Nsei language

Kenswei Nsei (Kensense), also Nsei or Mesing (Bamessing), is a Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon.

Nsei
Kenswei Nsei
Native to	Cameroon
Native speakers	25,000 (2008)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Grassfields Ring South Nsei
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ndb
Glottolog	kens1251

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants^[2]

		Labial		Alveolar		Post-alveolar		Velar		Glottal
		-voice	+voice	-voice	+voice	-voice	+voice	-voice	+voice	-voice
Nasal	Plain		m		n		ɲ		ŋ
	Labialized						ɲʷ		ŋʷ
Plosive/ Affricate	Plain		b	t	d	t͡ʃ	d͡ʒ	k	g	ʔ
	Pre-nasalized		ᵐb	ⁿt	ⁿd	ⁿt͡ʃ	ⁿd͡ʒ	ᵑk	ᵑg
	Lablalized		bʷ	tʷ	dʷ	t͡ʃʷ	d͡ʒʷ	kʷ	gʷ
	Pre-nasalized and labialized		ᵐbʷ	ⁿtʷ	ⁿdʷ	ⁿt͡ʃʷ	ⁿd͡ʒʷ	ᵑkʷ	ᵑgʷ
Fricative	Plain	f	v	s	z				ɣ[a]	h
	Pre-nasalized	ᶬf		ⁿs
	Labialized			sʷ	zʷ
	Pre-nasalized and labialized			ⁿsʷ
Approximant	Plain				l		j[b]		w
	Labialized				lʷ		jʷ

1. /ɣ/ becomes [ɰ] before back vowels.
2. [j] is in free variation with [ʒ].

Vowels

Vowels^[2]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ̝[a]	u
Close-mid	e[b]	ə[c]	o[d]
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open	æ	ä[e]

1. /ɨ̝/ becomes [ɨ] before /ŋ/.
2. /e/ becomes [ɪ] in short open syllables.
3. /ə/ becomes [ɵ] before a pause when friction is present.
4. /o/ becomes [ʊ] before a pause when friction is present.
5. /ä/ becomes [ɒ] before [w].

Tone

Nsei has both lexical and grammatical tone. There are at least two level tones (high, low, and possibly mid) and two contour tones (falling and rising).^[3]