Vai font
The Vai script is the script with which the West African Vai people , who speak the Mandingo dialect Vai , recorded their language.
history
The Vai script consists of 226 characters (vowels and syllables) and was first described in 1849 by the missionary SW Koelle .
The origin of this syllabary is unclear. Local sources reported that the Vai script was invented between 1829 and 1839. Its inventor was probably the Liberian Momolu Duwalu Bukele . Others consider influencing the Cherokee syllabary , which was also quite new at the time , according to which members of the Cherokee people who emigrated to Liberia may have been involved in the development and rapid spread of the Vai script.
In 1981 about 20% of the male Vai population could read and write their language in the Vai script, while 16% had some level of proficiency in reading and writing Arabic (particularly, but not exclusively, reading the Koran ) and about 6% could read and write in the English language .
Transcription
The conversion of the Vai script into Latin letters is not uniform: While the Unicode block Vai uses transcription in ASCII characters, there are various transcriptions in the field of linguistics that are more or less based on the African alphabet . Here are some examples from the websites below:
| syllable | Unicode | SIL | Omniglot |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
mbee | mbe | mɓe |
 |
dhoo | do | do |
 |
doo | dlo | ɖo |
 |
ndo | ndɔ | noh |
 |
co | chɔ | coh |
 |
ngge | ŋgɛ | jgeh |
 |
nggen | ŋgɛ̃ | - |
Syllable table
The following table shows the standard syllabar from 1962 with additions by Momolu Massaquoi from 1911 and several characters for foreign vowels:
| e | i | a | O | u | ɔ | ɛ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | ꔀ | ꔤ | ꕉ | ꕱ | ꖕ | ꖺ | ꗡ |
| - | ꔁ | ꔥ | ꕊ | ꕲ | ꖖ | ꖻ | ꗢ |
| ŋ ‑ ̃ | ꕋ | ꖼ | ꗣ | ||||
| H- | ꔂ | ꔦ | ꕌ | ꕳ | ꖗ | ꖽ | ꗤ |
| H | ꔧ | ꕍ | ꖘ | ꖾ | ꗥ | ||
| w- | ꔃ | ꔨ | ꕎ | ꕴ | ꖙ | ꖿ | ꗦ |
| w ‑ ̃ | ꔄ | ꔩ | ꕏ | ꕵ | ꖚ | ꗀ | ꗧ |
| p- | ꔅ | ꔪ | ꕐ | ꕶ | ꖛ | ꗁ | ꗨ |
| b- | ꔆ | ꔫ | ꕑ | ꕷ | ꖜ | ꗂ | ꗩ |
| ɓ- | ꔇ | ꔬ | ꕒ | ꕸ | ꖝ | ꗃ | ꗪ |
| mɓ- | ꔈ | ꔭ | ꕓ | ꕹ | ꖞ | ꗄ | ꗫ |
| kp- | ꔉ | ꔮ | ꕔ | ꕺ | ꖟ | ꗅ | ꗬ |
| kp ‑ ̃ | ꕕ | ꗭ | |||||
| mgb- | ꔊ | ꔯ | ꕖ | ꕻ | ꖠ | ꗆ | ꗮ |
| gb- | ꔋ | ꔰ | ꕗ | ꕼ | ꖡ | ꗇ | ꗯ |
| gb ‑ ̃ | ꗈ | ꗰ | |||||
| f- | ꔌ | ꔱ | ꕘ | ꕽ | ꖢ | ꗉ | ꗱ |
| v- | ꔍ | ꔲ | ꕙ | ꕾ | ꖣ | ꗊ | ꗲ |
| t- | ꔎ | ꔳ | ꕚ | ꕿ | ꖤ | ꗋ | ꗳ |
| θ- | ꔏ | ꔴ | ꕛ | ꖀ | ꖥ | ꗌ | ꗴ |
| d- | ꔐ | ꔵ | ꕜ | ꖁ | ꖦ | ꗍ | ꗵ |
| ð- | ꔑ | ꔶ | ꕝ | ꖂ | ꖧ | ꗎ | ꗶ |
