| N'Ko, Nko ߒߞߏ | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Script type | |
| Creator | Solomana Kanté |
Period | 1949–present |
| Direction | Right-to-left script  |
| Languages | N'Ko,Manding languages (Mandingo,Maninka, Bambara,Dyula) |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Nkoo(165), N’Ko |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | NKo |
| U+07C0–U+07FF | |
| This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. | |
N'Ko (ߒߞߏ), also spelledNko,[1] is analphabetic script devised bySolomana Kanté in 1949, as a modernwriting system for theManding languages of West Africa.[2][3] The termNko, which meansI say in all Manding languages, is also used for theManding literary standard written in the Nko script.
The script has a few similarities to theArabic script, notably its direction (right-to-left) and the letters that are connected at the base. Unlike Arabic, it is obligatory to mark bothtone andvowels. Nko tones are marked asdiacritics.
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 inAjami script, which was not perfectly suited to thetones unique to Mandé and common to otherWest African languages. An anecdote popular with N'Ko proponents is that Kanté was particularly challenged to create the distinct system when, while inBouake, he found a book byKamel Mrowa who dismissed African languages as “like those of the birds, impossible to transcribe”[4] despite said Ajami history.[5] Kanté then devised N’Ko while he was inBingerville,Côte d'Ivoire and later brought it to his nativeKankan,Guinea.[6]
N’Ko began to be used in many educational books, and the script is believed to have been finalized[7] on April 14, 1949 – a date now celebrated as N’Ko Alphabet Day.[8] Kanté initially used the system to transcribe religious, scientific, and philosophical literature, and even a dictionary.[9] These texts were then distributed as gifts across the Manding-speaking parts of West Africa. The script received its first dedicatedtypewriter fromEastern Europe asGuinea had ties to theSoviet Union in the 1950s.[10]
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.[11]
On June 27, 2024, theN’Ko literary standard was added toGoogle Translate.[12][13]
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As of 2005, it was used mainly inGuinea and theIvory Coast (respectively byManinka andDyula speakers), with an active user community inMali (byBambara speakers). Publications include a translation of theQuran, a variety of textbooks on subjects such asphysics andgeography, poetic and philosophical works, descriptions of traditional medicine, a dictionary, and several local newspapers. Though taught mostly informally through Nko literacy promotion associations, Nko has also been introduced more recently into formal education through private primary schools in Upper Guinea.[14] It has been classed as the most successful of the West African scripts.[15]
Nko literature generally uses aliterary language register, termedkangbe (literally, 'clear language'), that is seen as a potentialcompromise dialect acrossMandé languages.[16] For example, the word for 'name' in Bamanan istɔgɔ and in Maninka it istɔɔ. Nko 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 akoiné language blending elements of the principalManding languages, which aremutually intelligible, but has a very strong Maninka influence.
There has also been documented use of Nko, with additional diacritics, for traditional religious publications in theYoruba andFon languages ofBenin and southwesternNigeria.[17]
The Nko script is written from right to left, with letters being connected to one another.
| ɔ | o | u | ɛ | i | e | a |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ߐ | ߏ | ߎ | ߍ | ߌ | ߋ | ߊ |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| r | t | d | t͡ʃ | d͡ʒ | p | b |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ߙ | ߕ | ߘ | ߗ | ߖ | ߔ | ߓ |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| m | ɡ͡b | l | k | f | s | rr |
| ߡ | ߜ | ߟ | ߞ | ߝ | ߛ | ߚ |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| ŋ | h | j | w | n | ɲ | |
| ߒ | ߤ | ߦ | ߥ | ߣ | ߢ | |
 |  |  |  |  |  |
Nko uses sevendiacritical marks to denotetonality andvowel length. Together with plain vowels, Nko 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.[18]
| high | low | rising | falling | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | ߫ | ߬ | ߭ | |
| long | ߯ | ߰ | ߱ | ߮ |
Nko also provides a way of representing non-native sounds through the modification of its letters with diacritics.[19][20] These letters are used in transliterated names and loanwords.
Two dots above a vowel, resembling a diaeresis or umlaut mark, represent a foreign vowel: u-two-dots for the French/y/ sound, or e-two-dots for the French/ə/.
Diacritics are also placed above some consonant letters to cover sounds not found in Mandé, such as gb-dot for/ɡ/; gb-line for/ɣ/; gb-two-dots for/k͡p/; f-dot for/v/; rr-dot for/ʁ/; etc.
Nko numerals usepositional notation. Unlike bothWestern andEastern Arabic numerals, digits decrease in significance from right to left.[21]
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ߀ | ߁ | ߂ | ߃ | ߄ | ߅ | ߆ | ߇ | ߈ | ߉ |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
A low hyphen is used for compound words and the ASCII hyphen⟨-⟩ is used for splitting words at line breaks. There is no distinct computer character for the low hyphen; Unicode recommends using thenon-breaking hyphen for that purpose.
Arabic punctuation marks used in Nko text include:
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 Nko script on computers. From the 1990s onwards, there were efforts to develop fonts and even web content by adapting other software and fonts. A word processor forMS-DOS, Koma Kuda, was developed by Prof. Baba Mamadi Diané fromCairo University.[22] The lack of intercompatibility inherent in such solutions was a block to further development.
There is also aNko version of Wikipedia in existence since 26 November 2019, it contains 1,581 articles, with 12,662 edits and 5,485 users.[23]
The Nko script was added to theUnicode 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"[24] and the Unicode block name is "NKo" (because the apostrophe is not allowed in block names).[25]
UNESCO's Programme Initiative B@bel supported preparing a proposal to encode Nko inUnicode. In 2004, the proposal, presented by three professors of Nko (Baba Mamadi Diané, Mamady Doumbouya, and Karamo Kaba Jammeh) working withMichael Everson, was approved for balloting by the ISO working group WG2. In 2006, Nko was approved for Unicode 5.0. The Unicode block for Nko is U+07C0–U+07FF:
| NKo[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+07Cx | ߀ | ߁ | ߂ | ߃ | ߄ | ߅ | ߆ | ߇ | ߈ | ߉ | ߊ | ߋ | ߌ | ߍ | ߎ | ߏ |
| U+07Dx | ߐ | ߑ | ߒ | ߓ | ߔ | ߕ | ߖ | ߗ | ߘ | ߙ | ߚ | ߛ | ߜ | ߝ | ߞ | ߟ |
| U+07Ex | ߠ | ߡ | ߢ | ߣ | ߤ | ߥ | ߦ | ߧ | ߨ | ߩ | ߪ | ߫ | ߬ | ߭ | ߮ | ߯ |
| U+07Fx | ߰ | ߱ | ߲ | ߳ | ߴ | ߵ | ߶ | ߷ | ߸ | ߹ | ߺ | ߽ | ߾ | ߿ | ||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
Also spelled N'Ko, but speakers prefer the name Nko.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)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.
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)....
When applied to a vowel, U+07F2 NKO COMBINING NASALIZATION MARK indicates the nasalization of that vowel.
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 "NKO".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)The Bambara, like other West African peoples, use the distinctive N'ko alphabet, which reads from right to left.
