Afaka script

Infobox Writing system
name = Afaka script
type = Syllabary
time = Invented in 1908.
languages = Ndyuka
creator = Afáka Atumisi
sample = Kwami Kagami in Afaka script.png

The Afaka script "(afaka sikifi)" is a syllabary of 56 letters devised in 1908 for the Ndyuka language, an English-based creole of Surinam. 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 that language for all scripts is under 10%.

Afaka is the only script in use that was designed specifically for a creole or for a form of English. It is not supported by Unicode.

Typology

Afaka is a rather defective script. Tone is phonemic but not written. Final consonants (the nasal [n] ) are not written, but long vowels are, by adding a vowel letter. Prenasalized stops and voiced 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 of "Ndyuka" could also be read as "Dyoka." 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, the pipe (|), which corresponds to a comma and period. Afaka used spaces between words, but not all writers continued to do so.

Etymology

The origins of many of the letters are obscure, though several appear to be acrophonic rebuses, with many of these being symbols from Africa. Examples of rebuses include a curl with a dot in it representing a "baby" in the "belly" (in Ndyuka, "a abi beli," lit. "she has belly", means "she's pregnant"), and which stands for [be] ; two hands outstretched to "give" stand for [gi] ; symbols for "come" (Ndyuka "kom)" and "go" to represent [ko] and [go] ; two linked circles for "we" stands for [wi] , while [yu] is an inversion of [mi] , corresponding to the pronouns "you" and "me;" letters like Roman numerals "two" and "four" are [tu] and [fo] . [ka] and [pi] are said to represent feces (Ndyuka "kaka)" and urine "(pisi)." A "+" sign stands for [ne] , from the word "name," derived from the practice of signing one's name with an X. The odd conflation of [u] and [ku] is due to the letter being a pairs of hook, which is "uku" in Ndyuka. [In fact, Dubelaar and Pakosie imply that this letter also stands for [uku] , making it a logogram.] The only letters which appear to correspond to the Latin alphabet are the vowels "a, o," and maybe "e," though "o" is justified as the shape of the mouth when pronouncing it. ["E," which resembles a capital Latin letter M, may be acrophonic for the name of the letter "em".]

Variants and syllabic order

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 are "be, di, dyo, fi, ga, ge, ye, ni, nya, pu, se, so, te, tu," while "lo, ba/pa, wa" may be in mirror image and "sa, to" may be simply inverted.Others have curved vs angular variants: "do, fa, ge, go, ko, kwa." 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" and "fo" (two, four), "yu" and "mi" (you, me), "ko" and "go" (come, go) are placed near each other. Other syllables are placed near each other to spell out words "(futu" "foot", "odi" "hello", "ati" "heart"), or even phrases: "a moke un taki" "it gives us speech", "masa gado te baka ben ye" "Lord God, that the white man heard".

ample text

This is apparently the first letter written by Afaka. It was copied into the "Patili Molosi Buku" c. 1917.

Notes

References

*Cornelis Dubelaar & André Pakosie, "Het Afakaschrift van de Tapanahoni rivier in Suriname". Utrecht 1999. ISBN 90-5538-032-6.

External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040315165648/http://www.maroons-suriname.com/Jowini+Abaisa+memorial+statue.html A sample of Afaka script on a memorial in Surinam.] The phrase is "Odun m’sigasiye" "I'm prepared to die for freedom", which in Afaka is O.DO.MI.SI.GA.SI.E

The only available font is poorly designed, apparently copied from a low-resolution

* [http://www.omniglot.com/fonts/ndjuka.zip The font used at Omniglot]