Vemgo-Mabas language
Vemgo-Mabas is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Cameroon and Nigeria. It has two main dialects, Vemgo and Mabas. Some researchers treat them as separate languages, while Ethnologue notes a third variety, Visik in Nigeria, which Blench suspects may be a Lamang dialect instead.
In Cameroon, Mabas is spoken in a single village near the Nigerian border (Mabas village, Mokolo arrondissement, Mayo-Tsanaga, Far North Region) by about 5,000 people. Overall, about 11,000 people speak Vemgo-Mabas (data from 1993–2004).
The language is closely related to Hdi but is distinct (about 78% lexical similarity and 36% mutual intelligibility).
Vemgo-Mabas belongs to the Wandala–Mafa branch of the Biu–Mandara group within Afro-Asiatic.
Language codes: ISO 639-3 vem; Glottolog vemg1240.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 03:03 (CET).