English in AfricaProf. R. HickeyWS 2010/11
English in Cameroon
Funda Er, Luisa Busemann and Svitlana Sabadash
Our contentp Introduction to Cameroonp Languages of Cameroonp Cameroonian Culture
English in AfricaProf. R. HickeyWS 2010/2011
Cameroon
Luisa Busemann(3 Cr.,Kulturwirt)
Modul VI/2
Agenda
1. Symbolism
2. Geography
3. Vegetation
4. Historical Background
5. Situation Today
Cameroon
- hope, rain forest
- unity, independence, laterite
soils
- prosperity, sand,
sun - happiness
Geography
- area: 475,000 km²
- capital: Jaunde (Yaoundé)
- highest mountain: Mount
Cameroon 4,095 m
- climate: equatorial climate zone
tropical zone
- vegetation: 4 zones
Vegetation
4 major zones
-Swamp land, mangrove forest
- Rain forest
- savannah, trees (Adamawa plateau)
- tall grass
→ banana, cocoa, coffee, cotton,
pineapple, rubber, tea, timber,
tobacco
→ crude oil, minerals
Historical Background
- British in practice since the end of the 16th ct- German colonial era (1884-1916)- First World War, defeat of Germany→ French, English colony- Independent since 1960
Situation Today
- Republic of Cameroon or République du Cameroun
- population: <17,000,000- major ethnic groups: Bantu, Semi-Bantu,
Fulani, Sudanese- President: Paul Biya- official languages: English, French
References
Anchimbe, Eric A. 2006. Cameroon English Authenticity, Ecology and Evolution. Band 45. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang GmbH Europäischer Verlag der Wissenschaften
Commonwealth Secretariat 2008. Cameroon. http://www.thecommonwealth.org. London: Commonwealth Secretariat
Hickey, Raymond 2003. English Linguistics in Essen.www.uni-essen.de/ELE. Essen: Department of English.
Kouega, Jean-Paul. 2007. A Dictionary of Cameroon English Usage. Vol. 10. Bern: Peter Lang AG European Academic Publishers
Mapsofworld.com 2010. Cameroon Flag. www.mapsofworld.com. San Jose: MapXL Inc.
Languages of Cameroon
Svitlana Sabadash(Lehramt)
LN-Modul IX
Contentp Introduction to Cameroonian languagesp Languages of Cameroonp Kamtokp Some linguistics aspects of Kamtokp Language policy
Introduction to Cameroonian LanguagesFang Language
p Tsa mina mina eh ehp Waka waka eh ehp Tsa mina mina zangalewap Ana wam ah ah
p Zambo eh ehp Zambo eh ehp Tsa mina mina zangalewap Wana wa ah ah
Introduction to Cameroonian Languages Fang in southern Cameroon
p Tsaminamina means Come.p Waka waka means Do it - as in perform
a task. Waka comes from the Pidgin English and means walk while working.
p Tsaminamina zangalewa means Where do you come from?.
p Wana means It's mine.p Zambo means Wait.
