Kako language

Kako or Mkako or Mkaka, is a Bantu language spoken mainly in Cameroon, but also has speakers in the Central African Republic and Congo. The main population centers of Kako speakers includes Batouri and Ndélélé in the East Region of Cameroon.

Once grouped with the Gbaya dialect cluster and often still referred to as part of an undefined "Gbaya-Kaka" group, Kako is now grouped in the Bantu subgroup of the Niger–Congo language family.

Dialects

Kako can be divided in three main closely related dialects stretching from eastern dialect (Bεra) near the Bertoua-Doumé area to a middle dialect (Mgbwako) in near the Batouri area to a western dialect (Mbondjóo) near the Cameroon-Central African Republic border area. The difference is the greatest between the eastern Bεra dialect and the western Mbondjóo, with the Mgbwako dialect forming a middle ground.

All three remain mutually intelligible. The Bεra and Mbondjóo dialects have 85.5% of their words in common, of which 26.4% are identical and 59.1% are cognates.^[3]

Kako: family and cousinship in Cameroon

Population:

The Kako-speaking population in Cameroon is about 125.000 persons mainly found in the East region of that country but is also scattered in other regions.

Towns and main villages:

1. In the East region of Cameroon: Bertoua, Batouri, Ndélélé, Kenzou, Mboua-Mindrow, Bandagouè, Daliguènè, Gotto, Kobi, Pana, Nguelebock, Mbama, Leta, Sobolo …
2. In the South region: Djoum, Vagane
3. Adamaoua: Mini Martap, Ngaoundéré
4. In Central African Republic: Gamboula
5. Popular Republic of Congo (…)

Dialects:

The main known variants of Kako language are: Mgbako, Bo-Ndjo (kou), Bo-Rong, Lossou, Ngwendjè, Béra and Mbéssembo. The distinction between those variants can be made clear only for people speaking Kako.

Links: 1.Although Kako and Gbaya people have strong cousinship they share very few words. The two languages are from different linguistic lineages. But because of the cohabitation a notion of kako-gbaya group has been sometimes raised up: kako-boli group is linked to Kako ethnic group. This historically complex relationship has made them have a very common cultural background. 2.In Cameroon Kako is close to brother Bantu languages such as: -Pol, Maka, Mpimo, Vovong (Popong), Kpakum, Mbaki … (East region) -Ngoumba, Mbo, Bakossi, Bassa, Ewondo, Bakaka ... (Big South) 3.In Popular Republic of Congo: Yaka, kosso, M’ka

Discussion: Who or what is KAA? Most of the above-mentioned tribes seem to call themselves belonging to a “Ka’a people”. It sounds as follow in their dialects: B’Kako, B’Kaa, M’Kao, M’kaa, M’kee, Ma’ka, Ya’ka, Ba’ka, Ba’kaka, Kaka, A’Kpa-kum, M’ko(sso) … They are witnessing they and their languages are issued from the Kaa-people and Kaa-language.

History

Linguistic and documentary evidence support oral traditions claiming that the people speaking Kako, and thus the language have migrated to their present positions from further east.^[3] Current evidence can trace the language back to the area just east of the current Cameroon-Central African Republic border, around the towns of Berberati and Gaza in the mid 19th century. Further extrapolation into history is speculative, though being a Bantu language it is likely to have followed the Banut migrations out of their ancestral homeland in the southern Cameroon-Nigeria borderlands.

For their known history the Kako language has been in close contact with various dialects of the Gbaya language. This has resulted in numerous borrowings of words. In fact the Bεra dialect of Kako and the Yaáyuwee dialect of Kako share nearly 1% of their words, with a further 10-15% being cognates.^[3]

External links

• Map of Kako language from the LL-Map project

References