Bassa Vah alphabet
| Bassa Vah 𖫔𖫧𖫳𖫒𖫨𖫰𖫨𖫱 𖫣𖫧𖫱 | |
|---|---|
| Script type | |
| Direction | Left-to-right  |
| Languages | Bassa language |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Bass (259), Bassa Vah |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Bassa Vah |
| Final accepted Unicode proposal, U+16AD0 – U+16AFF[1] | |
Bassa Vah (Bassa: 𖫔𖫧𖫳𖫒𖫨𖫰𖫨𖫱 𖫣𖫧𖫱, romanized: ɓǎsɔ́ɔ̀ và), also known as simply Vah (𖫣𖫧𖫱), meaning 'throwing a sign' in Bassa, is an alphabetic script for writing the Bassa language of Liberia.[2] As an old system nearing extinction in the 1900s, it was rediscovered among Bassa in Brazil and the West Indies, then revived in Liberia, by Thomas Flo Lewis.[3] Type was cast for it, and an association for its promotion was formed in Liberia in 1959.[1] It is not used today and has been classified as a failed script.[4]
Letters
Vah is written from left to right. It is a true alphabet, with 23 consonant letters, 7 vowels, and 5 tone diacritics.
A full-stop/period is represented with 𖫵.
𖫐 IPA: [n] n | 𖫑 IPA: [k] k | 𖫒 IPA: [s] s | 𖫓 IPA: [f] f | 𖫔 IPA: [ɓ/m] ɓ/m | 𖫕 IPA: [dʲ]/[ɲ] dy/ny | 𖫖 IPA: [g] g | 𖫗 IPA: [d] d | 𖫘 IPA: [k͡p] kp | 𖫙 IPA: [ɟ] j |
𖫚 IPA: [xʷ]/[ħʷ] xw | 𖫛 IPA: [w] w | 𖫜 IPA: [z] z | 𖫝 IPA: [g͡b/ŋ͡m] gb/gm | 𖫞 IPA: [ɗ/ɾ/ɺ] ɖ | 𖫟 IPA: [c] c | 𖫠 IPA: [hʷ] hw | 𖫡 IPA: [t] t | 𖫢 IPA: [b] b | 𖫣 IPA: [v] v |
𖫤 IPA: [h] h | 𖫥 IPA: [p] p | 𖫦 IPA: [ɾ] r | 𖫧 IPA: [a] a | 𖫨 IPA: [ɔ] ɔ | 𖫩 IPA: [o] o | 𖫪 IPA: [u] u | 𖫫 IPA: [e] e | 𖫬 IPA: [ɛ] ɛ | 𖫭 IPA: [i] i |
The letter 𖫔 is pronounced as /ɓ/ <ɓ> when followed by an oral vowel, for example 𖫔𖫧𖫴 <ɓâ> (friend). However, it's pronounced as /m/ <m> when followed by a nasal vowel - 𖫔𖫨𖫰𖫐 mɔ̃ (to want, wish).
The letter 𖫕 is pronounced as /dʲ/ <dy> when followed by an oral vowel, for example 𖫕𖫪𖫰 <dyú> (child). However, it's pronounced as /ɲ/ <ny> when followed by a nasal vowel - 𖫤𖫭𖫲𖫐𖫕𖫫𖫲𖫐 <hĩnyɛ̃> (four).
The letter 𖫝 is pronounced as /ɡ͡b/ <gb> when followed by an oral vowel, for example 𖫝𖫧𖫳 <gbǎ> (to lock). However, it's pronounced as /ŋ͡m/ <gm> when followed by a nasal vowel - 𖫝𖫧𖫲𖫐 gmã (law).
The letter 𖫞 is pronounced as /ɾ/ when written after 𖫗 /d/ or 𖫡 /t/ - 𖫡𖫩𖫳𖫞𖫩𖫳 /to˧ɾo˧/ (mountain), and is pronounced as /ɺ/ when written after any other consonants - 𖫓𖫪𖫰𖫞𖫪𖫰 /fu˦ɺu˦/ (to float). This letter is never immediately followed by a nasal vowel.
The letter 𖫦 is rarely used. It represents the sound /ɾ/, which is an allophone of /ɗ/, and appears only after /t/ or /d/ in a syllable initial 'cluster'. But this is usually written with the letter 𖫞.
