Ewondo language
| Ewondo | |
|---|---|
| Beti Cameroonian | |
Ewondo text on a blackboard at a school in Yaoundé, 2019 | |
| Region | Cameroon |
| Ethnicity | Beti people |
Native speakers | (580,000 cited 1982) |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Cameroon |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | ewo |
| ISO 639-3 | ewo |
| Glottolog | ewon1239 |
A.72 | |
Ewondo also known as Beti or Cameroonian is a Bantu language spoken by the Beti people (more precisely Beti be Nanga, the people of the forest, or simply Beti) of Cameroon. The language had 577,700 native speakers in 1982. Ewondo is a trade language. Dialects include Badjia (Bakjo), Bafeuk, Bemvele (Mvele, Yezum, Yesoum), Bane, Beti, Enoah, Evouzom, Mbida-Bani, Mvete, Mvog-Niengue, Omvang, Yabekolo (Yebekolo), Yabeka, and Yabekanga. Ewondo speakers live primarily in Cameroon's Centre Region and the northern part of the Océan division in the South Region.
Ewondo is a Bantu language. It is a language of the Beti people, and is intelligible with Eton.
In 2011, there was a concern among Cameroonian linguists that the language was being displaced in the country by French.