Aspects of the phonetics of Cambap

Abstract

Increasingly, the need to document endangered languages before they cease to be spoken and disappear is being recognized. Corresponding acknowledgement of the importance of detailed descriptions of the phonetics of such languages, however, is lagging behind. This study examines the phonetics of Cambap, a Bantoid language spoken in the Nigeria-Cameroon borderland by approximately 30 people. The focus is on describing how its phonological contrasts are realized, and as such this study represents only a stage in a more complete description of Cambap phonetics, their relation to the phonology of Cambap and to more general aspects of the language and culture of the Camba.