Fraser alphabet

Infobox Writing system
name=Fraser
type=alphabet
time=c. 1915–present
languages=Lisu
fam1=artificial
sample=Fraser text.pngimagesize=256
creator=James O. FraserThe Fraser alphabet or Old Lisu Alphabet is an artificial script invented around 1915 by the Sara Ba Thaw, a Karen preacher from Myanmar, and improved by the missionary James O. Fraser, to write the Lisu language. It is a single-case (unicameral) alphabet.

The alphabet uses uppercase letters from the Roman alphabet, and rotated versions thereof, to write consonants and vowels. Tones and nasalization are written with Roman punctuation marks, identical to those found on a typewriter. Like the Indic abugidas, the vowel IPA| [a] is not written. However, unlike those scripts, the other vowels are written with full letters.

The Chinese government recognized the alphabet in 1992 as the official script for writing in Lisu.Fact|date=November 2007

Consonants

Note: Many of these letters are not yet supported by Unicode, so the characters in this table are only approximations. Please see the image below for a more accurate representation.:*It is not clear how the <.,> mid tone differs from the unmarked mid tone.The tones <.>, <,>, <..>, <.,> may be combined with <;> and <:> as compound tones. However, the only one still in common use is <,;>.

The apostrophe indicates nasalization. It is combined with tone marks.

The understrike (optionally a low macron) indicates the Lisu "A glide", a contraction of IPA| [ɑ̂] without an intervening glottal stop. The tone is not always falling, depending on the environment, but is written <_> regardless.

External links

* [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/fraser.htm "Omniglot" entry on Fraser alphabet]
* [http://www.language-museum.com/l/lisu.htm Lord's Prayer in Lisu]
* [http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3317.pdf Proposal for encoding the Old Lisu script in the BMP of the UCS]
* [http://www.sil.org/asia/ldc/plenary_papers/david_bradley.pdf Issues in orthography development and reform] by David Bradley
* [http://www.evertype.com/standards/iso10646/pdf/fraser-sample.pdf sample text from Michael Everson's website]
* [http://www.omf.org/omf/us OMF International (formerly China Inland Mission)]