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The writing systems of Africa refer to the current and historical practice of writing systems on the African continent, both indigenous and those introduced.In many African societies, history generally used to be recorded orally despite most societies having developed a writing script, leading to them being termed "oral civilisations" in contrast to "literate civilisations".
Barkerville Jail Text, written in pencil on a board in the then recently created Carrier syllabics: Although the first known text by native speakers dates to 1885, the first record of the language is a list of words recorded in 1793 by Alexander MacKenzie. 1885: Motu: grammar by W.G. Lawes: 1886: Guugu Yimidhirr
The Vai syllabary is a syllabic writing system devised for the Vai language by Momolu Duwalu Bukele of Jondu, in what is now Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia. [1] [2] [3] Bukele is regarded within the Vai community, as well as by most scholars, as the syllabary's inventor and chief promoter when it was first documented in the 1830s.
Old Nubian is one of the oldest written African languages and appears to have been adopted from the 10th–11th century as the main language for the civil and religious administration of Makuria. Besides Old Nubian, Koine Greek was widely used, especially in religious contexts, while Coptic mainly predominates in funerary inscriptions. [ 2 ]
The latter writing system was widely used in antiquity by speakers of the largely undeciphered Numidian language, also called Old Libyan, throughout Africa and on the Canary Islands. The script's origin is uncertain, with some scholars suggesting it is related to, descended or developed from the Phoenician alphabet [ 1 ] while others argue an ...
The number of languages natively spoken in Africa is variously estimated (depending on the delineation of language vs. dialect) at between 1,250 and 2,100, [1] and by some counts at over 3,000. [2]
Pages in category "Writing systems of Africa" The following 52 pages are in this category, out of 52 total. ... Guinean languages alphabet; H. Hieratic; I. Igbo ...
Writing systems typically satisfy three criteria. First, the writing must have some purpose or meaning to it, and a point must be communicated by the text. Second, writing systems make use of specific symbols which may be recorded on some writing medium. Third, the symbols used in writing generally correspond to elements of spoken language. [3]