Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 29, 2026

Kuo language

Kuo is an Mbum language of northern Cameroon and southern Chad.

Last revised
Jun 29, 2026
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≈ 1 min
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Wikipedia ↗
Kuo
Koh
Native toCameroon, Chad
Native speakers
21,000 (2024)
Language codes
ISO 639-3xuo
Glottologkuoo1238

Kuo (Koh) is an Mbum language of northern Cameroon and southern Chad.

Distribution

Kuo, like Kali, is spoken in scattered areas of the eastern part of Vina department (Mbe and eastern Ngaoundéré communes) and in Mbere department (Meiganga commune) in the Adamawa Region. In the Eastern Region, it is spoken in the northern part of Lom-et-Djerem department (Garoua-Boulaï and Bétaré-Oya communes). It is spoken by 2,975 people.1

Phonology

Consonants2
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labial–velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t k k͡p ⟨kp⟩
voiced b d d͡ʒ ⟨z⟩ ɡ ⟨g⟩ ɡ͡b ⟨gb⟩
prenasalized ᵐb ⟨mb⟩ ⁿd ⟨nd⟩ ⁿd͡ʒ ⟨nz⟩ ᵑɡ ⟨ŋg⟩ ᵑᵐɡ͡b ⟨mgb⟩
Implosive ɓ ɗ
Fricative voiceless f s h
voiced v
Approximant l j ⟨y⟩ w
Flap/tap ⱱ ⟨vb⟩ ɾ ⟨r⟩
Vowels
Front Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Orthography

Kuo alphabet3
a b ɓ d ɗ e ɛ f g gb h i k kp l m mb mgb
n nd nz ŋ ŋg o ɔ p r s t u v vb w y z

The tilde (vowel nasalization mark) is written below the vowel letter (a̰, ɛ̰, ḭ, ɔ̰, ṵ). Kuo has 4 tones, written using tone accent (except for mid tone is unwritten): grave (`) for low tone, acute (´) for high tone, and caron (ˇ) for rising tone.3

References

References

  1. 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.
  2. Fluckiger, Cheryl (1987), Phonological Sketch: Kuo (PDF), SIL Global, pp. 1–9
  3. Mbiinaŋ ɓáy Nzaŋanaŋ (PDF), Comité de littérature en langue kuo au Tchad & Comité de littérature en langue kuo au Cameroun, 2017