Introduction

The Mambəlemα language of Cameroon is spoken in the West Region, department of Ndé in the district of Tonga, and in the Center Region, department of Mbam-et-Inoubou.

The villages where Mambəlemα are spoken are the following according to the speakers:

Bandounga, Mbo'dji, Bassamba, Medima, Kinding-Ndé, Kinding-Djabi, Ba Bo'oto Babitchoua, Makénéné and Nyingo.

The speakers recognize three dialects:

Mambəlemα (Bandounga, Mbo'dji, Bassanba, Medima and Makenene)
Mapo'o (Kinding-Ndé, Kinding-Djabi Nyingo)
Babitchoua (Babitchoua)
This is the first attempt to compile a bilingual dictionary for the language.

This language is not strictly classified, but is part as Mədʉmbα, its nearest neighbor, as a language of the eastern group of the Bamileke cluster. The language is within the hierarchy of Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Wide Grassfields, Narrow Grassfields, Mbam-Nkam, Nun.

It is not listed in Ethnologue, but has a "dialect" code recently given via ETEN and unfoldingWord:
byv-x-mambelema.

This provisional lexicon is the result of two workshops in January and April 2022:

Petnga Tadja Franck Charly from Bassamba
Bassila Therese de Babitchoua
Nyaa Brigitte of Bamtou
Nya Joseh from Banounga
Nyami Raymond of Baloua
Tchounke Barthelomy from Votchue (Banounga)
Djino Jean Claude de Bassamba
Fondota Heunya Adelaide from Bandounga
Zouassa meets Mbeumi Caroline de Balingsa (Banounga)
and Kuissi Yvonne from Bantoun.