Nasal vowels are written with the letter 𖫐 (n) after a corresponding vowel letter.[5]
𖫧𖫐 IPA: [ã] ã | 𖫨𖫐 IPA: [ɔ̃] ɔ̃ | 𖫪𖫐 IPA: [ũ] ũ | 𖫬𖫐 IPA: [ɛ̃] ɛ̃ | 𖫭𖫐 IPA: [ĩ] ĩ |
Tones
Vah uses five diacritical marks to denote tonality of its vowels. It distinguishes five tones: high, low, mid, mid-rising, and falling.
high ◌𖫰 IPA: ˦ | low ◌𖫱 IPA: ˨ | mid ◌𖫲 IPA: ˧ | mid-rising ◌𖫳 IPA: ˨˧ | falling ◌𖫴 IPA: ˥˩ |
𖫧𖫰 á | 𖫧𖫱 à | 𖫧𖫲 a | 𖫧𖫳 ǎ | 𖫧𖫴 â |
𖫨𖫰 ɔ́ | 𖫨𖫱 ɔ̀ | 𖫨𖫲 ɔ | 𖫨𖫳 ɔ̌ | 𖫨𖫴 ɔ̂ |
𖫩𖫰 ó | 𖫩𖫱 ò | 𖫩𖫲 o | 𖫩𖫳 ǒ | 𖫩𖫴 ô |
𖫪𖫰 ú | 𖫪𖫱 ù | 𖫪𖫲 u | 𖫪𖫳 ǔ | 𖫪𖫴 û |
𖫫𖫰 é | 𖫫𖫱 è | 𖫫𖫲 e | 𖫫𖫳 ě | 𖫫𖫴 ê |
𖫬𖫰 ɛ́ | 𖫬𖫱 ɛ̀ | 𖫬𖫲 ɛ | 𖫬𖫳 ɛ̌ | 𖫬𖫴 ɛ̂ |
𖫭𖫰 í | 𖫭𖫱 ì | 𖫭𖫲 i | 𖫭𖫳 ǐ | 𖫭𖫴 î |
The letters table shows the alphabetic order of the script. The tones above reflect the order they appear in the alphabet order as well. A vowel with tones are ordered before the subsequent vowel. For example, the vowel 𖫧 <a> is followed by 𖫧𖫰 𖫧𖫱 𖫧𖫲 𖫧𖫳 𖫧𖫴 and then the next vowel, 𖫨 <ɔ>, is ordered.[1]
Sample texts
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
𖫞𖫫𖫰 𖫐𖫭𖫱𖫐-𖫗𖫭𖫰𖫞𖫭𖫰 𖫑𖫫𖫱 𖫔𖫬𖫱𖫞𖫬𖫱𖫭𖫱𖫐-𖫕𖫭𖫰 𖫔𖫪𖫰𖫬𖫲, 𖫞𖫫𖫰𖫬𖫱 𖫕𖫨𖫲𖫐-𖫕𖫪𖫱 𖫒𖫫𖫰𖫭𖫰𖫐 𖫛𖫩𖫰𖫞𖫩𖫰𖫬𖫲 𖫔𖫬𖫰𖫭𖫱𖫐 𖫛𖫨𖫐𖫵 𖫑𖫫𖫰 𖫛𖫧𖫲 𖫔𖫫𖫰𖫞𖫫𖫰 𖫠𖫭𖫱𖫞𖫭𖫱𖫭𖫲-𖫥𖫩𖫲𖫭𖫱𖫐 𖫠𖫩𖫱𖫞𖫩𖫱-𖫕𖫪𖫱𖫧𖫱 𖫑𖫫𖫱 𖫞𖫬𖫲 𖫔𖫪𖫱𖫐𖫭𖫲𖫐 𖫛𖫨𖫰𖫐-𖫛𖫨𖫰𖫐 𖫒𖫨𖫱𖫫𖫱𖫭𖫱𖫐 𖫞𖫫𖫰 𖫕𖫨𖫲𖫪𖫰𖫐, 𖫑𖫫𖫰 𖫛𖫧𖫲 𖫔𖫫𖫰𖫞𖫫𖫰 𖫔𖫬𖫰 𖫛𖫧𖫲𖫧𖫱 𖫕𖫪𖫲𖫐-𖫞𖫬𖫱 𖫑𖫫𖫰 𖫝𖫩𖫲 𖫔𖫪𖫲𖫐𖫭𖫱𖫐 𖫔𖫩𖫰 𖫞𖫭𖫰𖫭𖫰 𖫑𖫧𖫱𖫵
𖫐 IPA: [n] 𖫐𖫧𖫰𖫐 (to drink) | 𖫑 IPA: [k] 𖫑𖫧𖫰 (to cut open) | 𖫒 IPA: [s] 𖫒𖫧𖫲 (to be tired) | 𖫓 IPA: [f] 𖫓𖫧𖫰 (to rip) | 𖫔 IPA: [ɓ/m] 𖫔𖫧𖫰𖫐𖫧𖫲𖫐 (night) | 𖫕 IPA: [dʲ]/[ɲ] 𖫕𖫧𖫰 (to climb up) | 𖫖 IPA: [g] 𖫖𖫧𖫲𖫐 (to choose) | 𖫗 IPA: [d] 𖫗𖫧𖫲 (somewhere) | 𖫘 IPA: [k͡p] 𖫘𖫧𖫰 (to happen) | 𖫙 IPA: [ɟ] 𖫙𖫧𖫳𖫧𖫱 (truth) |
