Bali

Language and Culture

Mbakoh is the original language of the Bali people, although Mungaka later became the language of one of the clans. Until the death of King Gawolbe, one of their important leaders, the Bali people were one people living under one monarch, united by one purpose and one culture. Above all, they spoke the original form of Mbakoh, which continues to undergo various linguistic transformations.

Gawolbe's tragic death marked a turning point in the union of the Chamba group as the people split into seven clans: Bali Muti, Bali Nkontan, [Page 95]Bali Kumbat, Bali Gasu, Bali Gansin, Bali Gham, and Bali Nyonga. The Bali Nyonga is the only group that acquired a totally different language other than Mbakoh. It is not clear why they elected to use mungaka.

It is misleading to refer to the language spoken by the Bali as “Bali” and it can cause confusion among the villages, the people, and their language. This mistake probably stems from the fact that the descriptive name, “Tsu bah' ni” in Mungaka, which literary means “talk (of the) Bali” or the language of Bali, of the Bali people is used interchangeably. When a speaker asks, “u nin chu chu bah' ni?” (“Do you speak the Bali language?”), the conveyed meaning is the same if the speaker said, “u' nin chu mungaka?” However, the first, rather than the latter, question is frequently expressed.

The appellation “Bah' ni” is the original form of the now anglicized authentic form “Bali,” which dates from the colonial period when the colonizers found it difficult to articulate the sounds in the African names. They were forced to proceed with phonological changes and smoothing. Several complexities must be noted here—the name of the people, Bali Nyonga, Ba'ni, and Banyonga, and the name of the language. Earlier writers indiscriminately used unorthodox names such as Bali and Ba'ni to refer to both people and language.

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