By Hamilton Ayuk
Introduction.
This
is an overview of the Kenyang language spoken by the populations of Manyu and
Meme Divisions, South West Province of Cameroon in Central Africa. It is one of
the 286 languages of Cameroon
and about 65,000 people speak Kenyang in Cameroon that has two official
languages: French and English. Although not all the 65,000 users of Kenyang can
proficiently use French and English, it is worth noting that they all speak a
hybrid language called Pidgin and in this context, create a new dynamic for
survival for Kenyang that needs to adapt to allow its speakers to adequately
interact in this multilingual community. There are two major dialects of
Kenyang: Mamfe Central Kenyang (some say Lower Kenyang) and Upper Bayang
Kenyang. My objective is to trace the adaptability patterns of the Kenyang
language. This entails looking at the dynamics within Kenyang language both at
the morphological, lexical, phonological, semantic and syntactic levels, as
well as emphasizing on “morphology - the domain of maximum differentiation.”
Here is a sample of the Kenyang language.
Sample
of Kenyang Discourse.
Bhe
yӑ bho bhӑ sɨ chi sɨ bhe bӑ bwɛ ndakghӑ politik. Wɔ twɔ wjá me fӑ. Me chi nɔ fa
bhe yaŋ nkap. Me bhɛ ne nereket wah ndak nsai puɛ ndak politik. Mmandem aŋ jet
bhese maŋkem.
English Translation.
Many
people are telling lies that they ran to escape from political persecution. You
will kill me here. I am here to look for money. I ran with my family because of
hunger and not because of politics. (Forum member).
1.
THE ORIGIN.
A.
THE PEOPLE AND LANGUAGE
The
Bayang people are Bantus who hailed from Kanem Borno. The Kanem Borno Empire
was around Chad and Nigeria, and Bantu languages are spoken around this same area.
“Two thirds of Africa’s languages belong to the Niger-Congo phylum which
stretches from the western tip of the continent at Dakar, east to Mombasa, and
south to Capetown”.
Most clans were on their fourth to fifth migration before history was recorded,
so there is less record before written history of these people. Furthermore,
languages evolve as much as the people migrate; the reason for which we have
people in the Sudan Basin, Congo Basin and Chad Basin speaking either with the
same accent, intonation or just plainly speaking the same language. Some Sudan
basin languages in Cameroon are Bakossi, Pidgin, Douala,
Bali, Bulu and Bassa, Bakweri, Ngemba and Aghem, Balondo and Mungaaka.
Bayang: meaning son of Yang that migrated from Kanea Borneo from the Bantus
clan.
B.
MISNOMER
While
there is nothing like Banyangi or Banyangue because they are all
orthographic errors from poor ortheopy, Nyangi is an abbreviated
traducement from the former. While Manyaŋ is a singular term for Bayang, in
loose context it becomes a macrocosm of the entire linguistic group. On the
contrary, Mɔ (singular) and Bɔ (plural) are the adverbs denoting number in Mɔ
Manyang (singular) and Bɔ Manyaŋ (plural). In that context, Manyaŋ has the same
strength like Mɔ Manyaŋ and Bɔ Manyaŋ for Bayang. The Ba in front of Bayang is
a prefix for /son of/ similarly to Mc in McDaniel in the West. Consequently,
there is Bakossi, Bakweri, Bassa, Bakundu, Balundu, Bafaw etc.
Villages
were founded by an individual, who identified himself with the clan of his
forbear. Boh “The people of” is as an expansion with the development of the
clan, tribe or village. An example is Ntenako (the cleanest town in Manyu
Division), was founded by Chief Tanyi Mbi who left and went back to the congregation
to call the rest to follow him. That is why the people of Ntenako are called boh
and pronounced /Bɔ/ Tanyi Mbi. Abinitio,
the prefix went with /mɔ/ (singular) Tanyi Mbi which is “son of Tanyi Mbi”. Bɔ
is the plural of mɔ.
As
there were many breakups, each called themselves by the name of their leader
while trying to maintain their relationship to the main clan by adding the
prefix Ba. It is alleged that he had a son called Yang. As such, the people
speaking Kenyang in that vicinity called themselves Bayang; meaning children of
Yang. As time went on, the nomenclature led to the appellation bɔ Manyaŋ to
denote increase in number. With more migrations and contacts, people began
misspelling the word to Bayangue, Bayangi from which the misnomer Nyangi came from to denote most of the
women who were doing prostitution. Nyangi is never used for males, and Cameroonians
do not use it as a compliment. Today, the term is employed not only on Banyang
girls, but on any woman whose behavior looks sluttish. Even the term “Graffi”
though referring to people from the Grassfield is still disparaging.
