African Reference Alphabet

Last updated

The African Reference Alphabet is a largely defunct continent-wide guideline for the creation of Latin alphabets for African languages. Two variants of the initial proposal (one in English and a second in French) were made at a 1978 UNESCO-organized conference held in Niamey, Niger. They were based on the results of several earlier conferences on the harmonization of established Latin alphabets of individual languages. The 1978 conference recommended the use of single letters for speech sounds rather than of letter sequences or of letters with diacritics. A substantial overhaul was proposed in 1982 but was rejected in a follow-up conference held in Niamey in 1984. Since then, continent-wide harmonization has been largely abandoned, because regional needs, practices and thus preferences differ greatly across Africa. [1]

Contents

Through the individual languages that were its basis, the African Reference Alphabet inherits from the Africa Alphabet, and like the latter uses a number of IPA letters. The Niamey conference built on the work of a previous UNESCO-organized meeting, on harmonizing the transcriptions of African languages, that was held in Bamako, Mali, in 1966.

1978 proposals

Separate versions of the conference's report were produced in English and French. Different images of the alphabet were used in the two versions, and there are a number of differences between the two.

The English version was a set of 57 letters, given in both upper-case and lower-case forms. Eight of these are formed from common Latin letters with the addition of an underline mark. Some (the uppercase letters alpha, eth ( Latin capital letter african Eth.svg ), esh, and both lower- and upper-case Latin capital letter Z with tophook.svg , Latin small letter Z with tophook.svg ) cannot be accurately represented in Unicode (as of version 15, 2023). Others do not correspond to the upper- and lower-case identities in Unicode, or (e.g. Ʒ) require character variants in the font. [2]

This version also listed eight diacritical marks (acute accent (´), grave accent (`), circumflex (ˆ), caron (ˇ), macron (¯), tilde (˜), trema (¨), and a superscript dot (˙) and nine punctuation marks (? ! ( ) « » , ; .).

The letters presented in the Annex 1 of the 1978 Niamey meeting report are slightly different from the ones presented on page 34 (page 32 in the French version) which omitted the hooktop-z but included two apostrophe-like letters (for ʔ and ʕ). Five of the letters were written with a subscript dot instead of a subscript dash as in the English version (ḍ ḥ ṣ ṭ and ẓ). The French and English sets are otherwise identical.

African Reference Alphabet, as presented on the 1978 Niamey conference Annex 1 (printed English version) African reference alphabet as presented 1978 on the Niamey meeting.png
African Reference Alphabet, as presented on the 1978 Niamey conference Annex 1 (printed English version)
African Reference Alphabet, as presented on the 1978 Niamey conference (handwritten French version) African reference alphabet as presented 1978 on the Niamey meeting (French).png
African Reference Alphabet, as presented on the 1978 Niamey conference (handwritten French version)
African Reference Alphabet, as presented on the 1978 Niamey conference (handwritten English version) African reference alphabet as presented 1978 on the Niamey meeting (English).png
African Reference Alphabet, as presented on the 1978 Niamey conference (handwritten English version)
English variant of 1978 proposal [2]
lowercaseaɑbɓcc̠dḍɖɗð
uppercase A Ɑ B Ɓ C C̠ D Ḍ Ɖ Ɗ Ꝺ
lowercaseeɛǝfƒɡɣhḥiɪ
uppercase E Ɛ Ǝ F Ғ G Ɣ H Ḥ I Ɪ
lowercasejkƙlmnŋoɔpq
uppercase J K Ƙ L M N Ŋ O Ɔ P Q
lowercaseq̠rɍss̠ʃtṭƭʈөu
uppercaseQ̠ R Ɍ S S̠ Ʃ T Ṭ Ƭ Ŧ ϴ U
lowercaseᴜvʋwxx̠yƴzẓ Latin small letter Z with tophook.svg ʒ
uppercase Ʊ V Ʋ W X X̠ Y Ƴ Z Ẓ Latin capital letter Z with tophook.svg Ʃ

Notes:

Rejected 1982 proposal

Linearized tilde Linearized tilde.svg
Linearized tilde

A proposed revision of the alphabet was made in 1982 by Michael Mann and David Dalby, who had attended the Niamey conference. It has 60 letters. Digraphs are retained only for vowel length and geminate consonants, and even there they suggest replacements. A key feature of this proposal is that, like the French proposal of 1978, it consists of only lower-case letters, making it unicase. It did not meet with acceptance at the follow-up Niamey meeting in 1984. [6]

African Reference Alphabet (revised version 1982) as proposed by Michael Mann and David Dalby African reference alphabet from 1982 according to Mann and Dalby 1987 (2).png
African Reference Alphabet (revised version 1982) as proposed by Michael Mann and David Dalby
Mann & Dalby's revised African Reference Alphabet [7]
a ɑ ʌ b ɓ c ꞇ ç d ɗ ɖ ꝺ e ɛ ǝ
f ƒ g ɠ ɣ h ɦ i ɩ j ɟ k ƙ l λ
m Latin letter Linearized tilde (Mann-Dalby form).svg n ŋ ɲ o ɔ p ƥ q r ɽ s ʃ t
ƭ ʈ θ u ω v ʋ w x y ƴ z ʒ ƹ ʔ

