N'Ko script: Difference between revisions

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{{distinguish|N'Ko language}}

{{Infobox writing system

|name = NKoNko, N'Ko

|native_name = ߒߞߏ

|type = [[Alphabet]]

|time = 1949–present

|languages = [[N'Ko language|NKoNko]], [[Manding languages]] ([[Mandingo language|Mandingo]], [[Maninka language|Maninka]],<br />[[Bambara language|Bambara]], [[Dyula language|Dyula]])

|creator = [[Solomana Kante|Solomana Kanté]]

|unicode = [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U07C0.pdf U+07C0–U+07FF]

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}}

'''NKoNko''' (ߒߞߏ), also spelled '''N'Ko''',<ref>{{cite book|author1=Moussa Koulako Bala Doumbouya|author2=Baba Mamadi Diané|author3=Solo Farabado Cissé|author4=Djibrila Diané|author5=Abdoulaye Sow|author6=Séré Moussa Doumbouya|author7=Daouda Bangoura|author8=Fodé Moriba Bayo|author9=Ibrahima Sory 2. Condé|author10=Kalo Mory Diané|author11=Chris Piech|author12=Christopher Manning|title=Proceedings of the Eighth Conference on Machine Translation (WMT), December 6–7, 2023|chapter=Machine Translation for Nko: Tools, Corpora and Baseline Results|pages=312–343|year=2023|publisher=Association for Computational Linguistics|url=https://www2.statmt.org/wmt23/pdf/2023.wmt-1.34.pdf|quote=Also spelled N’Ko, but speakers prefer the name Nko.}}</ref> is an [[alphabetic script]] devised by [[Solomana Kante|Solomana Kanté]] in 1949, as a modern [[writing system]] for the [[Manding languages]] of West Africa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/nqo|title=N'ko|date=2019|editor-last=Eberhard|editor-first=David|editor2-last=Simons|editor2-first=Gary|website=Ethnoloque|access-date=June 12, 2019|editor3-last=Fennig|editor3-first=Charles}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Oyler|first=Dianne|date=Spring 2002|title=Re-Inventing Oral Tradition: The Modern Epic of Souleymane Kanté|journal=Research in African Literatures|volume=33|issue=1|pages=75–93 |doi=10.1353/ral.2002.0034|jstor=3820930|s2cid=162339606|oclc=57936283}}</ref> The term ''NKoNko'', which means ''I say'' in all Manding languages, is also used for the [[NKoN'Ko language|Manding literary standard]] written in the NKoNko script.

The script has a few similarities to the [[Arabic script]], notably its direction ([[right-to-left]]) and the letters that are connected at the base. Unlike Arabic, it is obligatory to mark both [[Tone (linguistics)|tone]] and [[vowel]]s. NKoNko tones are marked as [[diacritic]]s.

==History==

[[File:Grave of Kanté Soulemane, inventeur de l'alphabet N'Ko.jpg|thumb|Grave of Solomana Kanté. The French at the bottom reads “Inventor of the N'Ko alphabet”.]]

Kanté created N’Ko in response to erroneous beliefs that no indigenous African writing system existed, as well as to provide a better way to write Manding languages, which had for centuries been written predominantly in [[Ajami script|Ajami]] script, which was not perfectly suited to the [[Tone (linguistics)|tones]] unique to Mandé and common to other [[West African languages]]. An anecdote popular with N'Ko proponents is that Kanté was particularly challenged to create the distinct system when, while in [[Bouake]], he found a book by [[Kamel Mrowa]] who dismissed African languages as “like those of the birds, impossible to transcribe”<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Oyler|first=Dianne White|date=2001|title=A Cultural Revolution in Africa: Literacy in the Republic of Guinea since Independence|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3097555|journal=The International Journal of African Historical Studies|volume=34|issue=3 |pages=585–600|doi=10.2307/3097555|jstor=3097555|issn=0361-7882|url-access=subscription}}</ref> despite said Ajami history.<ref name="Donaldson">{{Cite journal|last=Donaldson|first=Coleman|date=2020|title=The Role of Islam, Ajami writings, and educational reform in Sulemaana Kantè's N'ko|journal=African Studies Review|volume=63|issue=3|language=en|pages=462–486|doi=10.1017/asr.2019.59|issn=0002-0206|doi-access=free}}</ref> Kanté then devised N’Ko while he was in [[Bingerville]], [[Côte d'Ivoire]] and later brought it to his native [[Kankan]], [[Guinea]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=The N'ko Alphabet as a Vehicle of Indigenist Historiography |first=Dianne White |last=Oyler |journal=History in Africa |volume=24 |date=January 1997 |pages=239–256 |doi=10.2307/3172028|jstor=3172028 }}</ref>

