Bafaw-Balong is a Bantu language spoken by about 8,400 people in southwestern Cameroon. In particular, it is spoken in the town of Muyuka in the Kumba municipality in the southeast of the Southwest Province, and in the Mbanga district in the northwest of the Littoral Region. It is spoken by the Bafaw and Balong people, who call themselves Ngoe.
There are two varieties of Bafaw-Balong: Fo’ (lèfɔ́’), which is also known as Bafaw, Bafo, Bafowu, Afo, Nho, Lifaw or Lefo’, and Long (bàlòŋ), which is also known as Balong, Balon, Balung, Nlong, Valongi, Bayi or Bai. They are sometimes considered distinct languages.
A way to write Bafaw-Balong with the Latin alphabet was proposed by Kouoh Mboundja in 2004. It is based on L’Alphabet général des langues camerounaises (AGLC) (General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages), which was created in the late 1970s.
Another alphabet for Bafaw-Balong was proposed in 2018 by the Cameroon Association of Bible Translators and Literacy in association with the Bafaw Language Development Association. A translation of the Bible into the Fo’ dialect was started in 1996.
Download alphabet charts for Bafaw-Balong (Excel)
Details of Bafaw and Balong alphabets provided by Wolfram Siegel (PDF)
Nfó ansésén
Bumân, balân, na bân
Tiebáni eníngán
Nã mbále etîté
Dyü lí dí ná sé
Mo a wúká bon ká wúfó
Nfó a dí títí á malon má sésēn
Every Bafo person
men, women & children
stand up in love
and truth at all times
God is with us
no one should have any fear
Bafaw are stars in all the tribes
Lifó hymn / anthem by Ashi Mboe
Source: https://bafcudausa.org/about-us/
Note: the sample text appears to be in a slightly different orthography to the above alphabet charts and includes a number different diacritcs.
Information about Bafaw-Balong
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bafaw-Balong_language
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bafaw-Balong
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bafaw-balong
http://www.language-archives.org/language/bwt
https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/bafa1247
https://themedianpaper-yde.blogspot.com/2018/08/teaching-of-bafaw-language-to-be.html
https://bafcudausa.org/about-us/
Aka, Bafaw-Balong, Bangi, Basaa, Bemba, Bena, Benga, Bhaca, Bube, Bukusu, Bulu, Central Teke, Chichewa, Chokwe, Chuwabu, Comorian, Dciriku, Digo, Duala, Eton, Ewondo, Fang, Ganda/Luganda, Gogo, Gusii, Gwere, Haya, Hehe, Herero, Ibinda, Ikizu, Ikoma, Jita, Kabwa, Kako, Kamba, Kiga, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kisi, Kogo, Komo, Kongo, Konjo, Koti, Kukuya, Kunda, Kuria, Lambya, Lingala, Loma, Lozi, Luba-Katanga, Luchazi, Lunda, Luvale, Makaa, Makonde, Makhuwa, Mandekan, Maore, Masaaba, Mbama, Mbere, Mbukushu, Mbunda, Mbuun, Mende, Mongo, Mpiemo, Mushungulu, Mwani, Nambya, Nande, Ngoni, Nkore, North Teke, Northern Ndebele (South Africa), Northern Ndebele (Zimbabwe), Northern Sotho, Nyamwezi, Nyakyusa, Nyemba, Nyole, Nyoro, Nyungwe, Nzadi, Oroko, OshiWambo, Pagibete, Punu, Ronga, Safwa, Sena, Sengele, Shona, Soga, Songe, Southern Ndebele, Southern Sotho, Sukuma, Swahili, Swati, Tanga, Tembo, Tonga, Tooro, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswa, Tswana, Tumbuka, Umbundu, Venda, Vwanji, Xhosa, Yao, Yasa, Zigula, Zinza, Zulu
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page create: 05.02.25. Last modified: 05.02.25
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