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| {{lead too short|date=May 2013}} | |||
| {{more footnotes|date=May 2013}} | |||
| {{Infobox Writing system | |||
| |name = N'Ko | |||
| |type = alphabet | |||
| |time = 1949 to the present | |||
| |languages = N'Ko | |||
| |creator = ] | |||
| |unicode = | |||
| |iso15924 = Nkoo | |||
| |sample = NKo-script.svg | |||
| }} | |||
| '''N'Ko''' ({{script|Nkoo|ߒߞߏ}}) is both a ] devised by ] in 1949 as a writing system for the ] of ], and the name of the ] itself written in the script. The term ''N'Ko'' means ''I say'' in all ]. | |||
| The script has a few similarities to the ], notably its direction (]) and the connected letters. It obligatorily marks both tone and vowels. | |||
| ==History== | |||
| Kante created N'Ko in response to what he felt were beliefs that Africans were a cultureless people, since prior to this time no indigenous African writing system for his language existed. N'Ko came first into use in ], ], as a ] alphabet and was disseminated from there into other Mande-speaking parts of West Africa. N'Ko Alphabet Day is April 14, relating to April 14, 1949, the date 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=0-9653308-7-7|page=1}}</ref> | |||
| The introduction of the alphabet led to a movement promoting literacy in the N'Ko alphabet among Mande speakers in both Anglophone and Francophone West Africa. N'Ko literacy was instrumental in shaping the Mandinka cultural identity in Guinea, and it has also strengthened the Mande identity in other parts of 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> | |||
| ==Current usage== | |||
| As of 2005, it is principally used in ] and ] (respectively by ] and ]-speakers), with an active user community in ] (by ]-speakers). Publications include a translation of the ], a variety of textbooks on subjects such as ] and ], poetic and philosophical works, descriptions of traditional medicine, a dictionary, and several local newspapers. 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 ''The Success-Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts'', ed. by Joshua A. Fishman and Ofelia García, pp. 23–32. New York: Oxford University Press.</ref> | |||
| The literary language used is intended as a '']'' blending elements of the principal ] (which are mutually intelligible), but has a particularly strong Maninka flavour. | |||
| The Latin script with several extended characters (phonetic additions) is used for all ] to one degree or another for historical reasons and because of its adoption for "official" transcriptions of the languages by various governments. In some cases, such as with ] in Mali, promotion of literacy using this orthography has led to a fair degree of literacy in it. ] transcription is commonly used for ] in ] and ]. | |||
| ==Letters== | |||
| The N'Ko alphabet is written from right to left, with letters being connected to one another. | |||
| ===Vowels=== | |||
| {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse: collapse;text-align:center;" | |||
| |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | |||
| ! {{IPA|ɔ}} || {{IPA|o}} || {{IPA|u}} || {{IPA|ɛ}} || {{IPA|i}} || {{IPA|e}} || {{IPA|a}} | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{script|Nko|ߐ}} || {{script|Nko|ߏ}} || {{script|Nko|ߎ}} || {{script|Nko|ߍ}} || {{script|Nko|ߌ}} || {{script|Nko|ߋ}} || {{script|Nko|ߊ}} | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || ] || ] || ] || ] || ] || ] | |||
| |} | |||
| ===Consonants=== | |||
| {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse: collapse;text-align:center;" | |||
| |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | |||
| ! r || d || ch || j || t || p || b | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{script|Nko|ߙ}} || {{script|Nko|ߘ}} || {{script|Nko|ߗ}} || {{script|Nko|ߖ}} || {{script|Nko|ߕ}} || {{script|Nko|ߔ}} || {{script|Nko|ߓ}} | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || ] || ] || ] || ] || ] || ] | |||
| |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | |||
| ! m || l || k || f || gb || s || rr | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{script|Nko|ߡ}} || {{script|Nko|ߟ}} || {{script|Nko|ߞ}} || {{script|Nko|ߝ}} || {{script|Nko|ߜ}} || {{script|Nko|ߛ}} || {{script|Nko|ߚ}} | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || ] || ] || ] || ] || ] || ] | |||
| |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | |||
| ! n' || || y || w || h || n || ny | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{script|Nko|ߒ}} || || {{script|Nko|ߦ}} || {{script|Nko|ߥ}} || {{script|Nko|ߤ}} || {{script|Nko|ߣ}} || {{script|Nko|ߢ}} | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || || ] || ] || ] || ] || ] | |||
