Nsei language

Nsei
Nsei
Kenswei Nsei
Native to	Cameroon
Native speakers	25,000 (2008)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Grassfields Ring South Nsei; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ndb
Glottolog	kens1251

Kenswei Nsei (Kensense), also Nsei or Mesing (Bamessing), is a Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants²
		Labial		Alveolar		Post-alveolar		Velar		Glottal
		-voice	+voice	-voice	+voice	-voice	+voice	-voice	+voice	-voice
Nasal	Plain		m		n		ɲ		ŋ
Nasal	Labialized						ɲʷ		ŋʷ
Plosive/ Affricate	Plain		b	t	d	t͡ʃ	d͡ʒ	k	g	ʔ
	Pre-nasalized		ᵐb	ⁿt	ⁿd	ⁿt͡ʃ	ⁿd͡ʒ	ᵑk	ᵑg
	Lablalized		bʷ	tʷ	dʷ	t͡ʃʷ	d͡ʒʷ	kʷ	gʷ
	Pre-nasalized and labialized		ᵐbʷ	ⁿtʷ	ⁿdʷ	ⁿt͡ʃʷ	ⁿd͡ʒʷ	ᵑkʷ	ᵑgʷ
Fricative	Plain	f	v	s	z				ɣ^a	h
	Pre-nasalized	ᶬf		ⁿs
	Labialized			sʷ	zʷ
	Pre-nasalized and labialized			ⁿsʷ
Approximant	Plain				l		j^b		w
Approximant	Labialized				lʷ		jʷ

/ɣ/ becomes [ɰ] before back vowels.
[j] is in free variation with [ʒ].

Vowels

Vowels²
	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ̝^a	u
Close-mid	e^b	ə^c	o^d
Open-mid	ɛ	ə^c	ɔ
Open	æ	ä^e

/ɨ̝/ becomes [ɨ] before /ŋ/.
/e/ becomes [ɪ] in short open syllables.
/ə/ becomes [ɵ] before a pause when friction is present.
/o/ becomes [ʊ] before a pause when friction is present.
/ä/ becomes [ɒ] before [w].

Tone

Nsei has both lexical and grammatical tone. There are at least two level tones (high, low, and possibly mid) and two contour tones (falling and rising).³

References

Nsei at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
DeVries 2008.
DeVries 2008, pp. 17–18.

Further reading

Akeriweh (2000). A step towards the standardisation of Kə̀nswéynséy: (a grassfield bantu language (MA thesis). Yaoundé: Université de Yaoundé I.
DeVries, Aaron (2008). Kenswey Nsey (Bamessing): A Phonological Sketch (PDF). Yaoundé: SIL Cameroun. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 December 2023.
Lonbeck, Janelle (2013). The Noun Phrase in Kenswei Nsei (Bamessing) (PDF). Yaoundé: SIL Cameroon. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2023.
Lonfo, Bertrand (2007). Morphologie nominale du kensweynse (MA thesis). Université de Yaoundé I.

[3] /ɣ/ becomes [ɰ] before back vowels.

[4] [j] is in free variation with [ʒ].

[5] /ɨ̝/ becomes [ɨ] before /ŋ/.

[6] /e/ becomes [ɪ] in short open syllables.

[7] /ə/ becomes [ɵ] before a pause when friction is present.

[8] /o/ becomes [ʊ] before a pause when friction is present.

[9] /ä/ becomes [ɒ] before [w].

[e18-1] Nsei at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[FOOTNOTEDeVries2008-2] DeVries 2008.

[FOOTNOTEDeVries200817–18-10] DeVries 2008, pp. 17–18.

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