Cameroon

This paper presents an overview of the phonology and grammar of Mbódɔ̀mɔ̀, a Gbaya language of the Adamawa-Ubangi group of the Volta-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. An overview of the phonological and morphological processes is presented with particular attention given to the structure of the verb and the vowel harmony occurring on the past tense suffix. Of particular interest in the study of the grammar is the existence of two genderless third person singular pronouns, one of which is a topical pronoun that refers only to the central participant of the narrative. Discussed also are the various tense/aspects and their roles in the various segments of the narrative, in particular the occurrence of the past tense in background and in peak segments.