Iyasa (Yasa, Yassa) is a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea by the Iyasa and Ndowe coastal fishing peoples. It is also spoken by Pygmies, perhaps Babongo, in Gabon. Approximately 3,000 people speak Iyasa, though some note that this number may be an overestimation.
Iyasa also goes by the names Bongwe, Lyaasa, and Maasa. Dialects are Bweko, Vendo, Bodele, Marry, One, Asonga, Bomui, Mogana, Mooma, Mapanga. It may in turn be a dialect of Kombe. Speakers report that Kombe and Iyasa are almost perfectly mutually intelligible.
Classification Dieu and Renaud (1993) classify Iyasa as a Sawabantu language (A.30 in Guthrie classification).Dieu, Michel, and Patrick Renaud. 1993. Situation linguistique en Afrique centrale, inventaire pre@liminaire: Le Cameroun. In Atlas Linguistique du Cameroun. Yaounde@: ACCT-CERDOTOLA-DGRST.
Geographic Distribution Iyasa is spoken along the coast of Cameroon south of Kribi, including in the city of Campo. It is also spoken across the Ntem River in Equatorial Guinea. The northernmost Iyasa village is Lolabe, 31 km south of Kribi.
Phonology Iyasa has a seven-vowel system: +Monophthong phonemesFrontCentralBackCloseClose-midOpen-midOpen
It also has 22 phonemic consonants: Labial Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal Plosive/Affricate Fricative Semivowel Lateral
Grammar
Noun classes Iyasa has 12 noun classes, as outlined in the table below (adapted from Bôt 2011 and Bouh Ma Sitna 2004):
Class numberPrefixAllomorphsExample (IPA)Translation (French)Translation (English)1mù-mʷ-mù-tʃɛ́tʃɛ́ mw-ánàle bébé l'enfantbaby child2wà-w-wà-dóles femmeswomen3mò-m-, mʷ-, ŋ-mò-ló ŋ-kɔ́jɛ́la fête le pannierparty basket4mè-m-, mʲ-mè-kɔles panniersbaskets5ɗì-ɗ-, i-, dʒ-ɗì-lɔ̂ ì-dàkàl'oreille la maladieear illness6mà-m-mà-lɔ̂les oreillesears7è-èj-è-lɛ́mila languetongue8ɓè-ɓèj-ɓè-kòndà ɓèj-ìmàles souliers les chosesshoes things9/10N-m-, n-, ŋ-, ɲ-, øm-bàdì n-dómì
ø-sɔ̀kùmaison(s) père(s)
éléphant(s)house(s) father(s)
elephant(s)13lì-l-lì-ɲɔ̀ní l-éjìles oiseaux les soleilsbirds suns14ɓù-ɓʷ-ɓù-dù bʷ-àlól'âne la piroguedonkey canoe19vi-v-vì-ɲɔ̀níl'oiseaubird
References
External links Iyasa page at the Endangered Languages Project Homepage of the Iyasa language committee Etomba a Iyasa Facebook group Paradisec has an open access collection of Roger Blench's materials (RB5) that includes Yasa language materials