With
respect to the Bayang people, while Bayangi and Bayangue are variations due to word evolution
and misspellings, Nyangi seems more derogatory to use. It is just like
the word Nigger that evolved from the word Negro. Yet the word Nigger
is still very popularly employed as an insult to the Dark Skinned American.
2.
THE PHONOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF
KENYANG.
A.
Orthographic Variations.
Both
/Kebi/ and /kibi/ (faeces) are orthoepic variants in the Kenyang language
depending on who is pronouncing the word. The variation may be much enunciated
among Upper and Lower Bayangs. In addition, among Central Bayangs some people still
say /kebi/ while others say /kibi/. Likewise in English language, there are
people (Americans) who pronounce the word medicine as three syllables while
others (British) pronounce it as two. Another glaring example is /necessary/,
which to some is four syllables but others it is three; hence, they are mere
variations.
B.
Ortheopic Variation.
Comparing
the two major varieties of Kenyang between the Upper Bayang and Lower Bayang
(or Central Bayang), the foremost difference is that while the Lower Bayang
would use the combination gh (voiced velar plosive /g/ and voicedless glottal
fricative /h/) as a pharyngeal, the upper Bayang use it as velar plosive. For
example: who is that? Lower Bayang: chi agharɛ nɔ (the g seems to be silent).
Upper
Bayang would sound: chi agharɛ nɔ with the g aspirated. The major differences
or varieties between Central Kenyang and Upper Bayang are at the level of
orthography and ortheopy. Whether in orthography or ortheopy, the major disparity
is at the level of the affricate and fricative sounds. With Upper Bayang, the
combination of the plosive /g/ and the glottal /h/ to /gh/ in a word like /chi
agha/ or /agharɛ/ (who-interrogative) gives a word like /chiaga/garɛ/; thereby,
silencing the /h/ while with Central Bayang the interrogative pronoun “who” has
the same strength like /harɛ/ meaning the /g/ is muted rather. There is a great
usage of affricate sounds /tʃ/ though they are not English sounds.
While
Manyang (Manyaŋ) is a singular term for Bayang in a loose context, it becomes a
macrocosm of the entire division. On the contrary, Mɔ (singular) and Bɔ
(plural) are the adverbs denoting number in Mɔ Manyaŋ (singular) and Bɔ Manyaŋ
(plural). Contextually, Manyaŋ has the same strength like Mɔ Manyaŋ and Bɔ
Manyaŋ for Bayang.
A
proper noun like a name with double consonants of /bb/ invites a more serious
caesura between the two syllables. So if pronounced properly, one feels the
presence of a hiatus between the closed and opened syllables, and so they do
not and would not sound the same. For example /bebbeb/ an expression used for
AWOL.
C.
Tonal Conflict.
D.
Mbuagbaw (1999) states that “it is
fairly easy to find Kenyang words where the only difference between them is the
tone”.
For example:
Keh rising and keh
falling pitches.
Ane a rɔng nɔh ekati
keh? Does this one go to school too? Rising
Yi abwɔng mɔh keh? Does she have a baby? Falling.
3.
SEMANTIC NATURE OF KENYANG.
A.
DEPENDENT STRUCTURE:
The
compound word eyʉ bhiti (night whisper) always denotes and connotes
evil. If you used the word eyʉ (whisper), it can only be negative if the
listener thinks so, but it is not so inherently. If you are gossiping and
colluding against people in private, it is considered eyʉ bhiti. Let‟s
say you wanted to unsubscribe some people with a contrary view from your forum,
and you send a private email to the other moderators to unsubscribe them,
Banyangs call such a mail eyʉ bhiti.
B.
INDEPENPENT STRUCTURE.
Kenyang
is an open and closed language in that there are certain words that denote
certain meaning while there are others that are formed with the incident and
event. For example; when you say dog, everyone knows it is Mmú because they
have dogs, but if you said snow, many will not have a clue except those who are
enlightened. Those that have seen it, call it nfókópèppep meaning white dust.
Nonetheless, like in English, there is an arbitrary relationship between the
sounds and the words. In Kenyang the words are independent. Botha underscores
that this way:
Word structure,
however, is independent from phrase structure and does not simply constitute
the „lower‟ portion of a single homogeneous syntactic representation.
C.
WORDS USAGE AND MEANING IN KENYANG.
A
chief is called nfɔ in a more restricted sense, but in a wider sense, the
people use /nfɔ/ chief as a dynamic equivalent when dealing with title holders
or a mere sign of respect. That is why even some family heads are called nfɔ .
However, a "prince" in Kenyang is called mɔ nfɔ. Bauer establishes
that
…the number of
non-established derivatives met in normal text is likely to be
extremely small, at
well under one percent of attested derivatives.
There is a gap between Kenyang speakers and learners of Kenyang have motivated
me to add this section. Many works of art including bible translations are
going on in different African languages including Kenyang but the currency for
mutual intelligibility is necessary for me to elucidate on the dichotomy
between meaning, words and their usages. There is a lot of coding and meaning
change. There is a use difference in most languages about words and their
meanings and how those words change meaning.
i.
FIGURATIVE USAGE.
The word amaŋ could
mean two things:
1.
Simile- as/like.
A.
Mumbɔh- as.
B.
Mbɔh- like.
2.
Metaphors:
A. Mmu
i.
Mmu- dog (Meliorative).
ii.
Mmu- Womanizer (pejorative).
B. Ngem
i.
Ngem-python Meliorative.
ii.
Ngem-glutton (pejorative).
3.
Idioms.
A. If a palm kernel
tree is not ripe, birds will not stop by. Sɨndɨ a bhekepɨ senen a pu ghat.
The
word /ghat/ is pronounced differently by Upper Bayang Speakers and Lower Bayang
Speakers. The upper Bayang speakers use alveolar or post alveolar trill /r/
while the Lower Bayang will use the Affricate by using the velar and pharyngeal
/gh/.
B. Mɔh a sow amɔh a jie nejie ne bha fors. If a child
watches his hands, he will eat with dignitaries.
It means that if a
child shows good etiquettes, he can hang out with elders.
C. Nyuɔh a nebheri ndu
a ɨtɨgh bhawɔt. The snake has coiled round the calabash of oil.
It means that there is
a dilemma.
D. Mɔh mnieh yibhe
ngwai nɔh, kerengeh nor bhe jie a wai muet.
The fetus wants to kill
the mom, but it does not know it is killing itself.
It means that your
decision will instead hurt you though you intend it to hurt another person.
E.
enɔghɔ
mɔt a pu tɨgh ntchɔt.
One tree does not build
a forest.
A call for unity.
D. PROVERBIAL USAGE.
Proverb
is a common and most dominant characteristic in African languages since the
lexicon is small too. If a man was coming to ask the hand of a girl in
marriage, he does not say at once I want to marry your daughter. He becomes
genteel in what is termed euphemism.
E. EUPHEMISM.
i.
Example 1. Ntwo bebhep awoh mɔje ndʉ
nebhai.
I have come to ask the
hand of your daughter in marriage.
He will say:
Ntwɔ be bhep mbakne wɔ
nchɔŋ che mɔh nkɔk ye ntӑ mɔ wӑ
I have come to ask you
if you will give your chicken to my child.
ii.
Example 2.
The verb yɔŋ (to insert
or pierce) ke ki ɔŋ yɔŋ yi amek “be careful not to pierce his eye”
Dɔkghɔ yɔŋ eyenghe. It
sounds a bit euphemistic “meaning go and have sex”. Normally if transliterated,
it will be “go and fuck her” which will be vulgar.
F. Pejorative and
Meliorative Meaning
Me chɔnghɔ siepti kɨtɨnghe
ke kɔ. I will break those your bristles.
Please give me those
broom bristles. Nnek muet cheme kɨtɨnghe kos.
Pragmatism
1. Ta-Ashukang a bhet nɔh
keh? Is Mr. Ashukang still alive?
Pu yi nɔh a fu menem
keh? Is that not his ghost in the village? That tells you he is already dead
until he has come out as a ghost. Ghosts are a recurrent phenomenon in the
Bayang culture.
4.
MORPHOLOGICAL AND LEXICAL NATURE OF
KENYANG.
A. What is morphology?
Morphology therefore is
simply a term for that branch of linguistics which is concerned with the “forms
of words” in different uses and constructions.
B.
Word Formation in kenyang
There are three primary
ways in which words are formed in Kenyang.
i.
Compound
Words:
There are many compound
words formed as a result of word’s nonexistent status in Kenyang language.
Words, whose actions are borrowed, are formed by creating a compound with two
words. For example: ekereh mandem- Church. The Bayangs did not worship in a
church or even in a house. They worshipped in the bush or behind the house
though the deity lived in the house. At times the deity could be manifested in
a totemic tree, river, bush or hill that was far from the village. The existent
of this word ekereh mmandem discards the wrong assertion that the Bayangs were
animists who worshiped trees in the place of God. They never called their own
deities mmandem. They called them njoh though they had almost a similar
form of worship as in the Old Testament. Herewith is an example of some
compound words.
aa.
nfókópèppep – snow.
nfókó-
dust and pèppep-white. Thus, whitedust.
bb.
