https://archive.org/details/history-of-nko

The History of the N'ko Alphabet and Its Role in Mande Transnational Identity: Words as Weapons by Dianne White Oyler; Arnold Odio

Topics
#NKo, #NKoscript, #ߒߞߏ, #literacy, #literacyinAfrica, #Mande, #Mandelanguages, #Mandeculture, #WestAfrica, #Guinée, #Guinea, #Kankan, #education, #educationinAfrica, #CôtedIvoire, #IvoryCoast, #Mandediaspora, #PanAfricanism, #SouleymaneKanté, #ߛߎ߬ߟߋ߬ߡߊ߬ߣߊ߬ߞߊ߲ߕߍ߫, #languagestandardization, #sociolinguistics

Dianne White Oyler discusses the creation of the N'ko alphabet, based on the Maninka language, by Souleymane Kanté (1922-1987) in 1949 in Haute Guinée (Guinea). She carefully documents N'ko's dissemination by a grassroots literacy campaign that started with Kanté and continues to the present. Her analysis shows the importance of language in transnational identity and the cultural nationalism of Mande-speaking people in West Africa. Oyler also discusses Kanté's and Nko's relationship to Pan-Africanism.