Dogon

Is Dogon part of Niger-Congo

Possibly. The case rests mainly on a few numerals and some core vocabulary. Dogon has almost none of the noun classes typical of Niger-Congo, so linguists conclude that it split off very early, and treating it as an independent branch is now the preferred view. Roger Blench writes that it could equally be a family of its own. Bamana and Fula have influenced it heavily, and Blench has speculated about a substratum from an early branch of Nilo-Saharan shared with Bangime, which is now generally considered an isolate.

Which Dogon became the standard

Toro So of Sanga is the best studied, because Marcel Griaule worked there and because it was selected as one of Mali's thirteen national languages. Other escarpment varieties understand it. The plains languages, Tene Ka, Tomo Ka and Jamsay, do not, and together have more speakers. Jamsay is thought to be the original Dogon language. Calame-Griaule first sorted the varieties in 1956, and new ones were still being reported in 2005.

How Dogon speakers see their own speech

The Dogon regard themselves as one people with different languages, and they notice and keep up small differences between parts of a village and even between individuals. The languages mostly have two tones, some three, and put the object before the verb.