Page created in collaboration with Pascale Paulin, Université of Lyon, DDL – Language Dynamics – laboratory, 2009.

Data on the Baka language

Alternative names:

Babinga, Bibayak, Bayaka, Bibayaka, Bibaya, Bebayaga, Bangombe.

Classification: Ubangian, Sere-Ngbaka-Mba group

Dialects & variants:

There are several varieties of Baka, despite a fair level of mutual understanding between the different speakers. Each of these varieties is strongly affected by languages of the neighboring populations (for instance, Fang, in Gabon)

Area:

Tropical rainforest of the Congo basin in the Central African Republic border area, southeastern Cameroon, northwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo, north Congo, northeastern Gabon.

Number of speakers:

Precise figures are difficult to obtain; rough estimates account for ca. 50,000 speakers over all of the countries mentioned above. The largest group, located in Cameroon, is estimated around 30,000 people.

Note: estimates provided by Pascale Paulin, Université of Lyon DDL lab.

Language status: No official status.

Vitality & Transmission:

Cross-generational transmission is sound; most speakers are bilingual with the majority language of the area. Yet the significantly disparaged status of the Baka ethnic group, acculturation threatening the populations close to urban areas, the spread of these urban areas, inter-ethnic marriage, often-forced processes of sedentism, and the damage caused to the forests, overall, severely endangers the Baka population.

Media & diffusion:

The Baka language is neither formally recognized nor broadcast through the media. A few aducation programs, however, usually upon the initiative of religious communities, advocate for bilingual education (learning how to read in mother tongue, for instance). These methods include ORA in Cameroon, and Rapidolangue (Raponda Walker foundation) in Gabon.

A radio project geared towards the forest populations is being put together in Congo but doesn’t directly involve the Baka at this point, even though they are hunter-gatherer communities.

Ethnographic observations

The Baka count among the populations of hunter-gatherers (HG) generally referred to as “Pygmies” (the term is derogatory nowadays, and we prefer that of HG) or “Peoples of the forest”. Their lifestyle is traditionally nomadic, in a tropical forest environment where they draw most of their resources while trade with neighboring farmers brings in the rest (iron, cooking utensils, textile, etc.). Many Baka have now become farmers themselves because of a change in lifestyle and the relations with neighboring communities, which have gradually deteriorated. They face discrimination on a daily basis.

The deforestation, the exploitation of subsurface resources, the lack of game due to acts of poaching, the creation of national parks where the Baka no longer have the right to draw their livelihood, forces a part of the population to migrate towards the urban centers where they find themselves left behind, mistreated, underpaid, and overall, disparaged. The Baka are viewed at the very bottom of the social ladder. Adding to which, in some countries, they fall under policies of forced sedentism.

Inter-ethnic marriage with neighboring populations is on the increase, on one hand because dowry is low for Baka women, and on the other because HG families deem mixed marriage as an opportunity for upward mobility.

Paradoxically, while being disparaged, the Baka are known for their knowledge of the plants and animals, and above all, that of medicine and traditional pharmacopeia.

Linguistic observations

The Baka population is one of the only hunter-gatherer populations whose language is not a Bantu language. We suppose that all these populations, at one point or the other, adopted the language of a close, current or ancient neighbor. Thus the Baka language is a sister to Ngbaka Ma’bo.

A few words in Baka…

baby: [díndó]

child: [là]

woman: [wɔ́sɛ̀]

man: [múkɔ́sɛ̀]

water: [ŋgō]

forest: [bēlē]

spherical hut: [mɔ́ŋgūlū]

Bibliography

Bahuchet Serge (1989), Les Pygmées aka et baka. Contribution de l’ethnolinguistique à l’histoire des populations forestières d’Afrique Centrale, Thèse de Doctorat d’Etat, Université René Descartes Paris V.

Brisson Robert & Daniel Boursier (1979), Petit dictionnaire Baka-Français, Douala (non publié).

Joiris Daou Véronique (1998), La chasse, la chance, le chant. Aspects du système rituel des Baka du Cameroun, Thèse de Doctorat en Sciences Sociales, Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Paulin & al. (2009), Analyse de situation sous-régionale sur la problématique des « peuples autochtones » en Afrique centrale, UNICEF.

Paulin Pascale (2007), « The Baka of Gabon: the Study of an Endangered Language and Culture », proc. of FEL XI, Working Together for Endangered Languages: Research Challenges and Social Impacts, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 26-28 October 2007, David, M., Ostler, N. & Dealwis , C. (eds), University of Malaya, pp. 163-171 [PDF available online].

Thomas Jacqueline M.C. (1977), « La structure du vocabulaire botanique chez les Ngbaka-ma’bo » in Calame-Griaule G., Langage et cultures africaines. Essais d’ethnolinguistique, Paris : Maspero, pp.37-51.

Links

Pascale Paulin’s page on the DDL – Language Dynamics – laboratory website, including articles available in PDF

Laurent Maget’s pages on Baka: Laurent Maget, on behalf of the CNRS, produced a documentary on the Baka language and the work led by Pascale Paulin (available online).

Edzengui Minvoul association website, for the promotion of Baka culture.