Iyasa (Yasa, Yassa) is a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea by the Iyasa and Ndowe coastal fishing peoples. It is also spoken by Pygmies, perhaps Babongo, in Gabon. Approximately 3,000 people speak Iyasa,[3] though some note that this number may be an overestimation.[4]
Iyasa also goes by the names Bongwe, Lyaasa, and Maasa. Dialects are Bweko, Vendo, Bodele, Marry, One, Asonga, Bomui, Mogana, Mooma, Mapanga. It may in turn be a dialect of Kombe. Speakers report that Kombe and Iyasa are almost perfectly mutually intelligible.[5]
Classification
Dieu and Renaud (1993) classify Iyasa as a Sawabantu language (A.30 in Guthrie classification).[6]
Geographic Distribution
Iyasa is spoken along the coast of Cameroon south of Kribi, including in the city of Campo. It is also spoken across the Ntem River in Equatorial Guinea.[7] The northernmost Iyasa village is Lolabe, 31 km south of Kribi.[5]
^ abcdeBouh Ma Sitna, Charles Lwanga (2004). Le Syntagme Nominal du Yasa. University of Yaoundé I: Master's thesis.
^Dieu, Michel, and Patrick Renaud. 1993. Situation linguistique en Afrique centrale, inventaire pre@liminaire: Le Cameroun. In Atlas Linguistique du Cameroun. Yaounde@: ACCT-CERDOTOLA-DGRST.
^ abBôt, Dieudonné Martin Luther (2011). "Le Préfixe Nominale Yasa". Journal of West African Languages. 38 (1): 99–122.
