Camfranglais
The speech of urban youth, where French blends with English, Pidgin and local languages
Family : Mixed speech: French, English, Pidgin and Cameroonian languages
Also called : Francanglais, Camfranglish
Where and by whom it is spoken
Camfranglais, whose name combines "camerounais", "français" and "anglais", is an urban speech that keeps French grammar and mixes in words from English, Pidgin and Cameroonian languages. It is mainly used by young people, roughly between 12 and 26, in the big cities where francophones and anglophones meet. This site has a dictionary of Cameroonian expressions devoted to it.
History and writing
It is thought to have emerged after the reunification of Cameroon, in the markets, ports, schools and stadiums of the big cities. It became fashionable in the late 1990s, partly thanks to musicians. Linguists still debate its status: slang, mixed language or "highly hybrid sociolect of urban youth".
Where to hear it today
- The speech of the street and of friends, serving as a marker of a modern urban identity, set apart from French, English and village languages.
- The speech of secondary schools, where pupils from different language backgrounds come together and use it to avoid being understood by outsiders.
- A language of urban music and literature, used by artists such as Koppo and AkSangGrave, and increasingly of the internet.
A few words
- La big-reme va bring mon binji au school
- Grandmother went to pick my little brother up from school.
- Je wanda
- I'm amazed!
- Le kwatt
- The neighbourhood.
What sources disagree on
Sources disagree on when it appeared: the mid-1970s, after reunification, according to the Historical Dictionary of Cameroon cited by English Wikipedia; the early 1980s, among students in Yaoundé, according to French Wikipedia. Whether it is a language in its own right is also debated: the Glottolog database classes it as a variety of French.