languages are:

Language name	Primary location	Secondary location(s)	Ethnic group(s)	No. speakers[1]	Remarks
Bekwel	Congo	Cameroon, Gabon	Bekwel	12,060	Close to Nkonabeeb and Koonzime. Cameroonian speakers also use Mpongmpong.[2]
Bomwali	Congo	Cameroon	Bomwali	39,280
Byep	Cameroon	None	Maka	9,500	Also called North Makaa, though not intelligible with Makaa.[3]
Kol	Cameroon	Gabon	Bekol	12,000	Speakers use Makaa or Koonzime as well.[4]
Koonzime	Cameroon	None	Badwe'e, Nzime	30,000	Badwe'e speak Koozime dialect; Nzime speak Koonzime dialect. Used as a second language by many Baka.[5]
Makaa	Cameroon	None	Maka	80,000	Related to Byep (North Makaa) and Kol, although unintelligible with them.[6]
Mpiemo	Central African Republic	Cameroon, Congo	Mbimu	29,000
Mpumpong	Cameroon	None	Nkonabeeb	45,000
Ngumba (Kwasio)	Cameroon	Equatorial Guinea	Mabi, Ngumba, Bujeba, Gyele (Koya, Kola)	22,000	The Gyele are Pygmies
Njyem	Cameroon	Congo	Njyem	7,000	Spoken by many Baka as a second language.[7]
Swo	Cameroon	None	Swo	9,000	High level of influence from Beti.[8]
Ukhwejo	Central African Republic	None	Benkonjo	2,000

Maho (2009) adds Shiwe (Oshieba) of central Gabon.

Glottolog classifies the languages as follows:[9]

• Mvumboic: Gyele, Kwasio, Shiwe
• Pomo–Bomwali
  • Kako (A.90): Kako, Kwakum, Pomo
  • Ndzem–Bomwali
    • Bekwilic: Bekwil, Mpiemo–Ukhwejo, Mpongmpong
    • Bomwali
    • Makaaic: Byep, Kol, Makaa, So
    • Njemic: Koonzime, Njyem
    • Yambe

Notes

1. All totals are based on the relevant Ethnologue pages.
2. "Bekwel", Ethnologue.
3. "Byep", Ethnologue.
4. "Kol", Ethnologue.
5. "Koonzime", Ethnologue.
6. "Kol", Ethnologue.
7. "Njyem", Ethnologue.
8. "So", Ethnologue.
9. Hammarström, Harald; Forke, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2020). "Makaa-Njem (A.80)". Glottolog 4.3.

References

• Nurse & Philippson (2003), The Bantu Languages.
• Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005). Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th ed. Dallas: SIL International. Accessed 7 June 2006.