Bana (kwə̀mà ká bàná)

Bana is a member of the Chadic group of Afro-Asiatic languages. It is spoken by about 23,000 people in the Far North Region of Cameroon, particularly in the canton of Guili in the north of Bourrha Commune in Mayo-Tsanaga Department in the southwest of the Far North Region.

Bana is also known as Baza, Ka-bana, Koma or Mizeran. Speakers of Bana call their language kwə̀mà ká bàná ("language of the Bana"). There are two main dialects: Gamboura, or mountain dialect, and Guili, or valley dialect. There is also the Ouda dialect, which is close to the Gamboura dialect.

Bana is written with the Latin alphabet using a spelling system based on l'Alphabet général des langues camerounaises (AGLC), or the General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages, which was devised in the 1970s.

The Bana alphabet

Bana alphabet

Download an alphabet chart for Bana (Excel)

Note

Tone indication appears to be optional.

Sample text

Ma kə Yesəw ngəshi na: «Mbaꞌa pə ghwəy cəꞌwə Hyalay. Vanta kwəma ka ghwəy gəzə: A Dəŋəy, a cəꞌwəŋa ghəy nza mbəzli mbəə sənay Hyala ɗewɗew na nza gha, kə ghəshi, ka fal slən tsa gha. Mazə nza gha, səəkə sləkəŋəy.
Ɓəŋəy shi zəmə gar məkəŋəy vici va vici va.
Pəlataŋəy kwəma ghəy jikir na mənti ghəy. Sa nzanay, kar ghəy pəlata na mbəzliy məniŋəy kwəma jikir na kwərakwə. Ndəghwətəŋəy vantaa ndə jaka dzaa həərətəŋəy ta məni kwəma jikir na. Ava tsəgha ka ghwəy ni» kə Yesəw.

Source: https://cotrabi-bana.com/fr/lire-la-parole-de-dieu-en-ligne

Translation

And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
The Lord's Prayer - Luke 11: 2-4

Source: https://www.bible.com/bible/1/LUK.11.KJV

Sample video

Information about Bana | Numbers

Links

Information about Bana
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bana_language/
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bana_(langue_tchadique)
https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/bana1305
https://cotrabi-bana.com/fr/accueil
https://www.sil.org/resources/search/language/bcw

Chadic Languages

Bade, Bana, Barein, Bole, Dangaléat, Gawar, Goemai, Hausa, Hdi, Karai-karai, Kera, Lele, Marba, Migaama, Miya, Moloko, Mpade, Musey, Mwaghavul, Ngizim, Polci, Sokoro, Somrai, Tangale, Tumak, Wandala, Zulgo-Gemzek

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page created: 04.07.25. Last modified: 04.07.25

[top]

Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site.

You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways.

If you find all the adverts annoying, there is now an Ad-free version of Omniglot which you can access for a small monthly or annual donation.

This website and its content is copyright of Simon Ager - © Simon Ager 1998-2026. All rights reserved. All images were created by me, unless otherwise indicated. Feel free to use them for personal, educational or non-commercial purposes, and don't forget to mention where they came from. More details about copyright

[top]