Senenen nfai- airplane.
Senen-Bird
and nfai-sky. The skybird.
cc.
Enɔk ne ntaŋ; street lamp.
Enɔk-
stick and ne ntaŋ-with moon.
Nenenamek-
to bully.
Nenen-
open and amek-eye.
ii.
Back-formation:
Nyӑ from Nyӑyen meat-simpleton.
Nkwendong is the
Kenyang word for simpleton. Some forms of goodbyes are as follows:
“In
God's safekeeping" Kenyang: "Mmandem Aŋjet".
Good bye (to an
individual) ɔŋ kɔ erɨrɨ.
Goodbye (group) Bhaŋ Kɔ
erɨrɨ.
iii.
Eponym:
mfɔ from mfɔ bharo chief-chief of Baro.
While
in English language it may pose a problem to tell which word existed and does
exists, in Kenyang there is little or no such problem because words are coined
from the existence of things. That is why if anyone asked the best Kenyang
speaker to tell them in Kenyang the word missile or suicide bomber, they may
realize it just does not exist because no such thing and person exist. Yet
because every language is self sufficient, the Kenyang speakers have found a way
to create the equivalent. Though words like fellatio and cunnillingus do not
exist in Kenyang originally because sex and especially oral sex was regarded a
taboo, there are equivalences in the form of explanation. Thus, you can hear
the younger generation say bhɛ sɔk nepen (to suck the penis) for fellatio and
yje nɛkwet (to eat the vagina) for cunninlingus.
C. Pronouns.
It is impossible to
discuss morphology without crossing over to syntax and lexicon. It is generally
accepted that Kenyang is a noun class; the most common characteristics amongst
the Niger -Congo Languages (look for citation) because most nouns are
determined by an affix. As a result, this paper will examine in addition to
morphology, the syntax and lexicon of the Kenyang language. There are six
subject and possessive pronouns (used alone or as modified noun). Subject or
personal pronouns
iv.
1 –Me.
v.
You- wɔ.
vi.
He/she (no neuter gender)- yi.
vii.
We-bhese.
viii.You-
bhɨkӑ.
ix.
They- bhɔ.
D. Homographs.
Kenyang extensively
uses homographs.
i.
Ndem.
aa. ndem –penis.
bb. ndem- I said.
ii.
Kenɔŋ.
aa. Kenɔŋ bicycle.
bb. Kenɔŋ-Jail More
precisely ekere kenɔn
iii.
Ekah.
aa. Ekah-Meeting.
bb. Ekah-group.
iv.
Ntaŋ.
aa. Ntaŋ a fuh - The moon is out.
bb. Ntaŋ-Month . Example:
ntaŋ akoh atuoh- A new month has come.
cc. Ntaŋ- menstruation.
Ya chi ndu ntaŋ yi. She is on her menses.
v.
Nenu.
aa. Nenu- wrestling.
bb. Nenu -Street
fighting.
vi.
Ekak.
aa. Ekak –leg.
bb. Ekak -age group.
That is because age groups belonged to a social grouped and walked together.
vii.
Mbwep.
aa. Air-Mbwep.
bb. Mbwep-rat.
viii.
Nyien.
aa. Nyien-river.
bb. Nyien-name.
ix.
Mayep.
aa. Mayep-water.
bb. Mayep-rain.
N.B. With the above
examples, you determine the meaning from the action of the verb.
x.
Nyah.
aa. Nyah-meat.
bb. Nyah-simpleton.
That is one of those
cases where the stress determines the meaning of the word.
XI.
Bhɨrɨ.
aa. Bhɨrɨ- Vegetable.
bb. Bhɨrɨ- Beauty.
XII.
Amaŋ
aa. Stones (denotative)
/sɔt amaŋ ten kɛnen/ (use stones to crush the kernels).
bb. Money (connotative)
ɛtӑwu a bhɔŋhɔ amaŋ (that guy is rich).
XIII.
Nebuh
aa. nebuh-sky.
bb.nebuh totem -sky and nebuh totem.
In
the examples above, the semantics is not determined by stress; rather it is by
the syntax that ensues. On the contrary, in the proceeding examples, the
semantics come from the stress patterns. Although both are disyllabic nouns
which usually have the stress on the first syllable in the case of the noun and
on the second in the case of the verb, one has the stress on the first syllable
while the other has the stress on the second syllable.
i. Nekwet.
aa. nekwet-vagina.
bb. nekwet-beatings
(pertaining to drums).
