Mangbai language

Mangbai (Mamgbay, Mambai) is an Mbum language of northern Cameroon and southern Chad.

Mangbai
Native to	Cameroon, Chad
Native speakers	14,000 (2002–2011)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Mbum–Day Mbum Northern Mbum Tupuri–Mambai Mangbai
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mcs
Glottolog	mamb1294
ELP	Mambai

Distribution

In Cameroon, Mambay is spoken along the Mayo-Kebi River near the Chadian border, in the Djaloumé region (northern end of Bibemi commune, Bénoué department), where there is a massif called Hosséré Mambay. It is also spoken in the extreme southeast of Figuil commune, Mayo-Louti department. In Cameroon and Chad, there is a total of about 2,500 speakers, many of whom also speak Mundang.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial-velar	Glottal
Stop	voiceless	p	t		k	kp	ʔ
	voiced	b	d		ɡ	gb
	implosive	ɓ	ɗ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s				h
	voiced	v	z
Nasal	plain	m	n		ŋ
	glottalized	ˀm	ˀn		ˀŋ
Flap/Trill		ⱱ̟	r
Approximant	plain		l	j		w
	glottalized			ˀj		ˀw

Vowels

Oral vowels

	Front		Central		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long
High	i	iː			u	uː
Mid	e	eː			o	oː
Low			a	aː

/e, o/ are heard as [ɛ, ɔ] when in closed syllables.

Nasal vowels

	Front		Central		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long
High	ĩ	ĩː			ũ	ũː
Low			ã	ãː

Glottalized

Oral vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	iˀ		uˀ
Mid	eˀ		oˀ
Low		aˀ

Nasal vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	ĩˀ		ũˀ
Low		ãˀ

Pharyngealized

Oral vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Mid	eˤ		oˤ
Low		aˤ

Nasal vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	ĩˤ		ũˤ
Low		ãˤ