Encyclopedia
Languages
Some 250 languages spoken in Cameroon, with their speakers and families.
1–48 of 298
English languageEnglish is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family that emerged in early medieval England and has since become a global lingua franca. The language is named after the Angles, one of the Germanic peoples who migrated to Britain after the end of Roman rule.
French languageFrench (français or langue française ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, French and its closest relatives—the langues d'oïl, historically spoken in northern France and southern Belgium—descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire.- Hausa language5 million people in West Africa, primarily by the Hausa people in Niger (where it is the sole official language, having replaced French in 2025) and Nigeria.
- Kanuri languageKanuri (endonym: Kànùrí (Latin script), كَنُرِيِه (Ajami)) is a Saharan dialect continuum of the Nilo–Saharan language family spoken by the Kanuri and Kanembu peoples in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, as well as by a diaspora community residing in Sudan.
- Fang languageFang is a Central African language spoken by around one million people, most of them in Equatorial Guinea and northern Gabon, where it is the dominant Bantu language; Fang is also spoken in southern Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, and small fractions of the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe.
- Chadian Arabic9 million people in Chad, both rural and urban inhabitants. Most of its speakers live in central and southern Chad. Its range is an east-to-west oval in the Sahel. Nearly all of this territory is within Chad and parts of Western Sudan in Darfur along the border region.
Tiv languageTiv is a Tivoid language spoken in some states in North Central Nigeria, with some speakers in Cameroon. 6 million speakers in 2020. The largest population of Tiv speakers are found in Benue state in Nigeria.- Basaa languageBasaa (also rendered Bassa, Basa, Bissa), or Mbene, is a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon by the Basaa people. It is spoken by about 300,000 people in the Centre and Littoral regions.
Bamum languageBamum (Shü Pamom 'language of the Bamum', or Shümom 'Mum language'), also known as Shupamem, Bamun, or Bamoun, is an Eastern Grassfields language of Cameroon, with approximately 600,000-700,000 speakers in 2025.- Duala languageDuala (native name: Duálá) is a dialect cluster spoken by the Duala and Mungo peoples of Cameroon. Duala belongs to the Bantu language family, in a subgroup called Sawabantu. It is a tonal language with subject–verb–object word order.
- Ewondo languageEwondo also known as Beti or Cameroonian is a Bantu language spoken by the Beti people (more precisely Beti be Nanga, the people of the forest, or simply Beti) of Cameroon. The language had 577,700 native speakers in 1982. Ewondo is a trade language.
- Afade languageAfade (Afaɗə) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in eastern Nigeria and northwestern Cameroon.
- Kwasio languageThe Kwasio language, also known as Ngumba / Mvumbo, Bujeba, and Gyele / Kola, is a language of Cameroon, spoken in the south along the coast and at the border with Equatorial Guinea by some 70,000 members of the Ngumba, Kwasio, Gyele and Mabi peoples.
- Massa languageMassa (or Masana, Masa) is a Chadic language spoken in southern Chad and northern Cameroon by the Masa people. It has approximately 200,000 speakers.
- Bulu languageBulu is a Bantu language of the Bulu people of Cameroon. The language had 174,000 native speakers in 1982, with some 800,000 second language speakers in 1991. Its dialects include Bene, Yelinda, Yembana, Yengono, and Zaman.
- Abon languageAbon (Abõ) is a Tivoid language of Nigeria.
- Bankon languageBankon (Abo, Abaw, Bo, Bon) is a Bantu language spoken in the Moungo department of the Littoral Province of southwestern Cameroon. It has a lexical similarity of 86% with Rombi which is spoken in the nearby Meme department of Southwest Province.
- Ngambay languageNgambay (also known as Sara, Sara Ngambai, Gamba, Gambaye, Gamblai and Ngambai) is one of the major languages spoken by Sara people in southwestern Chad, northeastern Cameroon and eastern Nigeria, with about a million native speakers.
- Esimbi languageEsimbi is a Tivoid language of southwestern Cameroon. It is also called Isimbi, Simpi, Age, Aage, Bogue and Mburugam.
- Mafa languageMafa is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in northern Cameroon and Northern Nigeria by the Mafa people.
Moloko languageMoloko (Məlokwo) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in northern Cameroon.- Wandala languageWandala, also known as Mandara or Mura', is a language in the Chadic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family, spoken in Cameroon and Nigeria.
- Baka languageBaka (also called Be-bayaga, Be-bayaka, and Bibaya de L’est) is a dialect cluster of Ubangian languages spoken by the Baka Pygmies of Cameroon and Gabon. Ethnically, the people are closely related to the Aka, collectively known as the Mbenga (Bambenga).
- Bikya languageBikya (also known as Furu) is a potentially extinct Southern Bantoid language spoken in Cameroon. It is one of the three, or four, Furu languages. In 1986 four surviving speakers were identified, although only one (a man in his seventies) spoke the language fluently.
- Busuu languageBusuu (Bùsùù) is an unclassified Southern Bantoid language of Cameroon. According to Ethnologue it is extinct. Busuu is an endangered language. In 1986, only eight speakers were left of Busuu.