E. Homophones
Example 1. i & ii.
i.
Eh nen- Eleven (11).
ii.
Enen- It is bitter.
Ne nenen ti; wicked
used as a noun. Almost sounding the same.
Example 2. iii &
iv.
iii.
Epɔhbhisi-ugly face.
iv.
Mpɔh bhi si- when the adjective is used
as a noun.
Example 3. v & vi.
v.
Mɔh ekati- Student.
vi.
Mɔh kati- one thousand.
Example 4 vii &
viii
vii.
Bhɔ mmu- puppies
viii.
Bhɔmu-dogs
F. Days of the week.
The days of the Week
were made by explanation of what people did on that day, or by the market days
of the most influential villages around or the explanation of the said day.
i.
Sunday- njyub
bhe chɔkɔk chɔkɔh.
Because
Sunday is considered a day of rest, where everyone went to church, it is called
the day to sit.
ii.
Monday-
nyuop betek bhe jue ebwɨ. The day that work entered into the bush. It is
stating the first day of the week.
iii.
Tuesday-esieh
Kembong (A Village).
iv.
Wednesday-
esieh Ntenako (A Village) or nyuop bhetek bhe koreh muet. It explains the day
as the middle of the week where work has gone half.
v.
Thursday-esieh
Nfoh or Nfuni (A village).
vi.
Friday-esieh
Nchang (A village).
vii.
Saturday-esieh
Nekok (Ossing –another village).
G.
Sports.
Most sports words are
borrowed from English but pronounced with pidgin intonation.
i. futbɔl- Football.
ii. basketbɔl-Basketball.
iii. volibɔl-volleyball.
H.
Colors
Kenyang has very few
colors.
i. Red- tchu.
ii. Black- Kiri.
iii. White- pepep.
iv. Green-Bheyɨ.
v. Brown-Mmek.
I.
Forming plural and singular nouns
Mushrooms_Bhjiɔb. It
will be pronounced as a diphthong /bhjiɔb/.
J.
The use of prefix in Kenyang
1.
Miss, Mrs. and Mr.
Most places retain the
Mr. but when trying to show respect every woman is address with mama followed
by their name or papa followed by their name if they are female or male
respectively.
For example; if the
lady‟s name is Hillary Clinton she will be called Mama Hillary
Women are also
addressed by the name of their daughters as a sign of respect especially for
non married women.
To apply Mrs. they use
the word ngɔreh.
It is amazing that
Kenyang has a wider language in sex perhaps because sex has always been an
integral part of every people and every culture. For example; there are many
expression to have sex- juŋ, soŋ, naigh, deb, kwet . Eroctic talk is called
epusi.
In common usage, the
third person singular pronoun is replaced with Aa for example:
Aa yieh amang He is
eating kernels.
Aa yieh ntʃui. She is
eating corn.
In a more standard
setting we will say:
Yi a yieh amaŋ.
Yi a yieh ntcwui.
K. Gender
The gender is
determined by sight rather than the pronoun because it is rather the neuter
gender that is used. Actually pronouns in Kenyang are non gender oriented. They
are not explicit. They are used more as neuters. To form plural on subject
pronouns, the speaker must use both subject pronouns doing the act
Yam. Eyakagha.
Ewarek: Potato.
L. Synonyms; nebuh
deals with totel and epem withcraft to hurt someone.
M. Lexicon
The word mother could
have two representations.
If the word starts at
the beginning of the sentence we say Mma. Is your mother home?
Mma ye achi ayob eh?
If the word mother is
at the end of the sentence, they say Nno. For example:
Yi abhoŋ Nnɔ?
Does he have a mother?
Singular
Plural
|
|
Kenyang
|
English
|
|
Kenyang
|
English
|
|
|
Ntɨ.
|
Friend.
|
|
Bhatɨ
|
Friends.
|
|
Mmuere.
