Mende Kikakui script

Last updated
Mende Kikakui
Ki-ka-ku.svg
Script type
CreatorMohamed Turay
Period
1917 — present
Direction Right-to-left script   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Languages Mende
ISO 15924
ISO 15924 Mend(438),Mende Kikakui
Unicode
Unicode alias
Mende Kikakui
U+1E800U+1E8DF
Final Accepted Script Proposal
"Meende yia" in Mende script Kikakui (read from right to left) Mende-yi-a.png
"Mɛɛnde yia" in Mende script Kikakui (read from right to left)

The Mende Kikakui script is a syllabary used for writing the Mende language of Sierra Leone.

Contents

History

The script was devised by Mohamed Turay (ca. 1850-1923), an Islamic scholar, at a town called Maka (Barri Chiefdom, southern Sierra Leone) around 1917. His writing system, an abugida called 'Kikakui' after the first three consonant sounds, was inspired by the Arabic abjad, the Vai syllabary and certain indigenous Mende pictograms and cryptographic characters. It originally had around 42 characters. [1]

One of Turay's Quranic students, as well as his nephew and son-in-law, was a young Kuranko man named Kisimi Kamara. He adjusted and developed the script further with help from his brothers, adding more than 150 other syllabic characters. Kamara popularized the script, travelling widely in Mendeland and becoming a well-known figure, eventually establishing himself as one of the most important chiefs in southern Sierra Leone in the mid 20th century. He is sometimes erroneously cited as the inventor of Kikakui. [2]

The script achieved widespread use for a time, particularly for financial and legal documents. [3] The colonial authorities' choice in the 1930s to use Diedrich Hermann Westermann's Africa Alphabet, based on the Latin script, for writing local languages pushed Kikakui into the background. [1] It is now considered a "failed script". [4]

Kikakui is still used today by an estimated few hundred individuals. [1]

Usage

Methodist missionaries in Sierra Leone considered using Kikakui to transliterate the Bible, but ultimately selected the Africa Alphabet due to the supposed efficiency and ease of writing of an alphabet. Experience, however, proved that a syllabary such as Kikakui was better suited for teaching and learning languages such as Mende that have an 'open syllable' or consonant-vowel (CV) structure. [5]

The script was originally used by specialists who served as record-keepers for the courts and benefited from having a monopoly in its usage. This created resistance to foreign missionaries' attempt to use Kikakui as a language for general instruction and made it seem too 'secret' for local Christians' efforts to promulgate the Bible in a widely understood script, so its usage in a Christian context dwindled. The script is, however, still used for transcribing passages of the Quran. [6]

Characters

There were an original 42 syllabic characters that were ordered according to sound and shape, while 150 more characters were later added without the same consistency to the character set. Some of the initial 42 characters resemble an abugida, given the standard ability for a reader to discern the vowels from seeing the character, as indicated by dots in consistent locations, but such uniformity vanishes in the remaining 150 characters. Glyphic variants have been found for certain characters.

Additionally, digits are encoded by indicating the place value on each digit for a number, with the units digit alone having no special indication. Beyond the 10s digit, the further digits are written on top of the base place value indicator, which increases in vertical lines from 2 at the 100s place (indicating 2*10 + the digit above) to the millionths digit that is encoded (which has 6). All of the different possible digits are encoded separately.

Unicode

Mende Kikakui script was added to the Unicode Standard in June 2014 with the release of version 7.0.

The Unicode block for Mende Kikakui is U+1E800U+1E8DF:

Mende Kikakui [1] [2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+1E80x𞠀𞠁𞠂𞠃𞠄𞠅𞠆𞠇𞠈𞠉𞠊𞠋𞠌𞠍𞠎𞠏
U+1E81x𞠐𞠑𞠒𞠓𞠔𞠕𞠖𞠗𞠘𞠙𞠚𞠛𞠜𞠝𞠞𞠟
U+1E82x𞠠𞠡𞠢𞠣𞠤𞠥𞠦𞠧𞠨𞠩𞠪𞠫𞠬𞠭𞠮𞠯
U+1E83x𞠰𞠱𞠲𞠳𞠴𞠵𞠶𞠷𞠸𞠹𞠺𞠻𞠼𞠽𞠾𞠿
U+1E84x𞡀𞡁𞡂𞡃𞡄𞡅𞡆𞡇𞡈𞡉𞡊𞡋𞡌𞡍𞡎𞡏
U+1E85x𞡐𞡑𞡒𞡓𞡔𞡕𞡖𞡗𞡘𞡙𞡚𞡛𞡜𞡝𞡞𞡟
U+1E86x𞡠𞡡𞡢𞡣𞡤𞡥𞡦𞡧𞡨𞡩𞡪𞡫𞡬𞡭𞡮𞡯
U+1E87x𞡰𞡱𞡲𞡳𞡴𞡵𞡶𞡷𞡸𞡹𞡺𞡻𞡼𞡽𞡾𞡿
U+1E88x𞢀𞢁𞢂𞢃𞢄𞢅𞢆𞢇𞢈𞢉𞢊𞢋𞢌𞢍𞢎𞢏
U+1E89x𞢐𞢑𞢒𞢓𞢔𞢕𞢖𞢗𞢘𞢙𞢚𞢛𞢜𞢝𞢞𞢟
U+1E8Ax𞢠𞢡𞢢𞢣𞢤𞢥𞢦𞢧𞢨𞢩𞢪𞢫𞢬𞢭𞢮𞢯
U+1E8Bx𞢰𞢱𞢲𞢳𞢴𞢵𞢶𞢷𞢸𞢹𞢺𞢻𞢼𞢽𞢾𞢿
U+1E8Cx𞣀𞣁𞣂𞣃𞣄𞣇𞣈𞣉𞣊𞣋𞣌𞣍𞣎𞣏
U+1E8Dx𞣐𞣑𞣒𞣓𞣔𞣕𞣖
Notes
1. ^ As of Unicode version 17.0
2. ^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

References

  1. 1 2 3 Everson & Tuchscherer 2012.
  2. Tuchscherer 1995, p. 170.
  3. Tuchscherer 1995, p. 175.
  4. 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.
  5. Tuchscherer 1995, p. 183.
  6. Tuchscherer 1995, p. 185.

Sources