Bikya language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bikya (also known as Furu) is a language of the Niger-Congo family that is spoken in Cameroon. It is unknown if this language is still extant. In 1986 four surviving speakers were identified, although only one (a man in his seventies) spoke the language fluently.

Bikya is probably best known for the work of English linguist Dr. David Dalby who filmed an 87 year old African woman, who spoke Bikya as her native tongue. All records indicate that she was the last fluent speaker of the tongue. The archival footage was shot to preserve the language before it was lost forever. The African woman died in July 2006, ending all known history of this language.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Bibliography

• Breton, Roland (1995) 'Les Furu et leur voisins', Cahier Sciences Humaines, 31, 1, 17–48.
• Breton, Roland (1993) 'Is there a Furu Language Group? An investigation on the Cameroon-Nigeria Border', The Journal of West African Languages, 23, 2, 97–98.