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| Afaka | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Script type | Syllabary |
| Creator | Afáka Atumisi |
Period | Invented 1910 |
| Direction | Varies |
| Languages | Ndyuka |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Afak(439), Afaka |
TheAfaka script (afaka sikifi) is asyllabary of 56 letters devised in 1910 for theNdyuka language, an English-basedcreole ofSuriname. The script is named after its inventor, Afáka Atumisi. It continues to be used to write Ndyuka in the 21st century, but the literacy rate in the language for all scripts is under 10%.[citation needed]
Afaka is the only script in use that was designed specifically for a creole.
Afaka is adefective script.Tone isphonemic but not written. Final consonants (the nasal [n]) are not written, but long vowels are, by adding a vowel letter.Prenasalized stops andvoiced stops are written with the same letters, and syllables with the vowels [u] and [o] are seldom distinguished: The syllables [o]/[u], [po]/[pu], and [to]/[tu] have separate letters, but syllables starting with the consonants [b, d, dy, f, g, l, m, n, s, y] do not. Thus the Afaka rendition ofNdyuka could also be read asDyoka. In four cases syllables with [e] and [i] are not distinguished (after the consonants [l, m, s, w]); a single letter is used for both [ba] and [pa], and another for both [u] and [ku]. Several consonants have only one glyph assigned to them. These are [ty], which only has a glyph for [tya]; [kw] (also [kp]), which only has [kwa ~ kpa]; [ny], which only has [nya] (though older records report that letter pulled double duty for [nyu]); and [dy], which only has [dyu/dyo]. There are no glyphs assigned specifically to the consonant [gw] ~ [gb]. The result of these conflations is that the only syllables for which there is no ambiguity (except for tone) are those beginning with the consonant [t].
There is a single punctuation mark, thepipe or|, which corresponds to acomma or aperiod. Afaka initially usedspaces between words, but not all writers have continued to do so.
The origins of many of the letters are obscure, though several appear to beacrophonicrebuses, with many of these being symbols from Africa.[1] Examples of rebuses include a curl with a dot in it representing ababy in thebelly (in Ndyuka,a abi beli, lit. "she has belly", means "she's pregnant"), which stands for [be]; two hands outstretched togive (Ndyukagi) stand for [gi]; iconic symbols forcome (Ndyukakon) andgo to represent [ko] or [kon] and [go]; two linked circles forwe stand for [wi], while [yu] is an inversion of [mi], corresponding to the pronounsyou andme; letters like Roman numeralstwo andfour are [tu] and [fo]. (which would be like writing "2 4get" for 'to forget' in English.) [ka] and [pi] are said to represent feces (Ndyukakaka) and urine (pisi). A "+" sign stands for [ne] or [nen], from the wordname (Ndyukanen), derived from the practice of signing one's name with anX. The odd conflation of [u] and [ku] is due to the letter being a pair of hooks, which isuku in Ndyuka.[2] The only letters which appear to correspond to theLatin alphabet are the vowelsa,o, and maybee, thougho is justified as the shape of the mouth when pronouncing it.[3]
Texts in Afaka's own hand show significant variation in the letters. A good number are rotated a quarter turn, and sometimes inverted as well; these arebe,di,dyo,fi,ga,ge,ye,ni,nya,pu,se,so,te, andtu, whilelo,ba/pa, andwa may be in mirror-image andsa,to may be simply inverted.Others have curved vs angular variants:do,fa,ge,go,ko, andkwa. In yet others, the variants appear to reflect differences in stroke order.
The traditional mnemonic order (alphabetic order) may partially reflect the origins of some of the signs. For example,tu andfo ("two" and "four", respectively),yu andmi ("you" and "me"), andko andgo ("come" and "go") are placed near each other. Other syllables are placed near each other to spell out words:futu ("foot"),odi ("hello"), andati ("heart"), or even phrases:a moke un taki ("it gives us speech"),masa gado te baka ben ye ("Lord God, that the white/black(?) man heard").
The Afaka script has been proposed for inclusion in theUnicode Standard.[4] The codepoints U+16C80 through U+16CCF have been tentatively designated for the script.[5]
This is apparently the first letter written by Afaka. It was copied into thePatili Molosi Bukuc. 1917.
 | kee mi gadu. mi masaa. mi bigin na ini a wowtu [⟨ulotu⟩]. fu a pampila di yu be gi afaka. ma mi de |
Oh my God, my Lord, I start with the words on the paper that you've given Afaka. But I'm deathly ill. How can I say it? I went toParamaribo, Lands Hospital, two times. Because I have no money, they chased me away. They say I must first earn money [before] I go to the Hospital. Therefore I pray to the Lord God that he will give me a hand with the medicine for my illness. But I will talk to Abena. He will bring this to the Priest of the Ndyuka. So as the Father says it is good for us. But I have pain in my head. All my nose is rotting from the inside. So I have no rest, I tell you.