|
|
Mmuere
|
Friends.*
|
|
Moh
|
Child
|
Bhɔ
|
Children
|
|
Efeme
|
Table
|
Bhefeme
|
Tables
|
|
Ekati
|
School
|
Bhekati
|
schools
|
|
Chi
|
Parent
|
Bhɔ chi
|
Parents
|
|
Nebu
|
Totem
|
bhabhu
|
totems
|
|
Ekak
|
Leg
|
Bhekak
|
Legs
|
|
Ntɔng
|
Teacher
|
bhatɔŋ
|
teachers
|
|
Ntangnyu
|
Lawyer
|
Bhataŋghanyu
|
Lawyers
|
|
Ngang
|
Doctor
|
bhɔngaŋ
|
Doctors
|
|
|
Senen
|
Bird
|
|
Kenen
|
Birds
|
|
|
Eket
|
House
|
|
Bheket
|
Houses
|
|
|
Ketiet
|
Hare
|
|
Ketiet
|
Hare
|
|
|
Ekrisu
|
Mirror
|
|
Bhekrisu
|
Mirrors
|
|
|
etɨ
|
Pot
|
|
Bhetɨ
|
Pots
|
|
|
Ntʃan
|
Plate,Pan,Bowl
|
|
Bho Ntʃan
|
Plates, Pans, Bowls
|
|
|
sekwop
|
spoon
|
|
Kekwop
|
spoons
|
|
|
Awɔh
|
Hand
|
|
Amɔh
|
Hands
|
|
|
esɔngri
|
problem
|
|
bhesɔngri
|
problems
|
|
|
Nyiese
|
Eye
|
|
Amek
|
Eyes
|
To formulate an
interrogatory sentence in addition to intonation, there is an addition of the
inflectional suffix eh.
Plurals are also formed
by indicating the number in case of certain nouns.
Singular
Plural
|
Kenyang
|
English
|
Kenyang
|
English
|
|
Nkɔk
|
Fowl
|
Nkok Erat
|
Three fowls
|
|
Nso
|
Deer
|
Nso Enui/ bho-nso
enui
|
Four Deer.
|
5.
SYNTACTIC STRUCTURE OF KENYANG
Although sometimes the
Kenyang syntax is at times ungrammatical, it is semantically useful. For
example:
Má jyɛ nyӑ kebɨgh?
You eat uncooked meat?
This is what the
Kenyang speaker will hear:
How can you eat meat
that is not well cooked?
A.
Kenyang Vs English
In Kenyang there is
also lexical decomposition in which sentences are mere paraphrase of each other
as demonstrated by George Lakoff.
For example:
Mafundem á wai nkɔk-
Mafundem killed the fowl
Mafundem á ki nkɔk awu-
Mafundem made the fowl to die
Mafundem kӑ ki nkɔk ewu-
Mafundem caused the fowls to become dead
Mafundem kӑ ki n nkɔk
epu nepem- Mafundem caused the fowls to become not alive.
B. Grammar.
Grammar in Kenyang is
acquired progressively with time. Consequently, we need to do more in our
gatherings to teach our people history, culture and language. During monthly
meetings, the members could give ten minutes for Kenyang or Ejagham classes.
C.
Tenses in Kenyang.
In fact when it comes
to future tense, Kenyang is very opened in the sense that the same verb could
be conjugated in at least 2 forms; as it closely relates to Spanish in this
case by either leaving out the personal pronoun or using the personal pronoun
which really does not influence the meaning. In Spanish, you could say yo voy a
la playa or voy a la playa. Kenyang follows the same pattern.
i.
To eat- jyiɛh.
To tell someone I will
eat tomorrow could be said in two different ways.
aa). Me chɔŋ njyieh
mbureh (with subject pronoun)
bb). Chɔŋ njyie mbureh
(with no subject pronoun)
Note well that the same
pattern does not apply with third person singular pronouns or plural pronouns.
The future cannot be used without using the personal pronoun.
ii. To Drink - yuh
aa). Yi achɔŋ yuh He
will sleep- subject pronoun at the beginning
bb). Chɔŋ yi yuh. He
will sleep- subject pronoun in the middle after the auxiliary.
iii. To Sleep- bhereh
aa). Bhɔ bha chɔŋ
bhereh kenɔ. They will sleep. Same pattern with the subject pronoun at the
beginning and in the second sentence there is no subject pronoun.
bb). Chɔŋ bha bhereh
kenɔ. They will sleep.
iv. Dance- Bhe bhen ne bhen.
aa). Mami susanna
aching dak nebhen dak. Mami Susanna will kill it on the dance floor.
bb). Chɔŋ mami susanna en dak nebhen.
D. Syntax
Kenyang has about 4
major sentence structures: simple sentence, compound sentence, complex and
compound complex.
1. Sentence Structrure
A. Simple
sentence: Chi meh. It is me.
B. Compound
sentence: Agborramnabg a gheb mmen, ne ngoreh yi a gheb
eyaghka.
Agbrorambang
stole a goat, and the wife stole a yam.
C. Complex
sentence: mbuneh meh ntwoh, me chongho cheh woh nkap.
If
I come, I will give you money.
D. Compound-Complex
Bessem-Ebot married
Nfortorh, but she divorced when she caught him cheating.
Bessem-Ebot a bhia
nyaka nfortorh, ke a fu nyaka nebhia mpoko ne yie kem yi ne ngore tchack.
