ABSTRACT
The Basaá [Gasaá] language is spoken by an estimated 282,000 people (SIL 1982, cited in Grimes 2000), with relatively minor dialect variation, in Province du Centre and Province du Littoral in southern Cameroon. Guthrie (1967-71) separates Basaá into two groups: MbCnK A43a, spoken in the departments of Nkam, Wouri, Sanaga-Maritime, Nyong et Kellé and Kribi, and Bakóko A43b, spoken in the departments of Nkam and Sanaga-Maritime. The Ethnologue lists the following dialects: Bakem, Bon, Bibeng, Diboum, Log, Mpo, Mbang, Ndokama, Basso, Ndokbele, Ndokpenda, Nyamtam. The standard dialect, a form of MbCnK, is said to be spoken in the area around Pouma in Sanaga-Maritime, but has a widespread distribution in the Basaá-speaking region. In addition, Basaá is spoken as a vehicular language in the Bakóko and Tun‡n areas (Breton and Fohtung 1991:21). Although quite evolved, Basaá is easily identifiable as Bantu by its lexicon as well as by its morphology, e.g. its noun class marking and verb extensions. The language is particularly noteworthy for the phonological changes it has undergone, which have in turn had a major effect on the verb stem morphology.
