Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 28, 2026

Leti language (Cameroon)

Leti, or Mangisa, is a Bantu language of Cameroon, spoken by the Mengisa people. Most Mengisa have switched to the Eton language, though a number of them continue to use Leti as a secret ritual language. A smaller number speak Leti as their mother tongue.

Last revised
Jul 28, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
167 w
Citations
6
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Leti
Native toCameroon
EthnicityMengisa
Native speakers
"small population" (2014)1
ritual L2 use
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
leo – Leti
mct – Mengisa (duplicate code)
Glottologleti1245
A.63 (Mengisa)2

Leti, or Mangisa, is a Bantu language of Cameroon, spoken by the Mengisa people. Most Mengisa have switched to the Eton language, though a number of them continue to use Leti as a secret ritual language. A smaller number speak Leti as their mother tongue.1

Leti is quite close to Tuki and may be a dialect.3 It is also closely related to Eton.4

Mengisa is spoken in the northern part of Sa'a commune (in Lekié department, Central Region).4

References

References

  1. Leti at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Mengisa (duplicate code) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. Hammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices
  4. Binam Bikoi, Charles, ed. (2012). Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM) [Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon]. Atlas linguistique de l'Afrique centrale (ALAC) (in French). Vol. 1: Inventaire des langues. Yaoundé: CERDOTOLA. ISBN 9789956796069.