The 32nd letter " Latin letter Linearized tilde (Mann-Dalby form).svg " is called linearized tilde . [8] It is not specifically supported in Unicode (as of version 15, 2023), but can be represented by ⟨ ɴ ⟩ or ⟨ ∿ ⟩. ⟨ ƒ ⟩ and ⟨ ʃ ⟩ are written without ascenders (thus esh is a mirror of ⟨ʅ ⟩; ⟨ƴ⟩ is written with a right-hooking tail, like the retroflex letters in the IPA; and ⟨ɩ⟩ has a top hook to the left, like a squashed ⟨ʅ ⟩.

Because no language has all the consonants, the consonant letters are used for more than one potential value. They can be reassigned when there are conflicts. For instance, ɦ may be a voiceless pharyngeal, a voiced glottal fricative, or even (in the Khoekhoe table) an alveolar nasal click to avoid the digraph ɖɴ.

Consonant chart (1982) [7]
bilabiallabio-
dental		labio-
velar		dentalalveolarlateralpost-
alveolar/
retroflex		alveo-
palatal		palatalvelaruvularpharyn-
geal		glottal
nasalmɴnɴɲŋ
plosivep bƥ ɓt dʈ ɖc jk gqʔ
implosiveɓɗƴɠ
ejective/
aspirate		ƥƭꞇƙ
tenuis clickωʈɖλç
delayed aspiration clickωωʈʈ, λ[ sic ]ɖɖ, ɽλλ, qçç, ɟ
glottalized clickωʔʈʔ, ƭɖʔ, ɗλʔ, ɣçʔ, ƴ
aspirated clickωhʈh, θɖh, ꝺλh, ƹçh, ꞇ
nasal clickωɴʈɴ, ɴɖɴ, ɦλɴ, ŋçɴ, ɲ
affricatec j
fricativeƒ ʋf vθ ꝺs zθ ꝺʃ ʒç ɟx ɣɦ ƹh ɦ
trill/flaprɽɽ
approximantʋwlλy

Where ⟨ƥ ɓ⟩ are needed for both values, ⟨ƙ ɠ⟩ might be chosen for the labiovelar plosives.

Where dentals contrast with alveolars, ⟨ƭ ɗ ɴ⟩ might be chosen for the dentals.

Where there are aspirated plosives but not voiced, the pinyin solution might be chosen of using voiced letters (e.g. b) for tenuis and the voiceless letter (e.g. p) for the aspirate.

Additional affricates should be written with unused letters, or with digraphs in y or w where there is morphophonemic justification.

Where ⟨θ ꝺ⟩ are needed for both values, the lateral fricatives might be written ⟨λ ɽ⟩.

Where velar and uvular fricatives contrast, ⟨ɦ ɽ⟩ might be chosen for the uvulars.

Where ⟨ʋ⟩ is needed for both values, ⟨ω⟩ might be chosen for the approximant.

The click letters are combined with ɴ (before or after) for nasal clicks, followed by g for voiced, and followed by h for aspirated.

Vowel chart (1982) [7]
frontcentralback
closeiɩu
close-mideωo
open-midɛəɔ
openaʌɑ

Remaining diacritics should be replaced by linearized equivalents. For the tone diacritics are proposed baseline-aligned ⟨´ ` ⌟ ⌝⟩ (not supported by Unicode).

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diacritic</span> Modifier mark added to a letter

A diacritic is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek διακριτικός, from διακρίνω. The word diacritic is a noun, though it is sometimes used in an attributive sense, whereas diacritical is only an adjective. Some diacritics, such as the acute ⟨ó⟩, grave ⟨ò⟩, and circumflex ⟨ô⟩, are often called accents. Diacritics may appear above or below a letter or in some other position such as within the letter or between two letters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H</span> 8th letter of the Latin alphabet

H, or h, is the eighth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, including the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is aitch, or regionally haitch, plural haitches.

A caronKARR-ən. or háček, is a diacritic mark placed over certain letters in the orthography of some languages, to indicate a change of the related letter's pronunciation. Typographers tend to use the term caron, while linguists prefer the Czech word háček.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pharyngealization</span> Articulation of consonants or vowels

Pharyngealization is a secondary articulation of consonants or vowels by which the pharynx or epiglottis is constricted during the articulation of the sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digraph (orthography)</span> Pair of characters used to write one phoneme

A digraph or digram is a pair of characters used in the orthography of a language to write either a single phoneme, or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond to the normal values of the two characters combined.