N’Ko began to be used in many educational books, and the script is believed to have been finalized<ref>{{cite book|last=Oyler|first=Dianne White|title=The History of N'ko and its Role in Mande Transnational Identity: Words as Weapons|date=November 2005|publisher=Africana Homestead Legacy Publishers|isbn=978-0-9653308-7-9|page=1}}</ref> on April 14, 1949 – a date now celebrated as N’Ko Alphabet Day.<ref>•&nbsp;{{cite web |url=https://anydayguide.com/calendar/1899 |title=N'Ko Alphabet Day |website=Any Day Guide |quote=N'Ko Alphabet Day is celebrated on April 14 in some West African countries, where the Manding languages are spoken. It marks the anniversary of the date the alphabet is believed to have been finalized.}}<br />•&nbsp;{{cite web |first=Tapiwanashe S. |last=Garikayi |title=Afrikan Fonts: The N'Ko Alphabet |url=https://www.nan.xyz/txt/designing-afrikan-fonts/ |website=nan.xyz|quote=N'Ko started to be utilized in numerous instructive books when the script is believed to have been finalized on April 14, 1949 (presently N'Ko Alphabet Day)....}}</ref> Kanté initially used the system to transcribe religious, scientific, and philosophical literature, and even a dictionary.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Oyler |first=Dianne White |date=2001 |title=A Cultural Revolution in Africa: Literacy in the Republic of Guinea since Independence |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3097555 |journal=The International Journal of African Historical Studies |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=585–600 |doi=10.2307/3097555 |issn=0361-7882 |jstor=3097555|url-access=subscription }}</ref> These texts were then distributed as gifts across the Manding-speaking parts of West Africa. The script received its first dedicated [[typewriter]] from [[Eastern Europe]] as [[Guinea]] had ties to the [[Soviet Union]] in the 1950s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine|last=Rosenberg|first=Tina|date=9 December 2011|title=Everyone Speaks Text Message|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/magazine/everyone-speaks-text-message.html?|magazine=The New York Times Magazine|page=20}}</ref>

This introduction of the script led to a movement promoting N’Ko literacy among Mandé speakers in both Anglophone and Francophone West Africa. N’Ko literacy was thus instrumental in shaping Maninka cultural identity in Guinea, and strengthened Manding identity in wider West Africa.<ref>Oyler, Dianne White (1994) ''Mande identity through literacy, the N'ko writing system as an agent of cultural nationalism''. Toronto: African Studies Association.</ref>

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==Current use==

[[File:Online N'ko classroom via WhatsApp (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Smartphone]] with a NKoNko class via [[WhatsApp]]]]

