Duala (Duálá)

Duala, which is known as Douala in French, is a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon by about 87,700 people.

Duala first appeared in writing in 1862 in a translation of the Bible. The orthography was reformed in 1932, and again in 1979 when a common alphabet for the languages of Cameroon, (Alphabet Général des Langues Cameroun-aises - General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages), was created.

Duala has three tones: a high tone which is marked by by an acute accent; a low tone which is unmarked, and a falling-rising tone which marked by a caron (ˇ). These accents are not always written.

Duala alphabet and pronunciation

Download an alphabet chart for Duala (Excel)

Links

Information about the Duala language
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duala_(Sprache)
http://www.studentsoftheworld.info/sites/divers/584.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duala_language
http://fr.dooh.org

Duala - French dictionary
http://philippe.litou.free.fr/duala/dico%20franco-duala.htm

Bantu languages

Basaa, Bemba, Bena, Bukusu, Bulu, Chichewa, Chokwe, Chuwabu, Comorian, Digo, Duala, Eton, Ewondo, Fang, Ganda/Luganda, Gogo, Gusii, Gwere, Haya, Herero, Ikizu, Jita, Kamba, Kiga, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kisi, Kongo, Konjo, Koti, Kunda, Kuria, Lambya, Lingala, Loma, Lozi, Luchazi, Luvale, Makonde, Makhuwa, Mandekan, Maore, Masaaba, Mbunda, Mende, Mushungulu, Mwani, Nande, Nkore, Northern Ndebele (South Africa), Northern Ndebele (Zimbabwe), Northern Sotho, Nyamwezi, Nyakyusa, Nyemba, Nyole, Nyungwe, OshiWambo, Punu, Ronga, Sena, Shona, Soga, Songe, Southern Ndebele, Southern Sotho, Sukuma, Swahili, Swati, Tonga, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswa, Tswana, Tumbuka, Umbundu, Venda, Xhosa, Yao, Zigula, Zinza, Zulu

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page last modified: 23.04.21

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