- Daba languageDaba (also known as Dabba) is a Chadic dialect cluster spoken in Cameroon in Far North Province and in one village in neighboring Nigeria. Blench (2006) considers Mazagway to be a dialect.
- Gbaya languagesThe Gbaya languages, also known as Gbaya–Manza–Ngbaka, are a family of perhaps a dozen languages spoken mainly in the western Central African Republic and across the border in Cameroon, with one language (Ngbaka) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and several languages with few speakers in the Republic of the Congo.
- Kom languageThe Kom language (also Itaŋikom) is the language spoken by the Kom people in Northwest Province in Cameroon. It is classified as a Central Ring language of the Grassfields, Southern Bantoid languages in the Niger-Congo language family. Kom is a tonal language with three tones.
- Yedina languageYedina (autonym: Yedǝnami), also known as Buduma or Boudouma, is a Chadic language of the Biu–Mandara branch spoken around Lake Chad in western Chad and neighbouring Cameroon and Nigeria.
- Zumaya languageZumaya is an extinct Chadic language once spoken in Cameroon. It is known only from a few words recorded from the last speaker. It may have been divergent within the Masa branch of Chadic.
- Aghem languageAghem (Wum or Yum) is a Grassfields Bantu language spoken in the Wum Central Sub-division in Menchum Division of the North West Region of Cameroon.
- Akum languageAkum is a Plateau language of Cameroon and across the border in Nigeria, where it is known as Shibong.
- Eton languageEton, or Ìtón, is a Bantu language spoken by the Eton people of Cameroon.
- Gude languageGude is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Nigeria in Adamawa State in Mubi South LGA and in Borno State in some parts of Askira-Uba LGA. It is also spoken in neighboring Cameroon. Different dialects are spoken in Nigeria and Cameroon.
- Hina languageThe Mina language, also known by the names Hina and Besleri, is a Chadic language spoken in Northern Cameroon by around 11,000 people. Speakers of Mina are generally bilingual, with Fulfulde (Fula) being the second language.
- Kako languageKako (also Mkako or Mkaka) is a Bantu language spoken mainly in Cameroon, with some speakers in the Central African Republic and the Republic of the Congo. The main population centres of Kako speakers are Batouri and Ndélélé in the East Region of Cameroon.
- Kenyang languageKenyang (Nyang, Banyang, Manyang) is the most spoken language of the Mamfe language group. It is spoken in the Manyu and Meme departments of the Southwest Region of Cameroon. Kenyang speakers in Cameroon are known as Bayangi (Bayangui) people and are called Bayangi (Bayangui).
- Kera languageKera is an East Chadic language spoken by 45,000 people in Southwest Chad and 6,000 people in North Cameroon.
- Ki languageThe Ki language, Tuki (Baki, Oki), is a Mbam language of Cameroon. It is spoken by 26,000 people in the Central Province of Cameroon, in the Lekie division and in the Mbam and Kim division, along the Sanaga river.
- Kogo languageKogo, also referred to as Bakoko and Basoo, is a Bantu language of Cameroon. North and South Kogo are as distinct from each other as they are from Basaa; they might be considered three dialects of a single language.
- Medumba languageMedumba (Mə̀dʉ̂mbɑ̀, pronounced) is a Bamileke language of Cameroon. The people who speak it originate from the Nde division of the West Region of the country, with their main settlements in Bangangté, Bakong, Bangoulap, Bahouoc, Bagnoun and Tonga.
- Mpade languageMpadə is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in northern Cameroon and southwestern Chad. Dialects are Bodo, Biamo, Digam, Mpade (Makari), Shoe (Shewe), and Woulki.
- Musey languageMusey is a Chadic language of Chad and Cameroon. There is a degree of mutual intelligibility with Masana. Although Musey and Masa are mutually unintelligible, many Musey speakers also speak Masa.
- Ngiemboon languageThe Ngiemboon language, (autonym: Ngiembɔɔn), is one of a dozen Bamileke languages spoken in Cameroon. Its speakers are located primarily within the department of Bamboutos in the West Region of Cameroon.
- Peve languageThe Pévé language, sometimes referred to as Lamé (the main dialect), is a member of the Masa branch of the Chadic family that is spoken in parts of Cameroon and the Republic of Chad.
- Bafia languageBafia or Kpaʼ is a Bantu language spoken by 70,000 Bafia people in Cameroon according to 2005 figures. It is used in the Bafia subdivision of the Mbam and Inoubou Division in Center Province in southwestern Cameroon. Speakers refer to the language as Rɨkpaʼ and to themselves as Ɓəkpaʼ (Bekpak).
- Bana languageBana is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in northern Cameroon. Dialects include Gamboura and Gili.
- Bekwil languageBekwel (Bekwil) is a Bantu language of the Republic of the Congo. There are some 10,000 speakers there, with a quarter that number across the border in Gabon, and perhaps a similar on the opposite side in Cameroon. It is rather close to Nzime (Koonzime).
