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Cameroon Pidgin |
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Cameroonian Pidgin English, or Cameroonian Creole, is a language variety of Cameroon. It is also known as Kamtok (from 'Cameroon-talk').
Five varieties are currently recognised: Grafi Kamtok, the variety used in the grassfields and often referred to as 'Grafi
Talk' liturgical Kamtok. This variety has been used by the Catholic Church for three quarters of a century francophone Kamtok.
This variety is now used mainly in towns such as Douala and Yaoundé and by francophones talking to anglophones who do not
speak French Limbe Kamtok. This variety is spoken mainly in the southwest coastal area around the port that used to be called
Victoria and is now Limbe. Bororo Kamtok. This variety is 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. The terms Cameroonian Pidgin, Cameroonian
Pidgin English, Cameroonian Creole and Kamtok are synonymous appellations of what Cameroonians call Cameroon Pidgin English.
Many speakers are unaware that this language is different from English proper. It is a variety of West African Pidgin Englishes
spoken along the coast from Ghana to Cameroon. It is a vehicular language that has been in active use in the country for over
200 years. It came into being in the Slave Trade Years (1440 to early 1800s). It preceded English in Cameroon: the first Baptist
missionaries who arrived Cameroon in 1845 and introduced formal education in English, had to learn Pidgin. A few decades later
during the German annexation period (1884–1914), Pidgin resisted a German ban. It took flight when it became a makeshift language
used in German plantations and undertakings by forced labourers who were drawn from the hinterland and who spoke different
indigenous languages. With time, it invaded the market place and was adopted by Baptist missionaries as the language of their
evangelical crusade. For many years, it has been used on school playgrounds and campuses and in political campaigns, and today,
it is forcing its way into the spoken media scene. (For a comprehensive description of its linguistic features and its place
in the language ecology of Cameroon, see amongst others, Kouega 2007 and 2008). |
Names (more)[de] Kamtok[en] Cameroon Pidgin [hr] Kamerunski pidžin [pl] Język kamtok |
Language type : Living
Technical notes
This page is providing structured data for the language Cameroon Pidgin. |
ISO 639 CodesISO 639-3 : wesLinked Data URIshttp://lexvo.org/id/iso639-3/weshttp://dbpedia.org/resource/ISO_639:wes More URIs at sameas.org SourcesAuthority documentation for ISO 639 identifier: wesFreebase ISO 639-3 : wes GeoNames.org Country Information Publications Office of the European Union Metadata Registry : Countries and Languages |