{{Anchor|Literary language}}As of 2005, it was used mainly in [[Guinea]] and the [[Ivory Coast]] (respectively by [[Maninka language|Maninka]] and [[Dyula language|Dyula]] speakers), with an active user community in [[Mali]] (by [[Bambara language|Bambara]] speakers). Publications include a translation of the [[Quran]], a variety of textbooks on subjects such as [[physics]] and [[geography]], poetic and philosophical works, descriptions of traditional medicine, a dictionary, and several local newspapers. Though taught mostly informally through NKoNko literacy promotion associations, NKoNko has also been introduced more recently into formal education through private primary schools in Upper Guinea.<ref>{{Cite journalsfn|last=Wyrod|first=Christopher|date=January 2008|title=A social orthography of identity: the NKo literacy movement in West Africa|journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language|issue=192|doi=10.1515/ijsl.2008.033|s2cid=143142019|issn=0165-2516}}</ref> It has been classed as the most successful of the West African scripts.<ref>Unseth, Peter. 2011. Invention of Scripts in West Africa for Ethnic Revitalization. In {{cite book|last1=Fishman|first1=Joshua|author-link1=Joshua Fishman|last2=Garcia|first2=Ofelia|author-link2=Ofelia García (educator)|title=Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity: The Success-Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts (Volume 2)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oUydX_3rG0AC|year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-983799-1}}</ref>

NKoNko literature generally uses a [[literary language]] register, termed ''kangbe'' (literally, 'clear language'), that is seen as a potential [[compromise dialect]] across [[Manding languages|Mandé languages]].<ref>[{{Cite web |url=http://www.fakoli.net/nko/tutorial/intro.html |title=N'Ko Language Tutorial: Introduction] |access-date=2006-11-29 |archive-date=2021-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610124342/http://www.fakoli.net/nko/tutorial/intro.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> For example, the word for 'name' in Bamanan is ''tɔgɔ'' and in Maninka it is ''tɔɔ''. NKoNko has only one written word for 'name', but individuals read and pronounce the word in their own language. This literary register is thus intended as a [[koiné language]] blending elements of the principal [[Manding languages]], which are [[mutually intelligible]], but has a very strong Maninka influence.

There has also been documented use of NKoNko, with additional diacritics, for traditional religious publications in the [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]] and [[Fon language|Fon]] languages of [[Benin]] and southwestern [[Nigeria]].<ref>{{cite web |author1=Agelogbagan Agbovi |title=Gànhúmehàn Vodún - Living Sacred Text (completely in Fongbe and N'ko) |url=http://www.restorationhealing.com/ganhumehan-vodun-book |website=Kilombo Restoration & Healing |publisher=Kilombo Restoration and Healing |language=en |access-date=2017-07-19 |archive-date=2020-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128041832/http://www.restorationhealing.com/ganhumehan-vodun-book |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Letters==

The NKoNko script is written from right to left, with letters being connected to one another.

===Vowels===

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===Tones===

NKoNko uses 7seven [[diacritic]]al marks to denote [[tone (linguistics)|tonality]] and [[vowel length]]. Together with plain vowels, NKoNko distinguishes four tones: high, low, ascending, and descending; and two vowel lengths: long and short. Unmarked signs designate short, descending vowels. One dot below a vowel marks that vowel as nasal.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chapter 19 – Unicode 16.0.0 |url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode16.0.0/core-spec/chapter-19/ |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=www.unicode.org |quote=When applied to a vowel, U+07F2 NKO COMBINING NASALIZATION MARK indicates the nasalization of that vowel. }}</ref>

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===Non-native sounds and letters===

NKoNko also provides a way of representing non-native sounds through the modification of its letters with diacritics.<ref>{{cite book |last=Doumbouya |first=Mamady |date=2012 |title=Illustrated English/N'Ko Alphabet: An introduction to N'Ko for English Speakers |url=http://cormand.huma-num.fr/maninkabiblio/ouvrages/dunbuya-angile_nko.pdf |___location=Philadelphia, PA, USA |publisher=N'Ko Institute of America |page=29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.culturesofwestafrica.com/nko-alphabet-west-african-script/ |title=N'Ko Alphabet: a West African Script |last=Sogoba |first=Mia |date=June 1, 2018 |website=Cultures of West Africa |access-date=June 2, 2019 |archive-date=January 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106041611/https://www.culturesofwestafrica.com/nko-alphabet-west-african-script/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> These letters are used in transliterated names and loanwords.

