# Bambalang language

The Bambalang language, also called Chrambo (Chirambo, Tshirambo) or Mbawyakum (Mboyakum), is a Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon.

## Phonology
### Consonants

These phones and phonemes were enumerated by Grove in 2007 and refined by Wright in 2012.
Phonemes :
| | | Labial | Labial | Alveolar | Alveolar | Palatal | Palatal | Velar | Velar | Glottal |
| Stop/Affricate | Voiceless | /p/ | /pː/ | /t/ | /tː/ | /t͡ʃ/ | /t͡ʃː/ | /k/ | /kː/ | |
| Stop/Affricate | Voiced | | | | | | /d͡ʒː/ | | /gː/ | |
| Fricative | Voiceless | /f/ | /fː/ | | | /ʃ/ | /ʃː/ | | | /h/ |
| Fricative | Voiced | /v/ | /vː/ | | | | | /ɣ/ | | |
| Nasal | Nasal | /m/ | /mː/ | /n/ | /nː/ | /ɲ/ | | /ŋ/ | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | | | /l/ | /lː/ | /j/ | | /w/ | | |
Phones :
| | | Labial | Labial | Alveolar | Alveolar | Palatal | Palatal | Velar | Velar | Glottal |
| Stop/Affricate | Voiceless | [p] | [pʰ] | [t] | [tʰ] | [t͡ʃ] | [t͡ʃː] | [k] | [kʰ] | [ʔ] |
| Stop/Affricate | Voiced | [b] | [bʰ] | [d] | [dʰ] | [d͡ʒ] | [d͡ʒː] | [g] | [gː] | |
| Fricative | Voiceless | [f] | [fː] | | | [ʃ] | [ʃː] | | | [h] |
| Fricative | Voiced | [v] | [vː] | | | | | [ɣ] | | |
| Tap | Tap | | | [ɾ] | | | | | | |
| Nasal | Nasal | [m]~[ɱ] | [mː] | [n] | [nː] | [ɲ] | | [ŋ] | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | | | [l] | [lː] | [j]~[ʒ] | [ɥ]~[w] | [ɥ]~[w] | | |
* ↑ [ʔ] is the allophone of /k/ in a CVCV structure.
* ↑ [b] is an always prenasalized allophone of /p/.
* ↑ [d] is an always prenasalized allophone of /l/.
* ↑ [d͡ʒ] is an allophone of /j/ before /n/.
* ↑ [g] is an allophone of /ɣ/ after a nasal.
* ↑ [ɾ] is an allophone of /l/ in a consonant cluster or a CVCV structure.
* ↑ [ɱ] is an allophone of /m/ before labiodental consonants.
* ↑ [ɥ] is an allophone of /w/ before /i/.

### Vowels

| | Front | Central | Back |
| Close | /i/ /ĩ/ | /ɨ/ /ɨ̃/ | /u/ /ũ/ |
| Close-mid | /e/ | | /o/ /õ/ |
| Mid | | /ə/ /ə̃/ | |
| Open-mid | /ɛ/ /ɛ̃/ | | /ɔ/ |
| Open | /a/ /ã/ | | |

#### Diphthongs

In addition to simple oral and nasal vowels, Bambalang also has oral and nasal diphthongs and vowel sequences. Grove and Wright do not specify whether nasal diphthongs are truly diphthongs or vowel sequences.
| Orthographic | Phonemic | Phonetic |
| ei | /ei/ | [ei̯] |
| ou | /ou/ | [ou̯] |
| ao | /ao/ | [ao̯] |
| əɨ | /əɨ/ | [ə.ɨ] |
| ie | /ie/ | [i.e] |
| ia | /ia/ | [i.a] |
| ua | /ua/ | [u.a] |
| uo | /uo/ | [u.o] |
| aoŋ | /aõ/ | |
| ɛiŋ | /ɛĩ/ | |
| ieŋ | /iẽ/ | |
| iɛŋ | /iɛ̃/ | |
| iaŋ | /iã/ | |
| uoŋ | /uõ/ | |

### Tone

In addition, Bambalang has both lexical and grammatical tone.
Tones in Bambalang
| Tone | High (H) | Low (L)* | Low (L)* | Rising (LH) | Falling (HL) |
| Diacritic | á | à | ā | ǎ | a |
*ā for verbs; à for other types of words

## Orthography

A segmental orthography was created for Bambalang in 2007 and revised in 2012.
Orthography :
| Upper | Lower | Phone |
| A | a | [a] |
| B | b | [b] |
| Ch | ch | [t͡ʃ] |
| D | d | [d] |
| E | e | [e] |
| Ɛ | ɛ | [ɛ] |
| Ə | ə | [ə] |
| F | f | [f] |
| G | g | [g] |
| Gh | gh | [ɣ] |
| H | h | [h] |
| I | i | [i] |
| Ɨ | ɨ | [ɨ] |
| J | j | [d͡ʒ] |
| K | k | [k] |
| L | l | [l] |
| M | m | [m], [ɱ] |
| N | n | [n] |
| Ŋ | ŋ | [ŋ], [◌̃] |
| O | o | [ɔ] |
| Ɔ | ɔ | [ɔ] |
| P | p | [p] |
| R | r | [ɾ] |
| Sh | sh | [ʃ] |
| T | t | [t] |
| U | u | [u], [y] |
| V | v | [v] |
| W | w | [w], [y] |
| Y | y | [ʒ]~[j] |
| ’ | ’ | [ʔ] |