Bamum (Shü Pamom language of the Bamum, or Shümom Mum language), also known as Shupamem, Bamun, or Bamoun, is an Eastern Grassfields language of Cameroon, with approximately 420,000 speakers. The language is well known for its original script developed by King Njoya and his palace circle in the Kingdom of Bamum around 1895. Cameroonian musician Claude Ndam was a native speaker of the language and sang it in his music.

Phonology

Bamum has tone, vowel length, diphthongs and coda consonants.

Vowels

Nchare claims ten diphthongs, only eight of which (excluding and ) have a length distinction. Matateyou shows normal and long examples of all ten vowel qualities. The orthography in angle brackets was based on the General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages as used by Matateyou.

Consonants

The consonants are displayed as following:

Tones

Bamum has four or five tones. Mateteyou's analysis includes a mid tone, while Nchare's analysis includes downstep. Bamum distinguishes between lexical and grammatical tone.