| |} | |||
| ==N'ko and computers== | |||
| 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 N'ko on computers. From the 1990s on, there were efforts to develop fonts and even web content by adapting other software and fonts. An ] word processor called Koma Kuda was developed by Prof. ] from the University of Cairo.<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. | |||
| ] 1.18 and ] 2.20 have native support for the N'ko languages. An iOS calculator in N'ko, , is available on the Apple app store. An iOS app for sending email in N'ko is also | |||
| available: . There is a virtual keyboard named to type N'ko characters on Windows Operating System. | |||
| A N’Ko font is available for ] and Open Office’s ] program, developed by ].<ref>{{Cite news | |||
| | last = Rosenberg | |||
| | first = Tina | |||
| | title = Everyone Speaks Text Message | |||
| | work = New York Times | |||
| | accessdate = 2013-12-22 | |||
| | date = 2011-12-09 | |||
| | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/magazine/everyone-speaks-text-message.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 | |||
| }}</ref> | |||
| ===Unicode=== | |||
| {{Main|NKo (Unicode block)}} | |||
| N'Ko script was added to the ] Standard in July 2006 with the release of version 5.0. | |||
| ]'s ] supported the preparation of a proposal to encode N'Ko in ]. In 2004, the proposal, presented by three professors of N'Ko (Baba Mamadi Diané, Mamady Doumbouya, and Karamo Kaba Jammeh) working with ], was approved for balloting by the ISO working group WG2. In 2006 N'Ko was approved for Unicode 5.0. | |||
| The Unicode block for N'Ko is U+07C0–U+07FF: | |||
| {{Unicode chart NKo}} | |||
| ==The literary language== | |||
| {{infobox language | |||
| |name=N'ko | |||
| |altname=Kangbe | |||
| |region=Guinea, Mali, etc. | |||
| |speakers=none | |||
| |familycolor=mixed | |||
| |family=Manding ] | |||
| |iso2=nqo | |||
| |iso3=nqo | |||
| |glotto=spurious | |||
| |glotto2=nkoa1234 | |||
| }} | |||
| N'Ko literature is evolving into a ], based on a ] of several ]. Mande speakers switch from their own dialect to conventional N'Ko to communicate.<ref></ref> | |||
| This N'Ko is also known as ''Kangbe'' 'clear language'. For example, the word for 'name' in Bamanan is ''tɔgɔ'' and in Maninka it is ''toh''. In written communication each person will write it ''tô'' in N’Ko, and yet read and pronounce it differently. | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{Reflist}} | |||
| ===Sources=== | |||
| * (in French) | |||
| *Conrad, David C. (2001). Reconstructing Oral Tradition: Souleymane Kanté’s Approach to Writing Mande History. ''Mande Studies'' 3, 147-200. | |||
| * Dalby, David (1969) 'Further indigenous scripts of West Africa: ], ] and ] alphabets and ] 'Holy' writing', ''African Language Studies, 10, pp. 161–181. | |||
| * | |||
| * ], Mamady Doumbouya, Baba Mamadi Diané, & Karamo Jammeh. 2004. '''' | |||
| * Oyler, Dianne White (1994) ''Mande identity through literacy, the N'ko writing system as an agent of cultural nationalism''. Toronto : African Studies Association. | |||
| * Oyler, Dianne (1995). For ‘All Those Who Say N'ko’ N'ko Literacy and Mande Cultural Nationalism in the Republic of Guinea. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida. | |||
| * Oyler, Dianne White (1997) 'The N'ko alphabet as a vehicle of indigenist historiography', ''History in Africa'', 24, pp. 239–256. | |||
| * Singler, John Victor (1996) 'Scripts of West Africa', in Daniels, Peter T., & Bright, William (eds) ''The World's Writing Systems'', New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc. pp. 593–598. | |||
| * Vydrine, Valentin F. (2001) 'Souleymane Kanté, un philosophe-innovateur traditionnaliste maninka vu à travers ses écrits en nko', ''Mande Studies'', 3, pp. 99–131. | |||
| * Wyrod, Christopher. 2008. A social orthography of identity: the N’ko literacy movement in West Africa. '']'' 192:27-44. | |||
| * 12-11-2004 (UNESCO) | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| *, with more links | |||
| *, N'ko tutorial site with information on N'ko publications and contacts | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * (on localization of ICT) translated & written in N'Ko | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * (Tina Rosenberg, ''New York Times Magazine'', Dec. 11, 2011) | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
| {{list of writing systems}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:N'ko Script}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
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