Ethnicity Bubi, Wovea Glottolog bube1242 | Native speakers 51,000 (2011) | |
Native to Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Cameroon Language family Niger–Congo
Atlantic–Congo
Benue–Congo
Bantoid
Bantu (Zone A.30)
perhaps Mbam?
Bube ISO 639-3 bvb – inclusive code
Individual code:
bbx – Bubia (Wovea) | ||
Bube, Bohobé, or Bube–Benga (Bobe, Bubi), is a Bantu or Bantoid language spoken by the Bubi, a Bantu people native to, and once the primary inhabitants of, Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea. The language was brought to Bioko from continental Africa more than three thousand years ago when the Bubi began arriving on the island.
It has around 50,000 speakers, with three variants: North, South and Central-East. It is noted for tonal character and the divergence of words by gender. The language is also spoken by Bubi native to Gabon and Cameroon.
The Bube language is divided into six different dialects that vary in the northern and southern regions of Bioko island. For example, in the North, people speak Rebola and its variations: Basile, Banapa and Basupa. However, in the North-East, Bakake is spoken.
Bube is also spoken in a small area on the mainland closest to the island, where speakers are shifting to Wumboko. This has been reported as "Bube", "Bubia", or "Wovea" (see Wovea people).
The first Bube-to-English primer was authored in 1875 by William Barleycorn, a colonial era Primitive Methodist missionary of Igbo and Fernandino descent, while he was serving in the Bubi village of Basupu. An official language dictionary and grammar guide was published by renowned ethnic Bubi scholar Justo Bolekia Boleká.