{"id":58268,"date":"2011-10-04T16:05:34","date_gmt":"2011-10-04T14:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sorosoro.org\/?page_id=58268"},"modified":"2011-10-06T14:52:43","modified_gmt":"2011-10-06T12:52:43","slug":"mpongwe","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sorosoro.org\/en\/mpongwe\/","title":{"rendered":"Mpongwe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Page created by:<\/em><\/p>\n

Lolke van der Veen<\/em><\/strong>. Professor in Linguistics at the University of Lumi\u00e8re-Lyon 2, full member of the DDL \u2013 Language Dynamics \u2013 laboratory (UMR 5596). Lolke van der Veen is a specialist of the languages of Gabon.<\/em><\/p>\n

Odette Ambourou\u00e9<\/em><\/strong>. PhD in Linguistics. LLACAN. Author of a thesis on Orungu.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"mpongwe\u00a9Muriel_Lutz\"<\/p>\n

\n

Data on Mpongwe<\/h5>\n

Alternative names<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

While the name “Mpongwe” is commonly attributed to the present language and the ethnic group who speaks it, the Myene (see below) name of this linguistic variety is \u00e8\u03b2\u00f3\u014b\u0261w\u00e0n\u00ec. Mpongwe \u2013 or Mpongo \u2013 is also the name given by natives to the city of Libreville. The Mpongwe were the first inhabitants of the city, founded in 1849.<\/p>\n

Dialects & Variants<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Mpongwe is one of the six dialects included in the Myene group.<\/p>\n

Classification<\/strong>: Niger-congo<\/a>, Bantu, B11a<\/p>\n

Mpongwe is a Bantu language (Northwest Bantu) referenced B11 according to the Guthrie classification (1967-1971). It belongs to the Myene language group (B10) composed of six, fairly close dialects: Mpongwe (\u00e8\u03b2\u00f3\u014b\u0261w\u00e0n\u00ec; B11a), Orungu (\u00e8r\u00fa\u014b\u0261w\u00e0n\u00ec; B11b), Galwa (\u00e8\u0263\u00e1lw\u00e0n\u00ec; B11c), Adyumba (\u00e8dy\u00famby\u00e0n\u00ec; B11d), Nkomi (\u00e8\u0263\u0254\u0301my\u00e0n\u00ec; B11e), and Enenga (\u00e8n\u00e9\u014b\u0261y\u00e0n\u00ec; B11f). One of these varieties (B11f) could have disappeared already.<\/p>\n

Geographic Area<\/strong>: Mpongwe is spoken in the Estuaire province, mainly in Libreville. The Mpongwe are the northern ethnic community of the Myene group.<\/p>\n

Number of speakers<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

The total number of Myene speakers is estimated between 40,000 and 50,000. The number of Mpongwe speakers could evolve between 1,000 and 4,000, according to the Ethnologue<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Language status<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

National language status, like the other vernaculars in Gabon. Mpongwe is clearly endowed with prestige, for historical reasons, but this prestige wasn\u2019t enough to secure the language.<\/p>\n

Vitality & Transmission<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

With French as a competitor, the future of Mpongwe is very uncertain. As an ethno-linguistic community of over 40,000 people, Myene isn\u2019t as directly threatened. The languages maintaining the highest number of speakers at this point are Nkomi (Ogoou\u00e9-Maritime province), Orungu (Port-Gentil area), and Galwa (Lambar\u00e9n\u00e9).<\/p>\n

Media, Diffusion, Education<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

In Gabon, the language of education and administration is French. Mpongwe is used for certain ethno-cultural activities (traditional rites, etc.). Whether it is still used within the family sphere is not certain.<\/p>\n

\n

Videos in Mpongwe on Sorosoro.org<\/h5>\n

In January 2009, Sorosoro went filming the Mpongwe language in Libreville as part of its video documentation program on endangered languages, in collaboration with linguist Patrick Mouguiama-Daouda.<\/p>\n

See videos in Mpongwe<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Historical & Ethnographic observations<\/h5>\n

The Mpongwe played an important part as trade intermediaries between European merchants and the populations of inland Gabon during the colonial and pre-colonial periods. They were already settled in the Gabon estuary in the 15th century, when the first Portuguese sailors arrived. Thanks to the importance they gained through their position as brokers and their contacts with the Whites, the Mpongwe were joined by many women from different populations of the area (Benga, Sekyani, Akele, Mitsogo). Their language was used a lingua franca in western Gabon for a long time.<\/p>\n

\n

Sociolinguistic observations<\/h5>\n

An interruption of cross-generational transmission seems to be engaged. Most of the youngsters in the community no longer have but a partial command of the language (comprehension tasks).<\/p>\n

