Dogon Languages of Mali

在西非的马里，大约有20种多贡语，还有一种文化上的多贡语，他们说一种孤立的语言--Bangi Me。研究人员打算最终将它们全部记录下来，并以一种协调的方式传播数据：参考语法、文本，特别是在互动网站上传播的丰富的比较词典，其中包括照片和视频插图。在此期间，研究人员打算完成在即将到期的资助期内涵盖的6种语言之外的6种班吉语和6种多贡语的工作。多贡语的主要类型学兴趣是一个词(A)和短语(B)声调轮廓重叠的系统。所有词干(名词、动词等)至少有一个带或不带低色调的高调元素。在不同的位置，这些词汇的声调轮廓被重叠的轮廓所覆盖。例如，名词在序列[名词形容词]中是降调的，但在序列[名词数字]中不是。在像[所有人名词形容词]这样的组合中，形容词和所有人之间存在冲突，前者试图在前面的名词上施加轮廓‘A’，而后者试图在后面的名词-形容词序列上施加不同的语调轮廓‘B’。在这种情况下，占有者赢了，[名词形容词]部分以短语范围的B声调轮廓结束。研究人员已经开始撰写一些关于词汇问题的单独出版物，从动作动词(描述方式/过程，而不是英语中的结果/功能)和形容词(表现出许多深层次的融合，而不是比喻的延伸)开始。该项目还支持将一名语音学家带入实地，对出现的语音问题进行几项重点研究，包括液体的语音{r，L}、声调和元音特征。

There are about twenty Dogon languages in Mali, West Africa, along with one culturally Dogon group that speak a language isolate, Bangi Me. The researchers intend to eventually document all of them and disseminate the data in a coordinated fashion: reference grammars, texts, and especially a rich comparative lexicon disseminated in an interactive website with photographic and video-clip illustrations. During this period, the researchers intend to complete work on Bangi Me and six Dogon languages in addition to the six covered in the expiring grant period. The main typological interest of Dogon languages is a system of word- ('A') and phrase-level ('B') tone-contour overlays. All stems (nouns, verbs, etc.) have at least one high-tone element with or without low tones. In various positions, these lexical tone contours are overridden by superimposed contours. For example, the noun is tone-dropped in the sequence [noun adjective], but not in the sequence [noun numeral]. In combinations like [possessor noun adjective], as in 'Seydou's big house', there is a conflict between the adjective, which tries to impose contour 'A' on the preceding noun, and the possessor, which seeks to impose a different tone contour,'B' on the following noun-adjective sequence. In this case, the possessor wins, and the [noun adjective] portion ends up with phrase-wide 'B' tone contour.The researchers have begun writing a number of separate publications on lexical matters, beginning with action verbs (which profile manner/process rather than, as in English, result/function) and adjectives (which show many "deep" syncretisms, as opposed to figurative extensions). The project also supports bringing a phonetician into the field to undertake several focused studies of phonetic issues that have arisen, including the phonetics of liquids {r ,l}, tones, and vowel features.