Mbe (M̀bè)

Mbe is a member of the Ekoid-Mbe branch of the Southern Bantoid language family. It is spoken by about 65,000 Mbube people between the Aiya and Lekang rivers in the Ogoja Local Government Area in the northwest of Cross River State in the southeast of Nigeria.

Mbe is also known as Mbube, Western Mbube, Ekumtak or Ketuen. It is written with the Latin alphabet, and parts of the Bible have been translated into Mbe.

Mbe alphabet and pronunciation

Download an alphabet chart for Mbe (Excel)
Details of the Mbe alphabet provided by Wolfram Siegel (PDF)

Notes

b is devoiced [b̥] at the end of syllables, e.g. bób [bob̥] (ask), and [b] at the beginning of syllables.
g is labialised [ɡʷ] before u in the final syllable of a word, e.g. gúgùẹl [ɡuɡʷuɛl] (knock).
p is pronounced [pɸ] when preceded by a nasal and followed by u, e.g. ǹpù [npɸu] (feather).
r is pronounced [ɾ] between vowels, and [r] elsewhere.
Consonants are labialised before w and palatalised before y.

Sample text

K'ittẹwọr, Ibinọkpaabyi osi ẹrọng ọmaana irerek.
M'ogbe nwuma ọttọhk manda vani kode, ọyagbin ode idukhi, ibe kpenamkpen ipyi erungi bi kaang. Egwugwuma ch'Ibinọkpaabyi erenga ẹbaabha asi.
Mẹ wọ osi, Ibinọkpaabyi, oben bi, “Tte iyaan iwobha.” Wa iyaan iwobha.
Ibinọkpaabyi ore bi, iyaan ikk'ijibha, Ibinọkpaabyi ọbhaangi iyaan ide ngọmi ttara ipyerungi.
Mẹ wọ osi, Ibinọkpaabyi oyeri iyaan nnuma, ẹya, obiro oyeri ipyerungi, erungi. Wa ekpebha ọmaana ẹchọhkha bọ asi echedenwu m'ọyagbin.

Source: https://www.bible.com/bible/4354/GEN.1.MFO-LATN

Translation

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Genesis 1: 1-5

Source: https://www.bible.com/bible/1/GEN.1.KJV

Sample videos in and about Mbe

Information about Mbe | Tower of Babel

Links

Information about Mbe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbe_language
http://www.language-archives.org/language/mfo
http://www.language-archives.org/language/mfo
https://mbube.org/about-mbube
https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/mbee1249

Bantoid languages

Abon, Bafanji, Bebe, Bekwarra, Daka, Ipulo, Isu, Jagham, Jarawa, Kemezung, Kenyang, Ki, Koshin, Kung, Mambila, Mbe, Mbuʼ, Medumba, Metaʼ, Mundabli-Mufu, Mundani, Mungbam, Naki, Ndoola, Ngwo, Noni, Nizaa, Pinyin, Saari, Tiv, Vute, Weh, Yambeta

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page created: 26.03.26. Last modified: 26.03.26

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