Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken?
7 thoughts on “Language Quiz”
Sounds African to me. That’s all I know of.
The sounds DO sound African but the music makes me think it’s somehow a native language with Hispanic overtones. Possibly something from the Caribbean as well? Perhaps an African language from a former Portuguese colony?
The vowel system seems to be five vowels, not seven, which suggests not Niger-Congo.
From the music, not just African, but Western African. Which, as pointed out, is culturally very close to the Caribbean. But, for as good as I can hear the words I didn’t hear any Spanish/Portuguese influence, so I’m going to place my bet on the African continent and say somewhere between Senegal and Liberia.
It is indeed spoken in west Africa, and might have some French influence.
Well, I feel like I “cheated” a bit by relying almost entirely on the music, so I went back and listened more to the language. Simon’s hint about possible French influence points at some kind of Creole, but I just couldn’t hear it. So I’m sticking with “some Niger-Congo language”, and putting a long-shot bet on specifically Wolof.
The answer is Bulu (Nkobô Bulu), a Bantu language spoken in the South Region of Cameroon. The song is called Bijabo and it’s sung by la Chorale Bulu du Cameroun.
Sounds African to me. That’s all I know of.
The sounds DO sound African but the music makes me think it’s somehow a native language with Hispanic overtones. Possibly something from the Caribbean as well? Perhaps an African language from a former Portuguese colony?
The vowel system seems to be five vowels, not seven, which suggests not Niger-Congo.
From the music, not just African, but Western African. Which, as pointed out, is culturally very close to the Caribbean. But, for as good as I can hear the words I didn’t hear any Spanish/Portuguese influence, so I’m going to place my bet on the African continent and say somewhere between Senegal and Liberia.
It is indeed spoken in west Africa, and might have some French influence.
Well, I feel like I “cheated” a bit by relying almost entirely on the music, so I went back and listened more to the language. Simon’s hint about possible French influence points at some kind of Creole, but I just couldn’t hear it. So I’m sticking with “some Niger-Congo language”, and putting a long-shot bet on specifically Wolof.
The answer is Bulu (Nkobô Bulu), a Bantu language spoken in the South Region of Cameroon. The song is called Bijabo and it’s sung by la Chorale Bulu du Cameroun.
The recording comes from YouTube: