Bati-MultiDialectalASR-Dataset

Language

Bati (btc) is a language of Cameroon belonging to the Yambasa subgroup of Guthrie’s (1971) Bantu A classification. It is spoken in three villages (Kelleng, Mbougue and Nyambat) with a very limited speaker population. Estimates place the number of speakers at around 800, although the resident population of the three Bati-speaking villages was fewer than 200 individuals as of 2019. The language is under-documented and faces strong pressure from dominant regional languages.

Variants

The name Bati functions as a cover term for three related varieties: Kelleng, Mbougue, and Nyambat. Depending on the criteria adopted, these may be analyzed either as dialects of a single language or as distinct languages. While the Administrative Atlas of Cameroonian Languages groups them together as dialects based largely on lexical similarity, speakers themselves clearly identify Kelleng, Mbougue, and Nyambat as separate languages.

Alphabet

The alphabet is not uniform throughout text resources of this dataset. Most text is transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet (API), using the following set of characters: a, aː, ã, b, d, e, eː, ɛ, ɛː, ɛ̃, ə, f, g, h, i, iː, ĩ, j, k, kʷ, l, m, mb, n, nd, ɲ, ŋ, ŋg, ŋʷ, o, oː, ɔ, ɔː, ɔ̃, p, r, s, t, u, uː, ũ, w, z, β, ɣ, χ, ʔ, ʧ, ʤ

However, a segment of the text is transcribed using simplified Latin alphabet. This applies to the following mapping files in the folder Kelleng, Subfolder HIST_03:

• audio_mapping_BTC_MDP0332_Kell_HIST03_6-12_2017-06-14.tsv

• audio_mapping_BTC_MDP0332_Kell_HIST03_7-12_2017-06-14.tsv

• audio_mapping_BTC_MDP0332_Kell_HIST03_8-12_2017-06-14.tsv

• audio_mapping_BTC_MDP0332_Kell_HIST03_9-12_2017-06-14.tsv

• audio_mapping_BTC_MDP0332_Kell_HIST03_10-12_2017-06-14

The list of graphemes used for the Latin-based script is as follows: A, aa, b, bw,, d, dj, e, é, ee, f, g, h, I, ii, k, kw, l, m, mb, mw, n, nd, ng, nk, nt, nj, ny, o, ô, p, pw, r, s, t, tj, ts, w, y.

Source

This dataset re-uses the audio recordings and ELAN files compiled for the Documentation of the Bati Language and Oral Traditions project. The resulting corpus has been archived with the Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR). The author of this dataset was the recipient of funding from the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme (ELDP)'s Major Grants scheme (project MDP0332), which resulted in the corpus materials being extracted for this dataset.

Domain

This dataset contains audio material covering several domains, including the history and cosmogony of the Bati people, their social organisation, narratives, myths but also grammar elicitation.

Size

Total size is 3,27 GB

Structure

This dataset comprises two types of resource: audio clips (.WAV) and text. The audio clips are contained in separate folders and the text is contained in a TSV-type audio/text mapping file. The three main folders are named Kelleng, Mbougue and Nyambat, respectively. Each of these folders contains subfolders whose names refer to a particular domain of language use. For example, 'HIST' refers to historical life and 'Gramm_elicit' refers to grammar elicitation. The lowest level of the folder structure contains folders that hold the audio files. These lower-rank folders are named after the original audio and Elan files from which they were generated. The dataset consists of 13,344 audio clips totalling 6 hours, 8 minutes and 12.286 seconds, as well as 44 audio/text mapping files totalling 13,346 lines.

Sample

Kelleng Dialect

• International Phonetic Alphabet-based text

1. kìpós ʧɛ́ ʧé ʧâ jálêk

2. ʧé mú à mɛ́ní ʧîn ʧɛ̀

3. mì sòmbláχ lɛ́ ↓mì ↑ɓàr màmá nù à ŋ̀gwéénɛ́ ná nú à jè ɓěh βìsú

4. jɔ́n mɛ̀ ɓàráχ wɛ̂ lɛ́ jàχ wɛ̀ bí↓nɔ́χ íjàm líjé ɲɔ̀ɔ̂ ɛ̀

5. ŋgò kòònd ŋgójâŋ wà wɔ́ ní

6. ɓákwís βìkɔ̀l βí ɓóɲá nɔ́ ɓàkáná ɓí nì ŋgìm ŋʷɔ́m jɔ́ɔ́β ɔ̂ɸ

7. wǎ wì ná kɛ́k ↓wárâj wǎ jínân ŋgǐm ↓mbóɣrín kó ò

• Latin-based text

1. tjé tji na tjel kak nini

2. maay mis omorom ma nyim waan

3. ti na ti kol nza ni bisômbin

4. kitoñ ék tja bôli kitéñbar

5. kaa a ñgala yis éy tja bôli kiteñbini

6. ndi ba tubin kiseen ki mbore woom

7. bakôn ba beend weni ba ta ntobane

Mbougue Dialect

1. kíŋɛ̂ já móŋsí ɓáànd ɛ́

2. ŋ̀kòmbà à mbúl kíŋɛ̂ ꜛɓǐs

3. núꜛmbàn ɓâm ɓáꜛànd

4. núꜛmbàn ɔ̂p ɓɔ́ ɓáꜛàn

5. núꜛmbàn má móŋsí ɓáànd ɛ́

6. káánd ɓá móŋsí ɓáꜛànd

7. jègén wáàn mbúùm já ní ní kúŋwâ mbún í ʧíìná à tàn

Nyambat Dialect

1. mbwáŋ ǒ ꜜhá nɛ̂ ɓǎh tì mbìsě

2. sɛ̀ɛ́n tʒâm ɛ̀nɛ

3. tǔhꜜná tʃwɛ́ꜜhɛ́ tʃû m̀fèrbǎt

4. ɓáꜜlɛ́ ùɓâχnà bîχ hâ kí mɛ̀ńtilà

5. wìn nì kitùùrínɛ̂ à tùhnâ

6. ǹlɔ́ŋ û jé ↓lɛ́ matóà má ńlòò kìɓàlà