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Cameroon

Languages

Description

Both English and French are official languages of Cameroon, although French is by far the most understood language (more than 80%). German, the language of the original colonizers, has long since been displaced by French and English. Cameroonian Pidgin English is the lingua franca in the formerly British-administered territories. A mixture of English, French, and Pidgin called Camfranglais has been gaining popularity in urban centers since the mid-1970s. The government encourages bilingualism in English and French, and as such, official government documents, new legislation, ballots, among others, are written and provided in both languages. As part of the initiative to encourage bilingualism in Cameroon, six of the eight universities in the country are entirely bilingual.

In addition to the colonial languages, there are approximately 250 other languages spoken by nearly 20 million Cameroonians. It is because of this that Cameroon is considered one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world.

Literacy in official languages according to the 2005 census (population of age 12 and above)

Rank	Language	Percentage	# of population
1	French (Total)	57.6	6,405,981
2	English (Total)	25.2	2,802,794
-	French only	46.0	5,112,479
-	English only	13.6	1,509,292
-	French and English	11.6	1,293,502
-	Neither French nor English	28.8	3,199,221
	Total	100.00	11,114,495

Cameroonian Pidgin English, or Cameroonian Creole, is a language variety of Cameroon. It is also known as Kamtok (from 'Cameroon-talk'). It is primarily spoken in the North West and South West English speaking regions. Five varieties are currently recognized:

• Grafi Kamtok - Spoken by those in the grass fields and often referred to as 'Grafi Talk'.
• Liturgical Kamtok - Spoken by the Catholic Church for three-quarters of a century.
• Francophone Kamtok - Spoken by those mainly in towns such as Douala and Yaoundé, and by francophones talking to anglophones who do not speak French.
• Limbe Kamtok - Spoken by those mainly in the southwest coastal area around the port that used to be called Victoria and is now Limbe.
• Bororo Kamtok - Spoken by the Bororo cattle traders, many of whom travel through Nigeria and Cameroon.

Cameroonian Pidgin English is an English-based creole language. About 5% of Cameroonians are native speakers of the language, while an estimated 50% of the population speak it in some form.

Camfranglais, Francanglais, or Francamglais, is a vernacular of Cameroon, containing grammatical and lexical elements from Cameroonian French, Cameroonian English and Cameroonian Pidgin English, in addition to lexical contributions from various indigenous languages of Cameroon. The language blend is common among young people in the country, and rivals Cameroonian Pidgin English ("Creole") as the country's most common lingua franca. Speakers are already fluent in either English and French, and as such it is not used in situations where both parties lack a common tongue.

Word List(s)

For word list and help researching in Cameroonian records, see:
French

• French Genealogical Word List

Cameroonian Pidgin English

• 21 Essential Phrases You’ll Need in Cameroon at Culturetrip

Camfranglais

• Kouega, Jean-Paul. Camfranglais : a glossary of common words, phrases and usages. Muenchen: LINCOM Europa, 2013. Available at: WorldCat.

Alphabet and Pronunciation

French

• French Alphabet and Pronunciation at Wikipedia
• French Alphabet and Pronunciation at Omniglot

Cameroonian Pidgin English

• Vowels at Wikipedia
• Consonants at Wikipedia
• Bellama, David, and Washington DC Peace Corps. An Introduction to Cameroonian Pidgin. Student's Book. Second Edition. n.p.: n.p., 1983. Available at: WorldCat.

Language Aids and Dictionaries

French

• French Handwriting
• French Letter Writing Guide
• French Languages
• Girard, Denis. Cassell's French-English, English-French dictionary = Cassell's dictionnaire français-anglais, anglais-français. Wiley, New York: Macmillan, 2002. Available at: WorldCat.

Cameroonian Pidgin English

• Pronoun system at Wikipedia
• Verbs at Wikipedia
• Plural markers at Wikipedia
• Kouega, Jean-Paul. A dictionary of Cameroon Pidgin English usage : pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. München: Lincom Europa, 2008. Available at: WorldCat.
• Nkengasong, John Nkemngong. A grammar of Cameroonian Pidgin. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars, 2016. Available at: WorldCat.

Camfranglais

• Usage and Popularity with examples at Wikipedia
• Kamdem, Hector Fonkoua. A dictionary of Camfranglais. New York: Peter Lang, 2015. Available at: WorldCat.
• Kouega, Jean-Paul. Camfranglais : a glossary of common words, phrases and usages. München: Lincom Europa, 2013. Available at: WorldCat.

Additional Resources

• Bellama, David; Washington DC Peace Corps. An Introduction to Cameroonian Pidgin. Student's Book. Second Edition. 1983. Available at WorldCat
• Gilman, Charles. The comparative structure in French, English, and Cameroonian Pidgin English : an exercise in linguistic comparison. Ann Arbor, Mich. UMI dissertation services 1997. Available at WorldCat
• Nkengasong, Nkemngong. A grammar of Cameroonian pidgin. Newcastle upon Tyne Cambridge Scholars Publishing [2016]. Available at WorldCat
• Kamtok (Cameroon Pidgin)