Bangandu language

Bangando and Ngombe constitute a Gbaya language of Cameroon and CAR.

Bangandu
Ngombe
Native to	Cameroon
Native speakers	(2,700 Bangandu cited 1977)[1] 12,000 Ngombe (2010 census)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Savannas Gbaya Southern Bangandu
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: bgf – Bangandu nmj – Nombe
Glottolog	bang1347  Ngombe-Bangandu ngom1265  (extensive bibliography)
ELP	Bangandu[2]

There are two populations: Bangando proper (Bàngàndò), in Cameroon, and Ngombe (Ba(n)gando-Ngombe, Ngombe-Kaka) clustered around Mambéré-Kadéï Prefecture across the border in the Central African Republic. There are several populations called Ngombe, and it is not clear to which the spurious ISO code for Ngombe belongs.[3] On a global scale, Bangando is considered to be a threatened language with approximately anywhere between 2,700-3,500 speakers. Language status levels can be derived from the Ethnologue Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale.[4]

Bangando speakers

Speakers of Bangando tend to be localized around regions of Southern Cameroon. The language of Bangando is classified as a field dependent and relies on a specific level of field dependence in order to be learned, according to authors J.W. Berry, S.H Irvine and E.G. Hunt in their book Indigenous Cognition: Functioning in Cultural Context.[5] Field dependent language learning involves the complete envelopment of an individual into the community of which the language is spoken. Authors J.W. Berry, S.H Irvine and E.G. Hunt further develop upon the lack of education indigenous speakers receive in order to thrive outside of the Bangando community. This aspect of the Bangando community could be indirectly linked to the exclusivity of the Bangando language. Multiple accounts of Bangando speakers, including an account written by author Victor Barnouw found in journal American Anthropologist tend to depict indigenous speakers as agriculturalists and gatherers.[6]

Further reading

• Alvarez, C., Vandamme, A., & Muller, V. (2012). Enhanced Heterosexual Transmission Hypothesis for the Origin of Pandemic HIV-1. Viruses, 4(10), 1950-1983.
• Barnouw, V.. (1978). [Review of Basic Problems in Cross-Cultural Psychology: Selected Papers from the Third International Conference of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology]. American Anthropologist, 80(2), 405–406.
• Friedrich, A., Wiese, L. V., Heims, E. M., Schubotz, H., Schultze, A., & Mildbraed, J. (1913). From the Congo to the Niger and the Nile: An account of the German Central African Expedition of 1910-1911. London: Duckworth & Co. Hunt, E. B., Irvine, S. H., & Berry, J. W. (1988). Indigenous Cognition: Functioning in Cultrual Context (Vol. 1). Retrieved February 10, 2016
• Malcolm, L. (1924). Sex-Ratio in African Peoples. American Anthropologist, 26(4), 454-473.

References

1. Bangandu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
   Nombe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Endangered Languages Project data for Bangandu.
3. Hammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices
4. Language Status
5. J.W. Berry, S.H Irvine, E.G. Hunt, Indigenous Cognition: Functioning in Cultural Context, 1988
6. Victor Barnouw, American Anthropologist, Basic Problems in Cross-Cultural Psychology: Selected Papers from the Third International Conference of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology pg 405-406, 1978

External links

• YouTube Short clip of Bangando speaker reciting biblical passages
• The official ethnologue.com webpage (Ethnologue)
• official glottolog.org webpage Glottolog (Bangando language)