Bubia
[aka Bobe, Bobea, Wovea]Classification: Niger-Congo
·severely endangered
Classification: Niger-Congo
·severely endangered
Bobe, Bobea, Wovea, Bota, Ewota |
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Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Benue-Congo, Southern Bantoid |
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ISO 639-3 |
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bbx |
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As csv |
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Information from: “Bubia/Isubu” . Gratien Atindogbé and Doris Richter Genannt Kemmermann and Nancy Nyindem and Anne Storch (2006)
"These figures are not even actual and do not reflect the present reality. They were advanced in 1977 by Voegelin and Voegelin, and in 1982 by SIL respectively. Obviously, 31 years after, the demographic situation might have changed drastically."
"The languages are solely used by adults for everyday communication within the village or in very specific ceremonies like naming, 'born house' (i.e. child presentation to one’s community), chief crowning, burials, death celebration, etc. They are not regularly used when speaking to the younger generation, who frequently understand but do not speak the language. When asked what language they speak, many youths testify that they do not know their language, but rather speak English, Pidgin English or other languages. In the villages, the remaining speakers do not have the chance to be in contact with new media (e.g. internet), and local broadcast stations use either Pidgin English or Mokpe. The village schools use English. In other words, these languages have absolutely no chance to strengthen through the contact with new domains and settings, especially in the official domains."
English
Cameroonian Pidgin English
"Taken as a whole, the attitudes of the community members towards Bubia and Isubu are negative. However, adults are very sad about the situation and would have loved it to be different. Consequently, they are open to solutions that will remedy the situation and offer collaboration to any attempt to safeguard their linguistic patrimony. Obviously, they attach considerable value to their cultural heritage, but the trend is too strong and they feel that they cannot resist the influence of Kamtok, Mokpe and the two official languages: to succeed in the metropolises, one needs French and English."
Information from: “A survey on language death in Africa” (402) . Sommer, Gabriele (1992) , Brenzinger, Matthias · Mouton de Gruyter
"'The Wovea occupy the largest island of the small Pirate group in Ambas Bay ("Bota Island") and the village on the opposite coas ("Bota Land"). The village of Mɔndɔli (Mondole) on the coast of Bimbia promontory is also related to them. Formerly the Wovea also occupied the two large islands in Ambas Bay...' (Ardener (1956: 12))"