Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Mekaf, Munkaf, Nkap, Bunaki
CLASSIFICATION		Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Benue-Congo, Southern Bantoid
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		mff
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “What are we trying to preserve? Diversity, change, and ideology at the edge of the Cameroonian Grassfields” . Jeff Good and Pierpaolo DiCarlo (2012)

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
3,000
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Due to traditional predominance of multilingualism, if we wanted to establish the number of total speakers of a given language of Lower Fungom, we would be obliged to consider the whole area and not confine ourselves to the village which gives the name to the language. This means that, at any given moment, the “speech community” associated with a particular language consists both of those resident in its associated village and of significant numbers of non-residents.

PLACES: Cameroon

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Lower Fungom region, Cameroon; village of Mashi and other villages.

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
3,000
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"The Bunaki, who speak the Naki language: 1,200 in the Subdivision, plus 1,800 outside of it on the other bank of the Katsina"

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: "Jukun is used as a LWC [language of wider communication] in Nse, although the people are not generally bilingual. It is also used as a LWC in Lebo, but very little in Bukpang 2."

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "The Bunaki make up the ethnic group speaking the language (of the Beboid subbranch of the Bantu branch) Naki, meaning 'all of us'. They live... on both sides of the Forest Reserve of Fungom. To the northwest they live in the third-class chiefdom of Nse, or Nser (with 300 inhabitants), the language of which is Nsaa and whose inhabitants are the Bunsaa. To the east they live along all the edges of that forest with, from north to south, the third-class chiefdoms of Lebo (with 200 inhabitants) and of Bukpang 2 (with 700 inhabitants). This area is called ‘Mashi Overside', including the district of Patali (and not Batari) towards Lebo... Naki, the only Beboid language of the Furu-Awa Subdivision, is spoken in the chiefdoms of Nse to the north of the Forest Reserve, and in those of Lebo and Bukpang 2 to the east."

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: "Their historical center is the third-class chiefdom on the other side of the Katsina-Ala, and thus outside of the Furu-Awa Subdivision: Mashi (or Marshi or Manshi), Bukpang 1 (600 inhabitants) and Mekaf (700 inhabitants). This means that there are about 3,000 Bunaki in Cameroon, of whom 1,200 are in the Furu-Awa Subdivision and that they have known a historic spread from the south to the north. The farthest point of their expansion moreover is in Nigeria: Belogo (200 inhabitants) or Tosso 2, on the left bank of the Gamana to the east of Furu-Awa."

3,000 (Breton 1993). 300 in Nse chiefdom
Native speakers worldwide

		2012	What are we trying to preserve? Diversity, change, and ideology at the edge of the Cameroonian Grassfields			Manuscript					University at Buffalo	http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jcgood/DiCarloGood-LFIdeology.pdf	Jeff Good and Pierpaolo DiCarlo	Jeff Good and Pierpaolo DiCarlo. 2012. "What Are We Trying To Preserve? Diversity, Change, and Ideology At the Edge of the Cameroonian Grassfields." Online: http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jcgood/DiCarloGood-LFIdeology.pdf.		3,000	1000-9999	Due to traditional predominance of multilingualism, if we wanted to establish the number of total speakers of a given language of Lower Fungom, we would be obliged to consider the whole area and not confine ourselves to the village which gives the name to the language. This means that, at any given moment, the “speech community” associated with a particular language consists both of those resident in its associated village and of significant numbers of non-residents.	No estimate available			Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)		Cameroon	Lower Fungom region, Cameroon; village of Mashi and other villages.	6.600783, 10.265667
	2	1993	Is there a Furu language group?	97-118				Journal of West African languages	23				Breton, Roland J.L.	Breton, Roland J.L. 1993. "Is There a Furu Language Group?" In Journal of West African languages, 23 , no. 2: 97-118.	EBALL	3,000	1000-9999	"The Bunaki, who speak the Naki language: 1,200 in the Subdivision, plus 1,800 outside of it on the other bank of the Katsina"		Jukun	"Jukun is used as a LWC [language of wider communication] in Nse, although the people are not generally bilingual. It is also used as a LWC in Lebo, but very little in Bukpang 2."	Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	"Their historical center is the third-class chiefdom on the other side of the Katsina-Ala, and thus outside of the Furu-Awa Subdivision: Mashi (or Marshi or Manshi), Bukpang 1 (600 inhabitants) and Mekaf (700 inhabitants). This means that there are about 3,000 Bunaki in Cameroon, of whom 1,200 are in the Furu-Awa Subdivision and that they have known a historic spread from the south to the north. The farthest point of their expansion moreover is in Nigeria: Belogo (200 inhabitants) or Tosso 2, on the left bank of the Gamana to the east of Furu-Awa."		"The Bunaki make up the ethnic group speaking the language (of the Beboid subbranch of the Bantu branch) Naki, meaning 'all of us'. They live... on both sides of the Forest Reserve of Fungom. To the northwest they live in the third-class chiefdom of Nse, or Nser (with 300 inhabitants), the language of which is Nsaa and whose inhabitants are the Bunsaa. To the east they live along all the edges of that forest with, from north to south, the third-class chiefdoms of Lebo (with 200 inhabitants) and of Bukpang 2 (with 700 inhabitants). This area is called ‘Mashi Overside', including the district of Patali (and not Batari) towards Lebo... Naki, the only Beboid language of the Furu-Awa Subdivision, is spoken in the chiefdoms of Nse to the north of the Forest Reserve, and in those of Lebo and Bukpang 2 to the east."
16		2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)		M. Paul Lewis		SIL International			Dallas, TX		http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub	3,000 (Breton 1993). 300 in Nse chiefdom

Naki

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Language information by source

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

3,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

3,000

3,000 (Breton 1993). 300 in Nse chiefdom

Discussion

Naki

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

3,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

3,000

3,000 (Breton 1993). 300 in Nse chiefdom

Discussion

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