2.
Coordinating Conjunctions.
Kenyang has three major
coordinating conjunctions. neh, Keh, kepuh that will could use the acronym
Nekehke.
Neh-and
Keh-but
Kepuh-so
Furthermore, there
seems a problem with the presentation of lexical items. Considering that most
people in these villages do not have the luxury to read the language in
phonetic transcriptions, it will be expedient to write most words using basic
IPA characters than with IPA extensions because all three groups of vowels-
monophthongs, diphthongs, and triphthongs and the plosives, nasals, fricative,
affricates and lateral sounds could still be produced and used in Kenyang. This
will be easier since most people speaking Kenyang have interacted with those
letters either in English, or French, or even Pidgin. This will enable even
those who are learned but cannot learn the language to easily do so. The
easiest way to learn Kenyang is first of all to determine how the syntax works,
find out the ortheopy and then learn new words. The rest will follow easily.
3.
Possessive Pronouns
Modified Noun Kenyang
Mine Chi eyӑ My eyӑ
Yours Chi eye Your Eye
His/hers Chi eyi
His/her eyi
Ours Chi eyese Our
Eyese
Yours Chi eyap Your
Eyap
Theirs Chi eyap Their
Eyap
In Kenyang instead of
using the neuter gender one uses the name of the noun.
For example:
The goat is eating the
grass.
Mmen ayɛ takɔ.
The children are going
to school.
Bho Bhӑrɔŋ ekӑӑti.
I love Oregon.
Mme nkɔŋ Oregɔn.
The main syntactic
structure in Kenyang is the Subject Verb Object.
The birds are eating
the corn.
Kenen ke yie njui.
The Hunter has killed a
rat mole.
Mtemekenteme a wai
ngubók.
We are going to play
soccer.
Se rɔŋghɔ dep bɔl.
Some have like Mbuagbaw
(1998)
thought that Kenyang language has mainly Subject Verb Object (SVO) syntactic
structure. Kenyang also has a Subject Verb Complement (SVC) syntactic
structure. For example:
She is rude. Yi á saŋ.
Eyere has become a
gossiper.
Eyere arob chi mmʉ-menaŋ.
Agbor is now a teacher.
Agbor arub nɛnɛ chi ntɔŋ.
Adjectives
Like in Kenyang, most
African languages tend to express comparatives by way of a verb ‘surpass rather
than by way of a separate inflectional category” (Heine & Nurse, 2000). In
Kenyang, the adjective could either come before the noun like in:
A beautiful woman.
Erɨti ngɔre.
Or before the noun
could come before the adjective as in
Mmen ɛsӑ.
Twenty goats.
A. CONFLICT BETWEEN
EXISTED AND EXISTED FORMS
If
the term Bayangi was made accidentally by misspelling it, the continuous usage
is not an accident. Another example would be that if the name Agbor was to be
written, but misspelt as Agboro, the user can keep calling the individual
Agboro and any attempts of the owner of the name getting it rectified or
addressed as Agbor will be the error. There is no need for any empiricism to
proof that the individual‟s name is not Agboro; it is Agbor because generally
amongst the Bayang people, there are no Agboros. Thus, there comes a time when
common application supersedes traditional research. Therefore, no one needs any
research to prove that the word "Bayangi" is derogatory.
Another
level of confusion is the plural of Banyang. Many have posited that the word
representing those who speak Kenyang is Manyang. Manyang/Maanyang represents
someone or people from Manyu division. In that case it covers the Eyumojock
subdivision, Upper Bayang, Mamfe central and Akwaya Subdivision where many do
not speak Kenyang.
To
indicate plural in Kenyang we have always used the Voiced bilabial /B/ and the
fricative glottal h as a combination of Bh. For example: we say “mɔ amot”
meaning „One child/ but we say bhɔ bhӑpai . Eyiŋ (thing) Bhe yeŋ (things) in
Keyang.
A
single kenyang speaking manyuan is manyang but many Kenyang speaking manyuans
are bӑyaŋ (ortheopy) for Bayang. So to posit that speakers of Kenyang called
mӑyaŋ for singular and manyaŋ plural is a total fallacy.
Now, looking at the historical evolution of
ethnic groups in Cameroon, one would agree with that singular is manyang is for
the individual who comes from the general Manyu division and Bayang is for the
speaker of Kenyang language. The plural of is boh Bayang. Ba is son of for the
people of and that initially were the children of Yang.
We say chi mӑyaŋ kӑah chi (is a Bayang) but we say chi bӑyaŋ ke bӑha chi
(they are Bayang). Take note of the repetition of the digraph /bh/ to indicate
plural forms.