Languages of Cameroonp Bamilekep Doualop Fangp Fulanip Hausa
p Kamtok Pidgin
p „Cameroonian Talk“p Pidgin based on Englishp Has English, French and Indigenous lexical
featuresp Simplified morphology (reduced sounds)p WAPE grammar and pronunciation
features
Linguistic aspects of Kamtokp Vowelsp Kamtok has just a half of all English
vowels soundsp English /m n/ - Kamtok /man/ for ‘man’p English /b :d/ - Kamtok /bet/ for ‘bird’p English /meik/ - Kamtok /mek/ for ‘make’
p English / / - Kamtok /go/ for ‘go’
Linguistic aspects of Kamtok p Consonantsp Kamtok reduces clusters at initial, and sometimes
final, position through vowel epenthesisp English /sli:p/ - Kamtok /silip/ for ‘sleep’p English /teibl/ - Kamtok /tebul/ for ‘table’
p WAPE grammarp “go” for future tenses and “bin” for past tenses,
like in:p “A go big” – I’ll be bigp “Merin bin lef” – Mary left or Mary had left
Linguistic aspects of Kamtok p Idiomatic expressionsp Man no run! – ‘Don’t give up or abandon at the
last minute’p Du mi a du yu – ‘Tit for tat’p Woman rapa – ‘A male flirt’
p Proverbsp Bele no get Sonday – ‘The stomach never rests’p Tori bi fain sote tifman laf fo banda - ‘A cheerful
attitude can win over enemies’
Language policyp Native language for those who live in
urban areasp Official language of the government and
legislativesp Widely used in mediap Means of communication
Referencesp McArthur, Tom 2002. The Oxford Guide to World
English. Oxford: University Press.p Kortmann, Bernd et al. (eds) 2004. Handbook of
varieties of English. Vol. 1: Phonology, Vol. 2: Morphology and Syntax. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
à Cameroon English: phonologyp Augustin Simo BobdaàCameroon Pidgin English (Kamtok): phonologyp Thaddeus Menang
English in Africa Prof. R. HickeyWS 2010/2011
Culture of Cameroon
Funda Er (Lehramt)LN - Modul VI
Culture of Cameroon - Content
- Holidays
- The Arts and Humanities
- Gender Roles and Statuses
- Urbanism and Architecture
- Food
Holidays
Date English Name
January 1 New Year's Day
February 11 National Youth Day
May 1 Labor Day
May 20 National Day
August 15 Assumption
December 25 Christmas
The Arts and Humanities
Literature:
-The Fulani: oral literature, including poetry, history, stories, legends, proverbs, magic formulas and riddles
-Since the colonial period, written literature has had a strong history in the southern areas
-Ewondo and Douala: contributed classics to modern African literature
-Major writers: Louis-Marie Pouka, Sanki Maimo, Mongo Beti, Ferdinand Oyono
The Arts and Humanities
Graphic Arts:- Potterly, textiles and sculptures- Grassfielders (incl. The Bamiléké and
Bamoun): noted for blue and white royaldisplay cloth, sculptures
- Bamoun: known for lost-waxbronze sculptures
Gender Roles and Statuses
- Women are responsible for feeding their families
- Men have higher social statusà more rights with regard to marriage, divorce, and land tenure and more access to government bureaucracy and the courts
- Women have power within householdsà many women are prominent in higher education and government ministries
Urbanism and Architecture
Major cities includeà Douala (the shipping and industrial center)à Yaoundé (the capital)à Nkongsamba (the end point of the railroad through
the southern plantations of the colonial period)
-villages and small towns in rural areas: marketplace in a central location à separate areas for women’s products (produce and palm oil) and men’s products (livestock and bush meat)
Urbanism, Architecture and the Use of Space
- Rain forest and the Grassfields:Poto-poto and mud brick rectangular buildings roofed in palm thatch or corrugated iron common
- Traditional Grassfields architecture: constructed of „bamboo“; square or rectangular buildings with sliding doors were topped by conical thatched roofs
- Traditional architecture in the north: round mud buildings crowned in thatch
Urbanism and Architecture
The homes of the Musgum, in the Far North Region, are made of earth and grass.
Urbanism and Architecture
Njem House in Cameroon
Urbanism and Architecture
Maka house in Cameroon
Food- National dish is ndoléà consisting of bitter leaves,
nuts and fish or goat meat- Staple foods: cassava, yam,
plantain, potato, maize, beansand millet
- French introduced French breadAnd Italian pasta à are not aswidely consumed because of their prices
- Main source of protein: fish- Cameroonian specialities are brochettes, sangah and
ndolé
References
- www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Cameroon- www.wikipedia.org- www.Traveldocs.com/cm/culture.htm
ConclusionCameroon is the West African country who had been occupied by several European countries (Portugal, Denmark, Germany, Britain and France)
Now it is a Republic
It had developed its official languages (Kamtok English and Kamtok French)
and its culture
Cameroon is a great example of how the pidgin English developes around the world.
Thank you for your attention!