| Bangime | |
|---|---|
| Baŋgɛri-mɛ | |
| Spoken in | Dogon cliffs, Mali |
| Native speakers | ca. 1500 (date missing) |
| Language family | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | dba |
The Bangime (bàŋɡí–mɛ̀) language,[1] or in full Bàŋgɛ́rí-mɛ̀,[2] is spoken by some 1500 ethnic Dogon in seven villages in southern Mali, who call themselves the bàŋɡá–ndɛ̀ ('hidden people'). Long known to be highly divergent from (other) Dogon languages, it was first proposed as a possible isolate by Blench (2005). Research since then has confirmed that it appears to be unrelated to neighboring languages.
Roger Blench, who discovered the language was not Dogon, notes,
which he dates to 3000–4000 years ago.
Unlike Dogon languages, which are isolating, Bangime is isolating. The only productive affixes are the plural and a diminutive, which are seen in the words for the people and language above.
Contents |
Vowels have an ±ATR distinction, which affects neighboring consonants, but unusually for such systems, there is no ATR vowel harmony in Bangime. The vowels are /i ɪ e ɛ a ɔ o ʊ u/. Vowels may be long or nasalized.
There are three tones on moras (short syllables): high, low, and rising. In addition, falling tone may occur on long (bimoraic) syllables. Syllables may also have no inherent tone.
Bangime has consonant distinctions not found in the Dogon languages.
| m | n | ɲ | ŋ |
| p | t | k | |
| b | d | ɡ | |
| s | ɕ | ||
| l | j ɥ | w |
NC sequences tend to drop the plosive, and often lenite to a nasalized sonorant: [búndà] ~ [búr̃a] ~ [bún] 'finish', [támbà] ~ [táw̃à] ~ [támà] 'chew'.
/b/ and /ɡ/ appear as [ʋ] and [ɣ], depending on the ATR status of the adjacent vowels.
/s/ appears as [ʃ] before non-low vowels, /t/ and /j/ as [tʃ] and [ʒ] before either of the high front vowels. /j/ is realized as [dʒ] after a nasal.