Bube language (original) (raw)

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Bantu or Bantoid language of Equatorial Guinea

"Bubi language" redirects here. For the other Gabonese language called Bubi, see Vove language. For the Bubi dialect of Kele, see Kele language (Gabon).

"Bubia language" redirects here. For the Bantu language of Cameroon, see Wumboko-Bubia language.

Bube
Idioma Bubé
Bubi, Bohobé, Bube–Benga, Bobe
Native to Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Cameroon
Region Bioko Island,[1] Río Muni (only spoken by minority)
Ethnicity Bubi, Wovea
Native speakers 51,000 (2011)[2]
Language family Niger–Congo? Atlantic–CongoVolta-CongoBenue–CongoBantoidSouthern BantoidBantuMbam-BubeBube
Early form Pre-Bube
Official status
Recognised minoritylanguage in Equatorial GuineaBioko Island
Language codes
ISO 639-3 bvb – inclusive codeIndividual code:bbx – Bubia (Wovea)
Glottolog bube1242
Guthrie code A.31, A.221[3]
ELP Bubia
Lenguas de Guinea Ecuatorial (Bube (pink)

The Bube language or Bubi, Bohobé, Bube–Benga or Fernandian (Bobe) is a Bantu language spoken predominately by the Bubi, a Bantu people native to, and once the primary inhabitants of Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea. The language was brought to Bioko from continental Africa more than three thousand years ago when the Bubi began settling on the island.[4]

It has around 50,000 speakers, with three variants: North, South and Central-East. It is noted for its tonal character and the divergence of words by gender. The language is also spoken by the Bubi native to Gabon and Cameroon.

The Bube language is divided into six different dialects that vary in the northern and southern regions of Bioko Island. For example, in the North, people speak Rebola and its variations: Basile, Banapa and Basupa. However, in the North-East, Bakake is spoken.[_citation needed_]

Bube is also spoken in a small area on the mainland closest to the island, where speakers are shifting to Wumboko.[5] This has been reported as "Bube", "Bubia" or "Wovea" (see Wovea people).

The first works on the Bube language were those of the Baptist missionary John Clarke, published in 1846 and 1848.[6] A later Bube-to-English primer was authored in 1875 by William Barleycorn, a colonial era Primitive Methodist missionary of Igbo and Fernandino descent, while he was serving in the Bubi village of Basupu. An official language dictionary and grammar guide was published by the ethnic Bubi scholar Justo Bolekia Boleká.

Other names and forms of the name include Bubé, eVoové, eBubée, Bhubhi, Bubi, Ibubi, Ibhubhi, Pove and Eviia.

Bube has 7 vowels that can be either short or long:

Vowel phonemes

| | Front | Back | | | ------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Close | i iː (ĩ) | u uː (ũ) | | Close-mid | e eː (ẽ) | o oː (õ) | | Open-mid | ɛ ɛː (ɛ̃) | ɔ ɔː (ɔ̃) | | Open | a aː (ã) | |

The nasal vowels are allophones of respective oral vowels.

Bube has 29 consonants. Some of them are prenasalized:

Consonant Phonemes

| | Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------- | | Nasal | voiceless | m̥ | n̥ | | | | | | voiced | m | n | ɲ | | | | | | Stop | plain | voiceless | p | t | c | k | ʔ | | voiced | b | d | ɟ | ɡ | | | | | prenasal | voiceless | ᵐp | ⁿt | ᶮc | | | | | voiced | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮɟ | | | | | | Fricative | voiceless | f | s | | | h | | | voiced | v | | | | | | | | prenasal | | ⁿs | | | | | | | Approximant | | l | j | w | | | | | Rhotic | | r | | | | | |

The numbers one through ten in Bube are as follows:[7]

Number Northern Bube Northwestern Bube Southern Bube
1 buule muule
2 eppa memba
3 betta metta
4 yeele myeeme
5 betto metto
6 ra'a6 metto na muule5+1
7 ra'a la buule6+1 metto na memba5+2
8 yeele ketoppa4x2 ra'a la eppa6+2 metto na metta5+3
9 yeele ketoppa la buule4x2+1 baa buule ka yo10-1 metto na myeene5+4
10 yo myo
  1. ^ EquatorialGuinea.org; Retrieved 12/08/1998
  2. ^ Bube at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Bubia (Wovea) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  3. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  4. ^ EquatorialGuinea.org; Retrieved 12/08/1998
  5. ^ Harald Hammarström (2013) Review of the Ethnologue, 16th Ed.
  6. ^ See Bibliography.
  7. ^ C. Junyent, Las lenguas del mundo, p. 66