While some may not see the nexus between the
/nyangi/ and /banyangi/ or /nyangi/ and derogation, there as those terms
/nyangi/ or /Bayangi/were never used to address our people until the advent and
permeation of prostitution which was rampant amongst our women. Nyangi is a
misnomer and a derogatory term and not a standard variant as stated by Ramirez
(1998)
and Mbuagbaw (2000).
Nowadays, the word is used even on Beti, Bassa, or any a girl from any tribe
they term has a loose lifestyle or mimics promiscuity.
These arguments are based on common
application rather than prescriptive sustenance. The idea that since other
tribes are already calling the Banyang as Nyangi they should just adopt it into
their lexicon could be exemplified in the following analogies.
If someone accidentally made a monster, he or
she should let it live since it has been made. If the term Bayangi was made
accidentally by misspelling it, the continuous usage is not an accident, it is
a deliberate act to injure the character of the bearer. Thus it becomes
derogatory.
It should be noted that not all Manyangs
speak Kenyang because some speak other languages like (add other languages of
Manyu division). The Manyang from Ntenako or Ndekwai did not know bread and tea
for breakfast; he/she knew Fufu and Eru. He/she did not sleep on a mattress
bed; they slept on mebohs (mud bed). In the morning and afternoon, they trekked
to and fro Presbyterian Primary School Ntenako- Ndekwai.
The reason why we bear titles in English
language is because first it is the language which most of us use. It helps
people situate the titles and know how to address us. If someone was preaching
in a Manyu village, he/she will definitely coin and use a title in their local
language: Kenyang. Secondly, seeing that most of Africa received Christianity
through the second language, they have subconsciously integrated their titles
else they had to redefine and formulate their own theology. It was different at
the time since there were few scholastic writings on theology from Africans. In
addition, literature was more oral than written.
CONCLUSION.
However,
fewer and fewer people are still speaking Kenyang because of the general stigma
associated with speaking only Kenyang and not being able to speak the two
official languages. Consequently, Kenyang has been ligated to rural areas. The
migration of the young people to urban areas and overseas, means that Kenyang
is running short of a future generation of speakers and listeners. Those who
venture abroad easily forget it because they lack people to speak with. They
need to do more in their monthly meetings when they gather, so they can teach
their progeny their history, culture and language. Those at home should promote
the usage alongside English and French as is the case now in most Bayang
villages while at school and in official places predominantly made of Kenyang
speakers. In addition to the above reasons, there is an urgent need for bible
translation and commentary, and seeing the competition between the US and China
juxtaposing for the number one country in Africa, learning not only Kenyang but
African languages holds the key; thus, the relevance of this paper. Therefore,
there is a serious and urgent need for further studies to produce a more
unabridged lexicon and simple work that will promote desire and preserve the
existence of the Kenyang Language.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Bauer, Laurie. Morphological Productivity.
Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Print.
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New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Vol. 3, P. 7. Print.
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New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Vol. 3, P.93. Print.
5. Cristi Ramirez. The Kenyang Noun Phrase. Cameroon:
SIL, 1998. Print.
6. Harris, Randy Allen. The Linguistics Wars. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Print.
7. Heine, Bernd, and Derek Nurse. African Languages : an
Introduction. Cambridge [England]; New York: Cambridge UP, 2000.
Print.
8. Matthews, P. H. Morphology. Cambridge [England]:
Cambridge University Press, 1991.Print.
9. Tanyi, Eyong Mbuagbaw. Kenyang Lexicon. Mamfe:
SKL & CABTAL, 1998. Print
10. Tanyi Eyong Mbuagaw. Kenyang Orthographic Guide.
Yaoundé: CABTAL, 1999. Print.
11. Tanyi Eyong Mbuagbaw. Kenyang Segmental Phonology.
Yaoundé: SIL,
2000. Print.
Bright, William.
International Encyclopedia of Linguistics. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1992. Vol. 3, P. 7.
8 Matthews, P.
H. Morphology. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press, 1991. P.
3.
Tanyi Eyong
Mbuagbaw. Kenyang Segmental Phonology. Yaoundé: SIL, 2000.
“Bonyfish beware because the same net that caught the jawless fish, caught the cartilaginous fish” (Hamilton Ayuk).
Beware earthly paradise seekers because there is a serpent in every paradise"(Hamilton Ayuk).
"It is not how well you know a person; it is how well you treat them that they will live longer and happier with you."
Idle people write, idler people read, and idlest people read and whine that idle people are taking their time (Hamilton Ayuk).
