Learn Nkwen
Our language. Our heritage. Our future. Free, interactive lessons in Greetings, Numbers, Family and everyday phrases — written in simple English letters so anyone can read them aloud.
About the language
A living Grassfields tongue.
Nkwen (Mehnkwen) is a Grassfields Bantu language spoken by the Nkwen people of the Bamenda highlands in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. It is a tonal language with four tones — high, low, rising, and falling — that change the meaning of words.
On this page we use a simplified English-letter spelling so anyone can learn to read and speak Nkwen, even without special keyboard characters. As you grow, you can move on to the full Nkwen orthography used in the official source book Angwa'are Mezi'irene Abongne Mehnkwen (Nkwen Language Committee, 2015).
The people · Bə Nkwen
Who are the Nkwen people?
A Grassfields people of the Bamenda highlands — farmers, traders, scholars and storytellers bound by one chief, one language, and one home.
The Nkwen live in the highlands of Bamenda, in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. Our story begins at Mbebelie, where two brothers — Suh-Fuh and Neba-Fuh — quarreled and the village split in two. Suh-Fuh's followers settled at Atielah, and there the seed of Nkwen was planted.
Later, a gentle woman named Mia Awakezang led the people from the mountain into the fertile flatland that became Nkwen as we know it today. The Palace, the beating heart of the Fondom, first sat at Atielah in Mbelewa, then moved to Fejah, and finally — around 1934, during the reign of Fon Azehfor II — was established at Membuh, where it stands today. Our six quarters are Membuh, Mbelewa, Mbesi, Menteh, Manda, and Bayelle.
The Fondom is shaped by three immutable royal institutions — the Stool, the Kwifor, and the Tekembeng. His Royal Majesty Fon S.F. Azehfor III sits on the Stool as the 24th Fon of Nkwen. Today the Nkwen number more than 40,000 at home, with a fast-growing diaspora across Cameroon, Europe and North America. The Nkwen Cultural and Development Association (NCDA-USA) exists to keep those bonds alive for the generations being born far from the Grassfields.
Compiled from Nkwen oral tradition and the work of the Nkwen Language Committee.
Module
Alphabet & Sounds
31 sounds — vowels, consonants, and tone marks that shape meaning.
Vowels (7)
- a— "ah" as in father
ata · father (informal)
- e (schwa)— "uh" as in the
etaa · father
- e (open)— "eh" as in bed
fere · wind
- i— "ee" as in see
nyi · this
- o (open)— "aw" as in saw
mo'o · one
- u— "oo" as in too
bu · come back
Special consonants
- ng— "ng" as in sing
ngore · moon
- ny— "ny" as in canyon
nye · to drink
- sh— "sh" as in ship
ashishi · thread
- zh— "zh" as in measure
nzha · comb
- dz— "dz" as in adze
ndzaa · axe
- ts— "ts" as in cats
tsa · a hall
- kh— "k" with a puff of air
khe · to run
- '— glottal stop (small catch in throat)
nde-fe'e · clock
Tone marks
Same letters with different tones can mean different things.
- (no mark)Highfere ("ring")
- ◌̀Lowfère ("wind")
- ◌̌Risingnewe ("ice")
- ◌̂Fallingnekwe ("arm")
Module
Greetings
8 essential phrases with the responses our elders use.
- Njwela?Good morning
Reply: A a. Njwela. (Yes. Good morning.)
- A bela?How are you?
Reply: A bonge. (I'm fine.)
- O yi?Welcome
Reply: A a. Meya. (Yes. Thanks.)
- O zi?Good afternoon
Reply: A a. O zi. (Yes. Good afternoon.)
- O bu?Welcome back
Reply: A a. O bu? (Yes. Welcome back.)
- Fe lye fwoGood night
Reply: A a, ne fwo. (Yes. Good night.)
- Meya wwoThank you
Reply: Ne wwo. (Thank you too.)
- O dzwi nshi'ine?Are you well?
Reply: E e. (Yes.)
Module
Numbers
Counting from 1 to 100 with the patterns that build the rest.
Patterns
- 11–19 use nche + number (nche-mo'o = 11)
- 20 = megheme-membya
- 50 = megheme-mentane
- 100 = ngkere
- 1000 = ncuu
Module
Family
Words for the people who raised us and the ones we raise.
Module
Days & Time
Days of the week and parts of the day.
Days of the week
Parts of the day
Module
Common Verbs
Everyday action words for daily conversation.
Module
Useful Sentences
Practical phrases you'll use again and again.
- Li be etaa waThis is my father
- Li be mma waThis is my mother
- Li be we?Who is this?
- Me swa'a ghe metaneI want to go to market
- O swa'a ghe fe?Where do you want to go?
- Elwene wo be a we?What is your name?
- Elwene wa be [Name]My name is [Name]
- O dzwi a fe?Where do you live?
- O be elunge dzwi se'e?How old are you?
Module
Pronouns & Commands
Building blocks for full conversation.
Subject pronouns
Possessive pronouns
Commands
Practice
Quiz yourself
10 random questions drawn from every module. Mix of English → Nkwen and Nkwen → English. Your best score is saved on this device.
Best score so far: 0 / 10
Keep learning
External resources
Trusted, freely available lessons, dictionaries, and videos.
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[email protected]Content adapted from publicly available educational resources by N. Theresia N. (Education For All), PROPELCA, SIL International, CABTAL, and the Nkwen Language Translation Committee.