Semi-Bantu

Semi-Bantu or Semibantu is an outdated term used for specific inhabitants of the Western grassfields of Cameroon (portions of the Adamawa, West, Northwest, and Southwest regions), who speak languages that have certain characteristics to the Bantu language family, but they're excluded from them. The people themselves also aren't considered ethnically Bantu (or native to central and southern Africa).

When these ethnic groups migrated into northern Cameroon, their languages were influenced by the languages of both Bantu-speaking ethnic groups in the forests to the south and of the Benue-Congo-speaking peoples of the savannas to the north.

The ethnic groups who speak "Semi-Bantu languages" in Cameroon are the Tikar, Bamileke, Bamum, Nso, Kom, Bali, and some other Grassfields speakers. These groups share many similarities of culture and are often said come from a common ancestral people.

References

• Neba, Aaron (1999). Modern Geography of the Republic of Cameroon, 3rd ed. Bamenda: Neba Publishers.