[[Two dots (diacritic)|Two dots]] above a vowel, resembling a diaeresis or umlaut mark, represent a foreign vowel: u-two-dots for the French {{IPAslink|y}} sound, or e-two-dots for the French {{IPAslink|ə}}.

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== Numerals ==

NKoNko numerals use [[positional notation]]. Unlike both [[Western Arabic numerals|Western]] and [[Eastern Arabic numerals]], digits decrease in significance from right to left.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.afrikanistik-aegyptologie-online.de/archiv/2012/3553 | title=Numerical Notation in Africa | journal=Afrikanistik Online | date=27 December 2012 | volume=2012 | issue=9 | last1=Andrij | first1=Rovenchak }}</ref>

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==Digitization==

With the increasing use of computers and the subsequent desire to provide universal access to information technology, the challenge arose of developing ways to use the NKoNko script on computers. From the 1990s onwards, there were efforts to develop fonts and even web content by adapting other software and fonts. A [[DOS]] word processor named Koma Kuda was developed by Prof. Baba Mamadi Diané from [[Cairo University]].<ref>Personal note from the LISA/Cairo conference, in Dec. 2005, Don Osborn</ref> However the lack of intercompatibility inherent in such solutions was a block to further development.

===Wikipedia===

There is also a [[:nqo:ߓߏ߬ߟߏ߲߬ߘߊ|NKoNko version of Wikipedia]] in existence since 26 November 2019, it contains {{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|nqo|N}} articles, with {{NUMBEROF|EDITS|nqo|N}} edits and {{NUMBEROF|USERS|nqo|N}} users.<ref>[[:nqo:ߞߙߍߞߙߍߣߍ߲:Statistics]]</ref>

==Unicode==

{{Further|NKo (Unicode block)}}

The Nko script was added to the [[Unicode]] Standard in July 2006 with the release of version 5.0. Additional characters were added in 2018. While the script is spelled "N’Ko" in the relevant chapter of Unicode, the alias for the script is "Nko"<ref>{{cite web|title=ISO 15924 Code Lists: Codes for the representation of names of scripts|url=https://www.unicode.org/iso15924/iso15924-codes.html}}</ref> and the Unicode block name is "NKo" (because the apostrophe is not allowed in block names).<ref>{{cite book|author=Unicode, Inc.|chapter=Africa|title=The Unicode Standard, Version 16.0|year=2024|url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode16.0.0/core-spec/chapter-19/#G56584|quote=Although the traditional name of the N’Ko language and script includes an apostrophe, apostrophes are disallowed in Unicode character and block names. Because of this, the formal block name is “NKo” and the script portion of the Unicode character names is “{{Smallcaps all|nko}}”.}}</ref>

The NKo script was added to the [[Unicode]] Standard in July 2006 with the release of version 5.0. Additional characters were added in 2018.

[[UNESCO]]'s Programme Initiative B@bel supported preparing a proposal to encode NKoNko in [[Unicode]]. In 2004, the proposal, presented by three professors of NKoNko (Baba Mamadi Diané, Mamady Doumbouya, and Karamo Kaba Jammeh) working with [[Michael Everson]], was approved for balloting by the ISO working group WG2. In 2006, NKoNko was approved for Unicode 5.0. The Unicode block for NKoNko is U+07C0–U+07FF:

{{Unicode chart NKo}}

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*[https://www.ankataa.com/ An Ka Taa]: "Learn '''Manding'''—commonly referred to as Bambara, Dioula, Malinké or Mandingo!"

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130516204859/http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Manding Information about Manding languages]

*[http://www.fakoli.net/nko/tutorial/intro.html An introduction to N'Ko] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610124342/http://www.fakoli.net/nko/tutorial/intro.html |date=2021-06-10 }}

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070625154007/http://www.panafril10n.org/panafrloc/Casa-NKO.pdf "Casablanca Statement"] (on localization of ICT) translated & written in N'Ko

*[http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Nko PanAfriL10n page on N'Ko]