Ewondo love poem
Iyet
Ivegleu dzoué iyet
Ine ma abeng nlan
Vede bo'o avol ya dim
Ine ibouk iding memane dzam
→ French poem ←
Ewondo language
My little love poem translated into Ewondo (Yaounde, Kóló, Mbida-Bani, Yezum, Beti, Fong, Yabeka, Yabekanga, Yaunde, Ewundu, Mvete, Mvele, Jaunde, Mvog-Niengue, Yebekolo, Bafeuk, Evouzok, Bane, Badjia, Bakjo, Enoah, Bamvele, Yabekolo, Omvang, Yesoum).
This north-west Bantu language, Niger–Congo, Ewondo which means "lord" is spoken by the Beti populations, in southern Cameroon ... just north of those speaking Bulu and Fang.
This geographical proximity makes these 3 languages very close. Ewondo, which is spoken by different tribes, can be divided into several dialects, with different degrees of understanding. In total this language has perhaps 500,000 speakers.
Ewondo and Bulu, have been used for evangelization and literature, and are the two main dialect groups of the Yaounde-Fang group.
I let this Ewondo translation to convey my poem, wherever it can.
Cameroon languages
Cameroon is at first a bilingual state, because its origin come, from the union of former French Cameroon, and from most of former British Cameroon.
But this country is also the land of more than 200 African languages, divided into 6 families.
All these languages have become interwoven, with the population movements, that have spread the practice of languages becoming vehicular! It is the case with Ewondo.