Gyele is a Bantu language spoken by about 5,000 people in the Océan Department in the South Province in the southwest of Cameroon, particularly around the towns of Kribi, Bipindi and Lolodof. It is classified as a dialect of Kwasio in some sources, although it is generally considered a separate language, and there is limited mutually intellibility between Kwasio and Gyele.
Gyele is also known as Gyáli, Gyeli, Giele, Gieli, Bagyele, Bagiele, Bajeli, Bajele or Bogyeli. It is spoken by the Bagyeli and Bakola people. The Bagyeli people live in the southern part of the Gyeli-speaking area, while the Bakola people live in the northern part, and call their version of the language Kola. These people are poor and maginalised, they have negative attitudes to their language, and only speak it when no outsiders are around. They prefer to speak Kwasio to outsiders. As a result, it is considered endangered, even though the language is still being passed on to children.
Download an alphabet chart for Gyele (Excel)
Details of the Gyele alphabet provided by Wolfram Siegel (PDF)
úù yá bámbámbɔ́ bísì bà vú mɔ̀ bî — yá bálɛ́ɛ̀ mápè’è máwɔ̀
For our ancestors who have left us — may we keep their wisdom
Source: A grammar of Gyeli by Nadine Grimm. 2021.
Information about Gyele
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwasio_language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyele_people
https://endangeredlanguages.com/lang/583
https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/gyel1242
https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/298
Aka, Bafaw-Balong, Bangi, Basaa, Bemba, Bembe, Bena, Benga, Bhaca, Bube, Bukusu, Bulu, Central Teke, Chichewa, Chokwe, Chuwabu, Comorian, Dciriku, Digo, Duala, Eton, Ewondo, Fang, Ganda/Luganda, Gogo, Gusii, Gwere, Gyele, Haya, Hehe, Herero, Ibinda, Ikizu, Ikoma, Jita, Kabwa, Kako, Kamba, Kiga, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kisi, Kogo, Komo, Kongo, Konjo, Koti, Kukuya, Kunda, Kuria, Kwambi, Kwasio, Lambya, Lingala, Loma, Lozi, Luba-Katanga, Luchazi, Lunda, Luvale, Luyana, Makaa, Makonde, Makhuwa, Mandekan, Maore, Masaaba, Mbama, Mbere, Mbosi, Mbukushu, Mbunda, Mbuun, Mende, Mongo, Mpiemo, Mushungulu, Mwani, Myene, Nambya, Nande, Ngoni, Ngwii, Njebi, Nkore, North Teke, Northern Ndebele (South Africa), Northern Ndebele (Zimbabwe), Northern Sotho, Nyamwezi, Nyakyusa, Nyemba, Nyole, Nyoro, Nyungwe, Nzadi, Oroko, OshiWambo, Pagibete, Punu, Ronga, Safwa, Seki, Sena, Sengele, Shona, Soga, Songe, Southern Ndebele, Southern Sotho, Sukuma, Swahili, Swati, Tanga, Tembo, Tonga, Tooro, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswa, Tswana, Tumbuka, Umbundu, Venda, Vili, Vwanji, Xhosa, Yakam, Yansi, Yao, Yasa, Yeyi, Zigula, Zinza, Zulu
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page created: 07.05.25. Last modified: 07.05.25
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