Escarpment Dogon is a

continuum Continuum may refer to: * Continuum (measurement), theories or models that explain gradual transitions from one condition to another without abrupt changes Mathematics * Continuum (set theory), the real line or the corresponding cardinal number ...

of Dogon dialects of the

Bandiagara Escarpment The Bandiagara Escarpment is an escarpment in the Dogon country of Mali. The sandstone cliff rises about above the lower sandy flats to the south. It has a length of approximately . The area of the escarpment is inhabited today by the Dogon pe ...

, including the

standard language A standard language (also standard variety, standard dialect, and standard) is a language variety that has undergone substantial codification of grammar and usage, although occasionally the term refers to the entirety of a language that includes ...

. There are three principal dialects: *Toro So ''Tɔrɔ sɔɔ'', called ''Bomu Tegu'' in the plains languages and also known as ''Dɔgɔsɔ'', is the standard variety of Dogon, which is one of thirteen official languages of

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

. *Tommo So '' Tɔmmɔ sɔ'', called ''Tombo so'' by Bondum Dom speakers, is spoken in a region from Kasa to

Bandiagara Bandiagara () is a small town and urban commune in the Mopti Region of Mali. The name translates roughly to "large eating bowl"—referring to the communal bowl meals are served in. Mainly on its Bandiagara Escarpment it has about 2,000 speakers ...

. It is more linguistically conservative than Toro So. The third dialect commonly listed is two subdialects without a common name: *Donno So ''Donno sɔ'' in the

area, and *Kamma So ''Kamma sɔ'' also known as ''Kamba So'', in the Kamba area. Hochstetler confirms that these are intelligible with each other, but not with the more populous varieties of Dogon on the neighboring plains. While Toro So was chosen as the official standard, because it has the most in common with the largest number of Dogon languages due to its central location, and is used in educational and official contexts,

Jamsay Dogon Jamsay Dogon is one of the Dogon languages spoken in Mali, and the only one spoken in Burkina Faso apart from a few villages of Tomo Kan. It is one of the plains languages spoken in Dogon villages outside the Bandiagara Escarpment (the cliffs that ...

is the

prestige variety In sociolinguistics, prestige is the level of regard normally accorded a specific language or dialect within a speech community, relative to other languages or dialects. Prestige Variety (linguistics), varieties are language or dialect families wh ...

and is the variety used for radio broadcasts.

Phonology

Consonants

* occurs, but only marginally. * can be realized as a fricative between vowel sounds . * can only occur among loanwords. * might occur as an allophone of when preceding .

Vowels

Tommo So

Tommo So (a bipartite name for the language signifying the ethnicity or the location of the speakers, 'Tommo' and a word for language, 'So') is part of the

Dogon Dogon may refer to: *Dogon people, an ethnic group living in the central plateau region of Mali, in West Africa *Dogon languages, a small, close-knit language family spoken by the Dogon people of Mali *''Dogon A.D.'', an album by saxophonist Julius ...

language family comprising around twenty languages. The genetic relations of the languages of the Dogon country are complex, as geographical proximity does not necessarily involve genetic relation. "Despite the fact that Tommo So and Dogulu Dom are both spoken in the central area of Dogon country, the preliminary results of our current fieldwork suggest that Tommo So bears a closer relation to Najamba or Donno So."

Geographic distribution

Tommo sɔ is thought to be spoken on the plateau between

Douentza Douentza (Fulfulde: ''Duwayⁿsa'') is a town and urban commune in the Mopti Region of central Mali. The town lies 145 km east-northeast of Mopti on the RN16, a paved road that links Mopti and Gao. It is the administrative center of the Do ...

and

by an estimated 40,000-60,000 people. In terms of neighboring languages, Tommo so is bordered by Najamba-Kidinge to the northwest, by Nanga and

Jamsay Jamsay Dogon is one of the Dogon languages spoken in Mali, and the only one spoken in Burkina Faso apart from a few villages of Tomo Kan. It is one of the plains languages spoken in Dogon villages outside the Bandiagara Escarpment (the cliffs that ...

to the east, by Tiranige Diga to the west, and by

Donno So Escarpment Dogon is a continuum of Dogon dialects of the Bandiagara Escarpment, including the standard language. There are three principal dialects: *Toro So ''Tɔrɔ sɔɔ'', called ''Bomu Tegu'' in the plains languages and also known as ''Dɔ ...

and Dogulu Dom to the south. Some dialects of Tommo So and Donno So are mutually intelligible. Donno So, based on fieldwork data, resembles an intermediate step between Tommo So and Toro So.

Notes

References

* . * *

External links

*
Tommo So folk songs
Youtube. 2013-21-07. {{Dogon topics, state=collapsed Dogon languages Languages of Mali