A grammar of Mundabli : a Bantoid (Yemne-Kimbi) language of Cameroon

This book is the first comprehensive description of Mundabli, a Southern Bantoid (Niger-Congo) language spoken in the Grassfields region of Northwest Cameroon. Mundabli has four level tones plus a number of contour tones. Its phonology is further characterized by a complicated vowel system including a set of pharyngealized vowels. Its noun class system, with paired singular and plural classes, is similarly elaborate as those of Bantu languages. However, unlike in other related languages, noun classes in Mundabli are often not marked on the noun. Some singular-plural class pairings are instead marked by stem-initial consonant mutation or by tonal changes. Agreement is restricted to the noun phrase. Verbs belong to one of three inflectional classes or verb tone classes. Mundabli makes use of two future tenses and four non-future tenses. Evidence for grammatical relations is relatively weak and evidence for the subject is stronger than for the object. The unmarked word order is SVO, but when the subject is in focus, it occurs in the focus position immediately behind the verb complex. Presenting novel data from a formerly undocumented language, this grammar is of interest to both Niger-Congo scholars and scholars in linguistic typology and theoretical linguistics. Language Use in Past and Presen