Basaa language

Basaa, or Mbene, is a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon by the Basaa people. It is spoken by about 300,000 people in the Centre and Littoral regions.
Maho lists North and South Kogo as dialects.

Background and origin

Basaa is spoken by 230,000 speakers. They live in Nyong-et-Kelle and Sanaga Maritime and most of Nkam commune. In the western and northern parts of this department, the peripheral Basaa dialects are spoken: Yabasi in the commune of Yabassi, Diɓuum in the commune of Nkondjok, north of Ndemli and Dimbamban.
Similarly, Basaa Baduala is spoken in Wouri Department, traditional Basaa territory that is being transformed by the growth of Douala. Basaa is also found in Océan Department.
Hijuk is spoken only in the quarter of Niki in Batanga commune, in Yangben Canton by 400 people. Hijuk is a Basaa dialect, despite its geographical location in the southeast of Bokito arrondissement.

When not root-initial and not after a pause, the voiceless stops are realized as voiced stops or voiced fricatives.
Tone

Basaa contrasts four tones: high, low, high-to-low and low-to-high.

The language uses a Latin-based alphabet, with the addition of the letters Ɓɓ, Ɛɛ, Ŋŋ, Ɔɔ, ten multigraphs, as well as acute, grave, and circumflex accents:

Macron and caron diacritics may be used for marking tone in reference works, for example the dictionary by Pierre Emmanuel Njock.