DOGON LANGUAGES
INTRODUCTION
The languages spoken on the Dogon Plateau and adjacent areas are generally known to outsiders as 'Dogon', but this term is not used by individual groups. For a long time, research on the Dogon was dominated by the work of Marcel Griaule and his successors, which focused on a very specific group, the Dogon of Sangha. Bertho published short comparative wordlists of some Dogon lects but these made little impression. Calame-Griaule (1956) published a dialect map of Dogon, the relationship between the named communities and the Tr-S represented in her dictionary remained unclear in the absence of data. Until recently, Dogon was treated in reference books as if it were a single language (e.g. Bendor-Samuel et al. 1989), but Hochstetler et al. (2004) estimated there are no less than 17 languages under the Dogon rubric and that the family is highly internally divided.
The classification of the Dogon languages is a matter of considerable dispute. They have always been considered part of Niger-Congo, but their place in that family is difficult to determine. Hochstetler et al. (2004) review the various theories that have been advanced, which are essentially either Gur, Mande or an independent branch. Conventional wisdom now treat Dogon as its own branch of Niger-Congo (Williamson & Blench 2000).
Another major question is the place of Dogon within Niger-Congo. Dogon is both lexically and structurally very different from most other families. It lacks the noun-classes usually regarded as typical of Niger-Congo and has a word order (SOV) that resembles Mande and Ịjọ, but not the other branches. The system of verbal inflections, resembling French is quite unlike any surrounding languages. As a consequence, the ancestor of Dogon is likely to have diverged very early, although the present-day languages probably reflect an origin some 3-4000 years ago. Dogon languages are territorially coherent, suggesting that, despite local migration histories, the Dogon have been in this area of Mali from their origin.
One language in the Dogon-speaking area is apparently not Dogon but which is difficult to classify, Baŋgi me. This language contains some Niger-Congo roots but is lexically very remote from all other languages in West Kmt. It is presumably the last remaining representative of the languages spoken prior to the expansion of the Dogon proper.
In terms of data collection, the surveys in February and March 2005 focused strongly on;
a) collecting basic lexical data on so far undescribed varieties of Dogon (and other languages of the Dogon Plateau)
b) collecting terminology of cultural and historical significance, such names of crops, domestic animals, fauna and flora and blacksmithing terms
The results from historical linguistics are still being analysed, but preliminary findings suggest some rather surpising results. For example, speakers of the proto-Dogon language were already farmers, growing sorghum, millet and fonio, keping cattle but not sheep and goats. They did not use hoes, but planting sticks, and were experienced arboriculturalists. Further analysis will be reported here as it becoems available.
Data collected in 2005 field surveys
Linguistic materials were collected on and preliminary documents can be downloaded here;
Language
Ambaleenge of Kema
Ampari Pa
Ana
Bunoge
Dogul Dom
Nyambeenge
Tebul Ure
Tommo So
Walo
Yanda
Source : http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/Dogon/Dogon%20page.htm (http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/Dogon/Dogon%20page.htm)
Attached files Ambaleenge wordlist paper.pdf (https://www.abibitumi.com/wp-content/uploads/ppMigration/92103=7268-Ambaleenge%20wordlist%20paper.pdf) (418.6 KB) Ampari Pa wordlist paper.pdf (https://www.abibitumi.com/wp-content/uploads/ppMigration/92103=7269-Ampari%20Pa%20wordlist%20paper.pdf) (234.3 KB) Ana wordlist paper.pdf (https://www.abibitumi.com/wp-content/uploads/ppMigration/92103=7270-Ana%20wordlist%20paper.pdf) (174.2 KB) Bunoge wordlist paper.pdf (https://www.abibitumi.com/wp-content/uploads/ppMigration/92103=7271-Bunoge%20wordlist%20paper.pdf) (285.4 KB) Dogul Dom wordlist.pdf (https://www.abibitumi.com/wp-content/uploads/ppMigration/92103=7272-Dogul%20Dom%20wordlist.pdf) (106.6 KB) Nyambeenge wordlist paper.pdf (https://www.abibitumi.com/wp-content/uploads/ppMigration/92103=7273-Nyambeenge%20wordlist%20paper.pdf) (290 KB) Tebul Ure wordlist paper.pdf (https://www.abibitumi.com/wp-content/uploads/ppMigration/92103=7274-Tebul%20Ure%20wordlist%20paper.pdf) (308.1 KB) Tommo So Piro wordlist.pdf (https://www.abibitumi.com/wp-content/uploads/ppMigration/92103=7275-Tommo%20So%20Piro%20wordlist.pdf) (207 KB) Walo wordlist paper.pdf (https://www.abibitumi.com/wp-content/uploads/ppMigration/92103=7276-Walo%20wordlist%20paper.pdf) (260.1 KB) Yanda wordlist paper.pdf (https://www.abibitumi.com/wp-content/uploads/ppMigration/92103=7277-Yanda%20wordlist%20paper.pdf) (368.8 KB)