The Dinka alphabet is used by South Sudanese Dinka people. The written Dinka language is based on the ISO basic Latin alphabet, but with some added letters adapted from the International Phonetic Alphabet. The current orthography is derived from the alphabet developed for the southern Sudanese languages at the Rejaf language conference in 1928. Prior to this, several attempts at adapting the Arabic and Latin scripts to the Dinka language were made, but neither effort was met with large success. Christian missionaries were essential to the development of what became the Dinka alphabet.

The Guarani alphabet (achegety) is used to write the Guarani language, spoken mostly in Paraguay and nearby countries. It consists of 33 letters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C</span> 3rd letter of the Latin alphabet

C, or c, is the third letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is cee, plural cees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parkari Koli language</span> Indo-Aryan language spoken in Pakistan

The Parkari Koli language is an Indo-Aryan language mainly spoken in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is spoken in the southeast tip bordering India, in the Tharparkar District, Nagarparkar. Most of the lower Thar Desert, west as far as Indus River, bordered north and west by Hyderabad, to south and west of Badin.

The Fula language is written primarily in the Latin script, but in some areas is still written in an older Arabic script called the Ajami script or in the recently invented Adlam script.

Greek orthography has used a variety of diacritics starting in the Hellenistic period. The more complex polytonic orthography, which includes five diacritics, notates Ancient Greek phonology. The simpler monotonic orthography, introduced in 1982, corresponds to Modern Greek phonology, and requires only two diacritics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages</span>

The General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages is an orthographic system created in the late 1970s for all Cameroonian languages. Consonant and vowel letters are not to contain diacritics, though ⟨ẅ⟩ is a temporary exception. The alphabet is not used sufficiently for the one unique letter, a bilabial trill, to have been added to Unicode; in any case, that letter has now been replaced.

The Osage script is a new script promulgated in 2006 and revised 2012–2014 for the Osage language. Because Latin orthographies were subject to interference from English conventions among Osage students who were more familiar with English than with Osage, in 2006 the director of the Osage Language Program, Herman Mongrain Lookout, decided to create a distinct script by modifying or fusing Latin letters. This Osage script has been in regular use on the Osage Nation ever since.

The goal of braille uniformity is to unify the braille alphabets of the world as much as possible, so that literacy in one braille alphabet readily transfers to another. Unification was first achieved by a convention of the International Congress on Work for the Blind in 1878, where it was decided to replace the mutually incompatible national conventions of the time with the French values of the basic Latin alphabet, both for languages that use Latin-based alphabets and, through their Latin equivalents, for languages that use other scripts. However, the unification did not address letters beyond these 26, leaving French and German Braille partially incompatible and as braille spread to new languages with new needs, national conventions again became disparate. A second round of unification was undertaken under the auspices of UNESCO in 1951, setting the foundation for international braille usage today.

ISO 11940-2 is an ISO standard for a transliteration system of the Thai language into Latin characters.

The Hanifi Rohingya script is a unified script for the Rohingya language. Rohingya today is written in three scripts, Hanifi, Arabic, and Latin (Rohingyalish). The Rohingya language was first written in the 19th century with a version of the Perso-Arabic script. In 1975, an orthographic Arabic script was developed and approved by the community leaders, based on the Urdu alphabet but with unique innovations to make the script suitable to Rohingya.

The Sunuwar alphabet is an alphabet developed by Krishna Bahadur Jentich in 1942, to write the Sunwar language, a member of the Kiranti language family spoken in Eastern Nepal, as in Sikkim. It is recognised in Sikkim and used as an official writing system. The alphabet has 33 letters, 10 numerals and 1 'auspicious sign'.

References

  1. ↑ Karan & Roberts (2020: 925) Orthography standardization. In Dimmendaal & Vossen (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of African Languages.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Presentation of the "African Reference Alphabet" (in 4 images) from the Niamey 1978 meeting". www.bisharat.net. Retrieved 2013-05-10.
  3. ↑ African languages: proceedings of the meeting of experts on the transcription and harmonization of African languages, Niamey (Niger), 17-21 July 1978. Unesco. 1981.
  4. 1 2 Langues africaines : documents de la réunion d’experts sur la transcription et l’harmonisation des langues africaines, Niamey (Niger), 17-21 juillet 1978. Unesco. 1981.
  5. 1 2 3 "Niamey 1978 report". www.bisharat.net. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  6. ↑ P. Baker (1997: 115) Developing ways of writing vernaculars, in Tabouret-Keller et al. (eds.) Vernacular Literacy. Clarendon and Oxford Press.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Michael Mann & David Dalby 1987 [2017] A Thesaurus of African Languages: A Classified and Annotated Inventory of the Spoken Languages of Africa With an Appendix on Their Written Representation. London, ISBN   0-905450-24-8, p. 207
  8. ↑ Mann, Michael; Dalby, David: A Thesaurus of African Languages, London 1987, ISBN   0-905450-24-8, p. 210

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.