Baldemu
Mbazlam
Baldare
Native toCameroon
RegionFar North Province
Native speakers
4 (2003)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3bdn
Glottologbald1241
ELPBaldemu
Coordinates: 10°51′N 14°38′E / 10.850°N 14.633°E / 10.850; 14.633

Baldemu, or Mbazlam, is a nearly extinct Afro-Asiatic language spoken in northern Cameroon. Baldamu is spoken in Bogo commune, Diamaré department, Far North Region by only 5 speakers as of 2012.[3] Speakers have been shifting to Fulfulde.[1]

Name

The language is (or was) known as Baldemu or Baldare to its speakers.[4] It is sometimes rendered Baldamu, Balda, Mbazlam, or Mbazla.[3]

Baldamu is mentioned in Bryan and Westermann's Handbook of African Languages under the name Balda, suspected to be only a toponym. It is most closely related to Giziga, Mofu Duvangar, and Mofu Gudur according to C. Seignobos and H. Tourneux.[3]

Status

Since migrating from the surrounding mountains to the village of Balda, Baldemu speakers have shifted to Fulfulde. Baldemu speakers who migrated to Kaélé similarly shifted to Mundang.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Baldemu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Gravina, R. (2011). Internal classification of Chadic Biu-Mandara. In Topics in Chadic Linguistics VI, Papers from the 5th Biennial International Colloquium on the Chadic Languages (pp. 67-84).
  3. 1 2 3 Binam Bikoi, Charles, ed. (2012). Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM) [Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon]. Atlas linguistique de l'Afrique centrale (ALAC) (in French). Vol. 1: Inventaire des langues. Yaoundé: CERDOTOLA. ISBN 9789956796069.
  4. 1 2 Brye, E. (2003). A rapid appraisal language survey of the Baldemu language. SIL Electronic Survey Reports, 15, 13.

Further reading

  • MacEachern, S. (2002). Residuals and resistance: Languages and history in the Mandara Mountains. When languages collide: Perspectives on language conflict, language competition and language coexistence, 21-44.
  • Seignobos, C., & Tourneux, H. (1984). Note sur les Baldamu et leur langue (Nord-Cameroun). Africana Marburgensia, 17(1), 13-30.
  • Tourneux, H. (1987). Note complémentaire sur les Baldamu et leur langue. Africana Marburgensia, 20(1), 52-58.
  • Baldemu at the Endangered Languages Project


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