Four Secular Ruke Dongba Notes Generated during Fieldwork: An Innovative Language Documentation Approach

Abstract

This paper documents and analyzes several Dongba script notes collected during my interviews with the Ruke Dongba priests. It provides an overview of Ruke Dongba glyphs in processing daily vocabulary and the International Phonetic Alphabet. It compares these Dongba pictographs with the Geba script, the syllabic writing system of Naxi people, as well as the various types of scripts used by some other ethnic groups, which show a general tendency of Romanization in the generation of alphabetic writing systems and provides a pattern inherent in the historical evolution of writing. IPA symbols, a fundamental tool of field linguists, facilitate learners in grasping a language and nonalphabetic scripts. In addition to analyzing the Ruke Dongba pictographs attested in the secular manuscripts in the context of history of writing, this study contributes to the linguistic description of Ruke Dongba culture and the diversity of Dongba tradition.