Banor at Play

In “Banor at Play”, we are introduced to Mr. Claude Meintz and his children Frida, Armand, Lucien, and Henri. Together, they share how they are breathing new life into their father’s ancestral language in their home in Île-de-France.

This language is Banor (also spelled Banoo, Banoho, or Bano’o). Alongside Batanga and Bapuku, Banor belongs to a cluster of varieties within the Sawabantu group, itself part of the vast Bantu language family. The Sawabantu languages, the most prominent of which is Douala, are spoken along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

Traditionally, Banor was spoken around the city of Kribi, now Cameroon’s premier seaside resort and a key commercial port. However, the number of Banor speakers has been steadily dwindling, a decline accelerated by the influx of workers and tourists from across Cameroon. In the face of this looming threat, Claude Meintz’s family offers a remarkable story of resilience and hope.

Claude Meintz’s method is available on Amazon.

Claude Meintz is also an artist, whose works can be found on Artistes contemporains.