\n

Linguistic observations<\/h5>\n

Mpongwe remains the most studied variety in Gabon (see references below). At least one phonetic feature is worth mentioning: for words in which other varieties use the sound \/m\/, Mpongwe attests the sound \/w\u0303\/ (nasalized \/w\/) in certain positions.<\/p>\n

A few words in Mpongwe<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Proverbs:<\/p>\n

\u00ccdy\u00f3mb\u00e0 \u014bk\u00e1l\u00e1, \u00ecr\u0254\u0301nd\u00e1 mb\u0254\u0300\u0263\u0254\u0301: Marriage is a village (you settle for good), a fling is a camp (which you can take apart anytime)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Nd\u0292\u0254\u0300\u0263\u00f9 \u0263\u00e9m\u025b\u030dn \u00e0y\u025b\u0301 mp\u0254\u0301\u0263\u00e1, \u00e8d\u00f3w\u00edn abolw\u025b\u00a0m\u2019\u00ec\u0263\u00fam\u00f9: When an elephant eats the Mpoga fruit, he places fate in his anus. (Proverb on risk-taking)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

Bibliography<\/h5>\n

Bessieux Mgr. 1847.\u00a0Dictionnaire fran\u00e7ais-pongou\u00e9, pongou\u00e9-fran\u00e7ais<\/em>. (2 volumes). Amiens, Leno\u00ebl-H\u00e9rouart.<\/p>\n

Blanchon, J. A. 1991. “Le pounou (B43), le mpongw\u00e8 (B11a) et l\u2019hypoth\u00e8se fortis\/lenis”.\u00a0Pholia<\/em>, 6, pp. 49-84.<\/p>\n

Gautier, J. M. 1912.\u00a0Grammaire de la langue Mpongw\u00e8<\/em>. Mission catholique, Libreville.<\/p>\n

Kane, F. 1998.\u00a0Etude contrastive du fran\u00e7ais et du mpongwe\u00a0: approches phon\u00e9tique et phonologique<\/em>. M\u00e9moire de ma\u00eetrise, Universit\u00e9 Omar Bongo.<\/p>\n

Mouguiama-Daouda, P. 1988.\u00a0El\u00e9ments de description du mpongwe\u00a0: phonologie, morphologie du syst\u00e8me nominal et pronominal<\/em>. M\u00e9moire de Ma\u00eetrise, Universit\u00e9 Omar Bongo.<\/p>\n

Mouguiama-Daouda, P. 1990. “Esquisse d\u2019une phonologie diachronique du mpongw\u00e8”.\u00a0Pholia<\/em>, 5, pp. 121-146.<\/p>\n

Mouguiama-Daouda, P., Van der Veen, L. J. 2005. “B10-B30\u00a0: conglom\u00e9rat phylog\u00e9n\u00e9tique ou produit d\u2019une hybridation”. In Bostoen, K. & Maniacky, J. (eds.),\u00a0Studies in African Comparative Linguistics, with special focus on Bantu and Mande<\/em>. Tervuren: Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA\/MRAC), Sciences Humaines, pp. 1781-1857.<\/p>\n

Ogouamba, P. 1990.\u00a0Etude morphosyntaxique du verbe en mpongw\u00e8, parler B11 du Gabon<\/em>. M\u00e9moire de Ma\u00eetrise, Universit\u00e9 Omar Bongo.<\/p>\n

Raponda-Walker, A. 1930-1934.\u00a0Dictionnaire mpongw\u00e9-fran\u00e7ais<\/em>, suivi de\u00a0El\u00e9ments de grammaire<\/em>. Metz, Imprimerie La Libre Lorraine.<\/p>\n

Wilson, J. L. 1897a (1847).\u00a0Grammar of the Mpongwe Language<\/em>. New York, American Board of Comm. for Foreign Missions.<\/p>\n

Wilson, J. L. 1879b. “Mpongwe grammar. Comparative vocabularies”.\u00a0JOAS<\/em>, 1, pp. 340-341.<\/p>\n

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Page created by: Lolke van der Veen. Professor in Linguistics at the University of Lumi\u00e8re-Lyon 2, full member of the DDL \u2013 Language Dynamics \u2013 laboratory (UMR 5596). Lolke van der Veen is a specialist of the languages of Gabon. Odette Ambourou\u00e9. PhD in Linguistics. LLACAN. Author of a thesis on Orungu. Data on Mpongwe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-58268","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nMpongwe - Sorosoro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sorosoro.org\/en\/mpongwe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mpongwe - Sorosoro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Page created by: Lolke van der Veen. Professor in Linguistics at the University of Lumi\u00e8re-Lyon 2, full member of the DDL \u2013 Language Dynamics \u2013 laboratory (UMR 5596). Lolke van der Veen is a specialist of the languages of Gabon. Odette Ambourou\u00e9. 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