Bangime (/ˌbæŋɡiˈmeɪ/; bàŋɡí–mɛ̀, or, in full, Bàŋgɛ́rí-mɛ̀)[2] is a language isolate spoken by 3,500[1] ethnic Dogon in seven villages in southern Mali, who call themselves the bàŋɡá–ndɛ̀ ("hidden people").

[citation needed] Bangande is the name of the ethnicity of this community and their population grows at a rate of 2.5% per year.

[5] Long known to be highly divergent from the (other) Dogon languages, it was first proposed as a possible isolate by Blench (2005).

[4] Hantgan and List report that Bangime speakers seem unaware that it is not mutually intelligible with any Dogon language.

[citation needed] Bangime has been characterised as an anti-language, i.e., a language that serves to prevent its speakers from being understood by outsiders, possibly associated with the Bangande villages having been a refuge for escapees from slave caravans.

[8] Health and Hantgan report that Bangime is spoken in the Bangande valley, which cuts into the western edge of the Dogon high plateau in eastern Mali.

[citation needed] The villages are: Bangime uses various morphological processes, including clitics, affixation, reduplication, compounding, and tone change.

The only productive affixes are the plural and a diminutive, which are seen in the words for the people and language above.

[12] sjɛ̀ɛ̀ⁿ-tjɛ́ɛ́ⁿforce, power-possessor-of-X‍ derivativesjɛ̀ɛ̀ⁿ-tjɛ́ɛ́ⁿ{force, power-possessor-of-X‍ derivative}‘soldier, policeman’[13]ɲɔ̀ŋɔ̀ndɔ̀-ʃɛ̀ɛ̀ⁿwrite-AGTɲɔ̀ŋɔ̀ndɔ̀-ʃɛ̀ɛ̀ⁿwrite-AGT‘writer, scribe’[14]twàà-ndàarrive-CAUStwàà-ndàarrive-CAUS‘deliver (message, object)’[15]bùrⁿà-ndɛ́stick-PLbùrⁿà-ndɛ́stick-PL‘sticks’[16]kì-bɛ́ndɛ́thing-longkì-bɛ́ndɛ́thing-long‘something long, a long one’[17]Bangime creates some words by compounding two morphemes together.

This linker matches the following consonant's place of articulation, with /m/ used before labials, /n/ before alveolars, and /ŋ/ before velars.

The chart below lists 7 short oral vowels, each of which can be long, nasalized, or both.

[citation needed] Bangime has 22 consonant phonemes, shown in the chart below.

[29] 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.

[30] There are three tones on moras(short syllables): high, low and rising.

In addition, falling tone may occur on long (bimoraic) syllables.

Terracing can also occur, giving a single level pitch to multiple words.

[31] Stem morphemes (such as nouns and verbs) may contain tonal ablaut/stem-wide tone overlays.

In simple transitive sentences, SOV (subject, object, verb) word order is used for the present tense, imperfective and SVO (subject, verb, object) word order is used for the past tense, perfective.

V[ŋ̀ bé] [làkírí] [ŋ̄ dìjà][1SG NEG] [couscous] [1SG eat.IPFV]'I don't eat couscous'SséédùS.

V Oséédù [∅ màà-rā] kūwòS [3SG build.PFV1] house'Seydou built a house' Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);S[ŋ̀[1SGVdʒíí-ndì]eat-CAUS.PFV2].

O[∅ kóó] [ŋ́ jāgà] [∅ màā kwāà][3SG PFV] [3SG cut.PFV1] [3SG POSS neck]'He cut her throat' Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);Sbīīⁿ-ndɛ̄goat.PL.

V Obīīⁿ-ndɛ̄ [∅ tām-bā] nīìgoat.PL [3PL bite.PFV1] 3PL'Some goats bit them' Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);.[à[DEFSbùrⁿà-ndɛ̀]stick-PL].[∅[3PL.kóó]PFV].[ŋ́[3PLVkɔ̄ndɔ̀]break.PFV2].

Possesseeà jààmbɛ̀ màà nààDEF child POSS cow'the child's cow'NOUN PHRASE + ADPOSITION [[ā[DEFNP]būwò]field]Adpositionkōin[ NP] Adposition[ā būwò] kō[DEF field] in'in the field'Bangime allows for the focalization of noun phrases, prepositional phrases, adverbs, and verbs.

[50] gìgɛ̀ndìsweep.VblN[ŋ̀[1SGdá]IPFV][ŋ́[1SGgìjɛ̀ndɛ̀]sweep.Deon]gìgɛ̀ndì [ŋ̀ dá] [ŋ́ gìjɛ̀ndɛ̀]sweep.VblN [1SG IPFV] [1SG sweep.Deon]'Sweep(ing) [focus] is what I am doing/what I did'séédùSeydoumí1SG.O[ŋ́[3SGdɛ̄gɛ̀]hit.PFV1]séédù mí [ŋ́ dɛ̄gɛ̀]Seydou 1SG.O [3SG hit.PFV1]'It was me [focus] that I Seydou hit' Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);séédùSkāDem[ŋ̄[3SGdījà]eat.PFV1]séédù kā [ŋ̄ dījà]S Dem [3SG eat.PFV1]'That [focus] is what Seydou ate' Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);séédùS[ŋ̀[FOCwóré]go.PFV1]séédù [ŋ̀ wóré]S [FOC go.PFV1]'It was Seydou [focus] who went' Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);ŋìjɛ̀yesterday[ŋ̀[1SGmáá-rà]build.IPFV1][à[DEFkùwò]house]ŋìjɛ̀ [ŋ̀ máá-rà] [à kùwò]yesterday [1SG build.IPFV1] [DEF house]'It was yesterday [focus] that I built the house' Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);[kā[Demkò]with][∅[1SGná]IPFV][ŋ́[1SGdɛ̀ɛ̀]cultivate.IPFV][kā kò] [∅ ná] [ŋ́ dɛ̀ɛ̀][Dem with] [1SG IPFV] [1SG cultivate.IPFV]'It's with that [focus] that I farm'Bangime uses [à], a clause-final particle, after a statement to make it a yes/no question.

[60] [ŋ̀[1SGtí-jè]sit.PFV2]pàwonly[ŋ̀ tí-jè] pàw[1SG sit.PFV2] only'I merely sat down' Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);