Doctoral Dissertation Research: Documentation of Bangime, a Language Isolate

班吉姆语是马里中部使用的一种濒临灭绝的独特语言，将成为这项研究的重点。 本研究的目的是提供该语言读写计划的描述、分析和基础。 马里中东部班迪亚加拉地区的七个偏僻村庄使用班格里姆语（Bangime），估计有 1200 至 3000 人讲这种语言。由于这些村庄位于严格由多贡人居住的悬崖之间，班吉姆语以前被认为是多贡语。然而，少数访问过班吉姆语地区的研究人员注意到了它的特质，它现在被归类为一种罕见的语言隔离，与任何已知的语言都不相关。由于班吉姆语使用者自我认同为多贡语使用者，破译他们与多贡人及其语言的联系可以阐明两个种族长期被误解的语言和历史遗产。要收集的数据涵盖语法和词汇的各个方面，包括动植物群，对植物疗法有影响；重要社会文化实践的名称，例如制衣、铁匠和啤酒制造；地理地标的当地名称；和时间概念。这种语法描述和词典将为语言学家和从人类学到动物学等其他学科的研究人员提供关于以前隐藏的独特语言和文化的宝贵新知识和资源。还计划与最近发表有关多贡人遗传一致性信息的遗传学家进行合作。由于班吉姆语对西非研究具有广泛的影响，其地位要么是一种孤立的语言，要么是多贡语言分类中缺失的一环，因此必须提供完整的描述，但如果不首先准确地转录和理解其声调，就无法正确描述其语法。表面发音是错综复杂的声调语素的结果，与单词的底层声调交织在一起，形成了一个复杂的谜题。解决这个难题是理解语言内部工作原理的重要组成部分。

Bangime, an endangered, linguistically unique language spoken in central Mali, will be the focus of this research. The goal of this study is to provide a description, analysis, and the basis of a literacy program for the language. Bangerime, or Bangime, is spoken in seven isolated villages in the Bandiagara area of central-eastern Mali by an estimated 1200 to 3000 speakers. Because the villages are located among the strictly-Dogon-inhabited cliffs, Bangime was previously considered a Dogon language. However, the few researchers who have visited the Bangime-speaking area have noted its idiosyncrasies, and it is now classified as a rare language isolate, related to no known languages. Because Bangime speakers self-identify as Dogon speakers, deciphering their connection with the Dogon people and their language could illuminate the long misunderstood linguistic and historical heritage of both ethnicities.The data to be collected covers all aspects of the grammar and lexicon, including flora and fauna, with implications for botanical remedies; names for significant socio-cultural practices, such as cloth-making, blacksmithing, and beer-making; local names for geographic landmarks; and concepts of time. This grammatical description and dictionary will provide invaluable new knowledge and resources for linguists and researchers in other disciplines from anthropology to zoology about a previously concealed and unique language and culture. Collaborations are also planned with geneticists who have recently published information concerning the genetic uniformity of the Dogon people. Because of Bangime's broad implications for West African research, its status as either a language isolate or a missing link in the classification of Dogon languages, a complete description must be provided, yet its grammar cannot be properly described without first accurately transcribing and understanding its tones. Surface articulations, the result of intricate of tonal morphemes, are woven with the underlying tone of words to create a complicated puzzle. Solving this puzzle is an essential part of understanding the inner workings of the language.