Duala is a member of the Sawabantu group of Bantu languages. It is spoken by about 87,700 Duala and Mungo people in the southwest of Cameroon, particularly in and around Douala, the capital of the Littoral Region.
Duala is also known as Douala, Diwala, Dwela, Dualla and Dwala. Duala speakers call it Duālā or ɓwambo ba duālā. Dialects include Douala proper, Bodiman, Oli, Pongo and Mongo. Some linguists classify them as separate languages.
Duala first appeared in writing in the Latin alphabet in 1870 in a translation of the Bible by Alfred Saker, a British missionary and linguist. Other orthographies for Duala were devised by French and German missionaries and linguists. A common alphabet for the languages of Cameroon, (l'Alphabet Général des Langues Camerounaises (AGLC) - the General Alphabet of Cameroonian Languages), was created in 1978. The Duala version is shown below.
There are classes in Duala in schools and universities, and it is used to some extent as a medium of instruction in primary schools. There are also some TV programmes in Duala.
Download alphabet charts for Duala (Excel)
Information about Duala | Phrases | Numbers
Information about the Duala language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duala_language
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duala_(Sprache)
http://www.studentsoftheworld.info/sites/divers/584.php
www.language-archives.org/language/dua
https://african-counter.com/life-n-culture/languages-and-dialects/duala/
Duala - French dictionary
http://philippe.litou.free.fr/duala/dico%20franco-duala.htm
Bangi, Basaa, Bemba, Bena, Benga, Bhaca, Bube, Bukusu, Bulu, Central Teke, Chichewa, Chokwe, Chuwabu, Comorian, Digo, Duala, Eton, Ewondo, Fang, Ganda/Luganda, Gogo, Gusii, Gwere, Haya, Hehe, Herero, Ibinda, Ikizu, Ikoma, Jita, Kamba, Kiga, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kisi, Kogo, Kongo, Konjo, Koti, Kukuya, Kunda, Kuria, Lambya, Lingala, Loma, Lozi, Luba-Katanga, Luchazi, Lunda, Luvale, Makaa, Makonde, Makhuwa, Mandekan, Maore, Masaaba, Mbukushu, Mbunda, Mende, Mongo, Mushungulu, Mwani, Nambya, Nande, Ngoni, Nkore, North Teke, Northern Ndebele (South Africa), Northern Ndebele (Zimbabwe), Northern Sotho, Nyamwezi, Nyakyusa, Nyemba, Nyole, Nyungwe, Nzadi, Oroko, OshiWambo, Pagibete, Punu, Ronga, Safwa, Sena, Sengele, Shona, Soga, Songe, Southern Ndebele, Southern Sotho, Sukuma, Swahili, Swati, Tanga, Tembo, Tonga, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswa, Tswana, Tumbuka, Umbundu, Venda, Vwanji, Xhosa, Yao, Yasa, Zigula, Zinza, Zulu
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 14.07.24
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