Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Aug 1, 2026

Feʼfeʼ language

Feʼfeʼ or commonly Feʼefeʼe, also known as Nufi or Bafang, is a Bamileke language spoken in Cameroon, around the town of Bafang. It was one of the four languages selected for option at the Collège Libermann at Douala.

Last revised
Aug 1, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
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376 w
Citations
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Source
Wikipedia ↗
Feʼfeʼ
Nufi, Fotouni, Bafang1
Ghə̀ǝ̄ fèʼéfěʼè
Native toCameroon
RegionHaut-Nkam (Upper Nkam)
EthnicityBamileke Feʼefeʼe
Native speakers
c. 140,000 (2005)2
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3fmp
Glottologfefe1239
Communication in fe’efe’e translated to English and French source ↗

Feʼfeʼ or commonly Feʼefeʼe, also known as Nufi or Bafang (Fe'fe': Nufi), is a Bamileke language spoken in Cameroon, around the town of Bafang. It was one of the four languages selected for option at the Collège Libermann at Douala (along with Duala, Basaa and Ghɔmálá').3

Phonology

Consonants

Allophones are given in brackets.

Consonants4
Labial Dental Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n (ɲ) ŋ
Plosive voiceless (p) t t͡ʃ k ʔ
voiced b d d͡ʒ ɡ
Fricative voiceless f s (ʃ) x
voiced v z (ʒ) (ɣ)
Approximant (w) (l) (j)


Vowels

Vowels4
Front Mid Back
High i ɨa u
Mid e (ə)b o
(ɛ) (ɔ)
Low a ɑ
  1. Hyman (1972) uses /ɯ/, represented by ⟨ʉ⟩.5
  2. Hyman (1972) uses /ɤ/.5

Tone

Tone Low Raised-Low Mid High
Diacritic à ẚ a á
Example [pʉà] [pʉẚ] [pʉa] [pʉá]
Translation bag to bend over to go crazy two (2)

The language has a complex tone system, carefully described, along with other aspects of the phonology and morphology, in Hyman (1972).4

Writing system

Feʼfeʼ alphabet
Uppercase A Ɑ B C D E Ə F G Gh H I J K L M N Ŋ O P S Sh T U Ʉ V W Y Z Zh ʼ
Lowercase a ɑ b c d e ə f g gh h i j k l m n ŋ o p s sh t u ʉ v w y z zh ʼ
IPA a ɑ b t͡ʃ d e, ɛ ə f g ɣ x i d͡ʒ k l m n ŋ o, ɔ p s ʃ t u ɨ v w j z ʒ ʔ
References

References

  1. OLAC resources in and about the Feʼfeʼ language. Open Language Archives.
  2. Feʼfeʼ at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  3. Renaud, Patrick (1979). "Le Français au Cameroun". In Valdman, A. (ed.). Le Français hors de France. Paris: Editions Honoré Champion.
  4. Hyman, Larry (1972). A Phonological Study of Feʼfeʼ-Bamileke (PDF) (PhD thesis). Los Angeles: University of California.
  5. Hyman 1972, p. 32.
External links