𖫚 IPA: [xʷ]/[ħʷ] 𖫚𖫧𖫲 (hand) | 𖫛 IPA: [w] 𖫛𖫧𖫲 (they/them) | 𖫜 IPA: [z] 𖫜𖫧𖫱 (to remove) | 𖫝 IPA: [g͡b/ŋ͡m] 𖫝𖫧𖫲 (on (a road)) | 𖫞 IPA: [ɗ/ɾ/ɺ] 𖫞𖫧𖫰 (to call) | 𖫟 IPA: [c] 𖫟𖫧𖫰 (to deceive) | 𖫠 IPA: [hʷ] 𖫠𖫧𖫲𖫞𖫧𖫲 (to vomit) | 𖫡 IPA: [t] 𖫡𖫧𖫲𖫐 (three) | 𖫢 IPA: [b] 𖫢𖫧𖫲𖫐 (to be rich, plentiful) | 𖫣 IPA: [v] 𖫣𖫧𖫱𖫧𖫳 (green leaf) |
𖫤 IPA: [h] 𖫤𖫨𖫲𖫐𖫞𖫬𖫱𖫞𖫬𖫱 (hundred) | 𖫥 IPA: [p] 𖫥𖫧𖫰 (to drink) | 𖫦 IPA: [ɾ] 𖫦𖫧𖫰 (to plant) | 𖫧 IPA: [a] 𖫧𖫱 (we) | 𖫨 IPA: [ɔ] 𖫨𖫲 (he, she, it, his, hers, its, him, her) | 𖫩 IPA: [o] 𖫩𖫰𖫩𖫱-𖫟𖫪𖫱 (oak tree) | 𖫪 IPA: [u] 𖫓𖫪𖫰𖫞𖫪𖫰 (to float) | 𖫫 IPA: [e] 𖫟𖫫𖫰𖫞𖫬𖫱 (book) | 𖫬 IPA: [ɛ] 𖫞𖫬𖫲 (thing) | 𖫭 IPA: [i] 𖫭𖫰𖫐𖫙𖫧𖫱 (angel) |
Unicode
Bassa Vah was added to the Unicode Standard in June 2014 with the release of version 7.0.
The Unicode block for Bassa Vah is U+16AD0–U+16AFF:
| Bassa Vah[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+16ADx | 𖫐 | 𖫑 | 𖫒 | 𖫓 | 𖫔 | 𖫕 | 𖫖 | 𖫗 | 𖫘 | 𖫙 | 𖫚 | 𖫛 | 𖫜 | 𖫝 | 𖫞 | 𖫟 |
| U+16AEx | 𖫠 | 𖫡 | 𖫢 | 𖫣 | 𖫤 | 𖫥 | 𖫦 | 𖫧 | 𖫨 | 𖫩 | 𖫪 | 𖫫 | 𖫬 | 𖫭 | ||
| U+16AFx | 𖫰 | 𖫱 | 𖫲 | 𖫳 | 𖫴 | 𖫵 | ||||||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
References
- ^ a b c Everson, Michael; Riley, Charles (2010). "Final proposal for encoding the Bassa Vah script in the SMP of the UCS" (PDF).
- ^ Coulmas, Florian, ed. (1999). "Bassa alphabet". B. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley. p. 39. doi:10.1002/9781118932667.ch2. ISBN 9780631214816.
- ^ "History of the Bassa Script". Bassa Vah Association. Archived from the original on 2007-02-22.
- ^ Unseth, Peter (2011). "Invention of Scripts in West Africa for Ethnic Revitalization". In Joshua A. Fishman; Ofelia García (eds.). Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity: The Success-Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 23–32. ISBN 9780199837991.
- ^ "Bassa Vah orthography notes". r12a.github.io.