| l- | ꔒ | ꔷ | ꕞ | ꖃ | ꖨ | ꗏ | ꗷ |
| r- | ꔓ | ꔸ | ꕟ | ꖄ | ꖩ | ꗐ | ꗸ |
| ɗ- | ꔔ | ꔹ | ꕠ | ꖅ | ꖪ | ꗑ | ꗹ |
| nɗ- | ꔕ | ꔺ | ꕡ | ꖆ | ꖫ | ꗒ | ꗺ |
| s- | ꔖ | ꔻ | ꕢ | ꖇ | ꖬ | ꗓ | ꗻ |
| ʃ- | ꔗ | ꔼ | ꕣ | ꖈ | ꖭ | ꗔ | ꗼ |
| z- | ꔘ | ꔽ | ꕤ | ꖉ | ꖮ | ꗕ | ꗽ |
| ʒ- | ꔙ | ꔾ | ꕥ | ꖊ | ꖯ | ꗖ | ꗾ |
| tʃ- | ꔚ | ꔿ | ꕦ | ꖋ | ꖰ | ꗗ | ꗿ |
| dʒ- | ꔛ | ꕀ | ꕧ | ꖌ | ꖱ | ꗘ | ꘀ |
| ndʒ- | ꔜ | ꕁ | ꕨ | ꖍ | ꖲ | ꗙ | ꘁ |
| j- | ꔝ | ꕂ | ꕩ | ꖎ | ꖳ | ꗚ | ꘂ |
| k- | ꔞ | ꕃ | ꕪ | ꖏ | ꖴ | ꗛ | ꘃ |
| k ‑ ̃ | ꕫ | ||||||
| ŋg- | ꔟ | ꕄ | ꕬ | ꖐ | ꖵ | ꗜ | ꘄ |
| ŋg ‑ ̃ | ꘅ | ||||||
| G- | ꔠ | ꕅ | ꕭ | ꖑ | ꖶ | ꗝ | ꘆ |
| G | ꘇ | ||||||
| m- | ꔡ | ꕆ | ꕮ | ꖒ | ꖷ | ꗞ | ꘈ |
| n- | ꔢ | ꕇ | ꕯ | ꖓ | ꖸ | ꗟ | ꘉ |
| ɲ- | ꔣ | ꕈ | ꕰ | ꖔ | ꖹ | ꗠ | ꘊ |
| e | i | a | O | u | ɔ | ɛ | |
- denotes nasals.
Logograms
The oldest Vai texts contained various logograms , of which only ꘓ and ꘘ are still in use.
| Logogram | word | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ꘓ | feŋ | thing |
| ꘔ | keŋ ( ꔞꘋ ) | foot |
| ꘕ | tiŋ ( ꔳꘋ ) | island |
| ꘖ | nii, kpɛ kɔwu | cow |
| ꘗ | ɓaŋ | completed |
| ꘘ | faa ( ꕘꕌ ) | die, kill |
| ꘙ | taa ( ꕚꕌ ) | go, carry, travel |
| ꘚ | ɖaŋ ( ꕠꘋ ) | hear, understand |
| ꘛ | ɖoŋ ( ꖅꘋ ) | enter |
| ꘜ | kuŋ ( ꖴꘋ ) | Head to be able to |
| ꘝ | tɔŋ (ꗋꘋ) | are called |
| ꘞ | ɖɔɔ (ꗑꖽ) | be small |
| ꘟ | jɔŋ (ꗘꘋ) | slave |
| ꔔ | ɖeŋ | Child, small |
| ꕪ | kai | human |
| ꗑ | lɔ | in |
Numeral
Vai uses the Arabic numerals (0–9). Numbers of their own were designed in the 1920s, but they were never used.
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ꘠ | ꘡ | ꘢ | ꘣ | ꘤ | ꘥ | ꘦ | ꘧ | ꘨ | ꘩ |
literature
- Saki Mafundikwa: Afrikan Alphabets: The Story of Writing in Africa. Mark Batty Publisher, West New York 2006, ISBN 0-9772827-6-7 .
Web links
- Vai font on Omniglot.com (English)
- Vai script at SIL International (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Konrad Tuchscherer, PEH Hair: Cherokee and West Africa: Examining the Origins of the Vai script. In: History in Africa. (29) 2002, pp. 427-486.
- ↑ Michael Cole, Sylbia Scribner: The psychology of literacy. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1981, ISBN 0-674-72115-2 .
- ↑ Michael Cole: Psicología cultural: una disciplina del pasado y del futuro. SL Ediciones Morata, 2003, ISBN 84-7112-430-0 . (en Google Books )
- ↑ a b ISO / IEC JTC1 / SC2 / WG2 N2948R: Proposal to add the Vai script to the BMP of the UCS. Retrieved February 22, 2012 .
- ↑ a b ISO / IEC JTC1 / SC2 / WG2 N3081R: Proposal for addition of Vai characters to the UCS. Retrieved February 22, 2012 .