Cameroonian Pidgin English

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Cameroonian Pidgin English, or Cameroonian Creole, is a linguistic entity of Cameroon. It is also known as Kamtok (from 'Cameroon-talk'). Five varieties are currently recognised:

• Grafi Kamtok, the variety used in the grassfields and often referred to as 'Grafi Talk'
• liturgical Kamtok. This variety has been used by the Catholic church for three quarters of a century
• francophone Kamtok. This variety is now used mainly in towns such as Douala and Yaoundé and by francophones talking to anglophones who do not speak French
• Limbe Kamtok. This variety is spoken mainly in the southwest coastal area around the port that used to be called Victoria and is now Limbe.
• Bororo Kamtok. This variety is spoken by the Bororo cattle traders, many of whom travel through Nigeria and Cameroon.

Cameroonian Pidgin English is an English-based creole language. About 5% of Cameroonians are native speakers of the language, while an estimated 50% of the population speak it in some form.

[edit] References

• Kamtok pages, University of New England (Australia) School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics. By Loreto Todd, with help from Martin Jumbam and Herbert Wamey.

[edit] Bibliography

• Hans-Georg Wolf: English in Cameroon. Contributions to the Sociology of Language, Volume 85. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, Germany 2001, ISBN 3-11-017053-1.
• Carole de Féral: Pidgin-English du Cameroun. Description linguistique et sociolinguistique. Peeters/Selaf, Paris, France 1989, ISBN 2-87723-023-6.