The Mbum languages are a small group of the Mbum–Day branch of the erstwhile Adamawa languages

Adamawa languages

The Adamawa languages are a putative family of 80–90 languages scattered across the Adamawa Plateau in central Africa, in Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Chad, spoken altogether by only one and a half million people . Joseph Greenberg classified them as one branch of the...

, spoken in southern Chad

Chad

Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...

, northwestern Central African Republic

Central African Republic

The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...

, northern Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

, and eastern Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

. Their best-known member is Mbum

Mbum language

The Mbum are considered the original population of the Adamawa Plateau in Cameroon. That said, some histories recall that there were a people already in the area when they arrived there centuries ago...

; other languages in the group include Tupuri

Tupuri language

Tupuri is a language mostly spoken in the Mayo-Kebbi Est Region of southern Chad but there are small pats in northern Cameroon. It is an Mbum language spoken by the Tupuri people with approximately 300,000 speakers.-External links:**...

 and Kare

Kare language (Adamawa)

Kare is an Mbum language of the Central African Republic There are a few thousand speakers in Cameroon.Ethnologue 16 reports that Kare is intelligible with Mbum proper. However, languages more closely related to either are not reported to be intelligible....

.

They were labeled "G6" in Joseph Greenberg

Joseph Greenberg

Joseph Harold Greenberg was a prominent and controversial American linguist, principally known for his work in two areas, linguistic typology and the genetic classification of languages.- Early life and career :...

's Adamawa

Adamawa languages

The Adamawa languages are a putative family of 80–90 languages scattered across the Adamawa Plateau in central Africa, in Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Chad, spoken altogether by only one and a half million people . Joseph Greenberg classified them as one branch of the...

 language-family proposal.

Languages

• Central Mbum
  • Karang: Kare
    Kare language (Adamawa)
    Kare is an Mbum language of the Central African Republic There are a few thousand speakers in Cameroon.Ethnologue 16 reports that Kare is intelligible with Mbum proper. However, languages more closely related to either are not reported to be intelligible....
    
    , Karang, Nzakambay
    Nzakambay language
    Nzakambay, or Nzakambay Mbum, is an Mbum language of southern Chad and northern Cameroon....
    
    , Pana
    Pana language
    Pana is an Mbum language of the Central African Republic. A few thousand speak it in southern Chad and northern Cameroon. The dialect of Cameroon, Man may be a separate language....
    
    
  • Kuo
    Kuo language
    Kuo is an Mbum language of southern Chad and northern Cameroon....
    
     (Koh)
• Northern Mbum
  • Dama–Galke: Dama, Ndai, Mono
  • Tupuri–Mambai: Mambai, Mundang
    Mundang language
    Mundang is an Mbum language of southern Chad and northern Cameroon.The Gelama dialect of Cameroon may be a separate language....
    
    , Tupuri
    Tupuri language
    Tupuri is a language mostly spoken in the Mayo-Kebbi Est Region of southern Chad but there are small pats in northern Cameroon. It is an Mbum language spoken by the Tupuri people with approximately 300,000 speakers.-External links:**...
    
    
• Southern Mbum: Mbum
  Mbum language
  The Mbum are considered the original population of the Adamawa Plateau in Cameroon. That said, some histories recall that there were a people already in the area when they arrived there centuries ago...
  
   proper

In addition, Dek, Laka, Pam, and To are unclassified within Mbum. To is a secret male initiation language of the Gbaya

Gbaya people

The Gbaya live in Central African Republic, East-central Cameroon, the north of the Republic of Congo, and the northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They numbered 970,000 at the end of the 20th century. They are the largest ethnic group in the Central African Republic, comprising 34% of...

.

External links

• A sociolinguistic survey of the Mambay language of Chad and Cameroon (PDF) by Cameron Hamm, 2002. SIL Electronic Survey Reports SILESR 2002-039.