Region Cameroon ISO 639-2 ewo Glottolog ewon1239 | Native speakers (580,000 cited 1982) ISO 639-3 ewo | |
Language family Niger–Congo
Atlantic–Congo
Benue–Congo
Southern Bantoid
Bantu (Zone A)
Beti
Ewondo | ||
Ewondo or Kolo is the language of the Ewondo people (more precisely Beti be Kolo or simply Kolo-Beti) of Cameroon. The language had 577,700 native speakers in 1982. Ewondo is a trade language. Dialects include Badjia (Bakjo), Bafeuk, Bamvele (Mvele, Yezum, Yesoum), Bane, Beti, Enoah, Evouzok, Fong, 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 dialect of the Beti language (Yaunde-Fang), and is intelligible with Bulu, Eton, and Fang.
In 2011 there was a concern among Cameroonian linguists that the language was being displaced in the country by French.