Duala

Where and by whom it is spoken

Duala is the Bantu language of the Duala and Mungo peoples, spoken mainly in and around Douala. It is a tonal language, also used as a common language by the Sawa peoples of the coast. The linguist Jouni Maho (2009) treats it as a cluster of five close varieties: Duala proper, Bodiman, Oli (Ewodi, Wuri), Pongo and Mongo.

History and writing

Duala was the first Cameroonian language to be written down by missionaries: the British Baptist Alfred Saker published the New Testament in it in 1862, then the whole Bible. Under German rule, the Basel Mission used it for schooling and evangelisation far beyond Duala country, until the administration restricted its use in 1910 to promote German. In 1927 Isaac Moumé Etia became the first Cameroonian to publish textbooks for learning the language.

Where to hear it today

• A church language: after independence it remained mainly in religious use, with the missions still producing religious texts in Duala.
• Taught at universities in Yaoundé and Douala and in some secondary schools; the television channel DBS broadcasts programmes in Duala.
• The language of makossa: Manu Dibango's "Soul Makossa" took the word around the world, and Wes's "Alane", sung in Duala, reached number one in several European countries.

A few words

makossa

"I dance"; the name of the music and dance of Douala

kongossa

gossip, the practice of spreading rumours

ndábo

house, hut, building

mundi

village, town (mundi ma duala: the town of Douala)

aba !

an interjection expressing surprise, despair or pain

What sources disagree on

The Ethnologue figure is old and counts native speakers only; French Wikipedia gives 550,000 native speakers and 1.5 million in total. The date of Saker's complete Bible varies between sources: 1870 or 1872.