| 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+16AFF1 | |
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
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𖫑 IPA: [k] k
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𖫒 IPA: [s] s
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𖫓 IPA: [f] f
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𖫔 IPA: [ɓ/m] ɓ/m
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𖫕 IPA: [dʲ]/[ɲ] dy/ny
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𖫖 IPA: [g] g
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𖫗 IPA: [d] d
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𖫘 IPA: [k͡p] kp
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𖫙 IPA: [ɟ] j
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𖫚 IPA: [xʷ]/[ħʷ] xw
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𖫛 IPA: [w] w
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𖫜 IPA: [z] z
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𖫝 IPA: [g͡b/ŋ͡m] gb/gm
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𖫞 IPA: [ɗ/ɾ/ɺ] ɖ
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𖫟 IPA: [c] c
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𖫠 IPA: [hʷ] hw
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𖫡 IPA: [t] t
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𖫢 IPA: [b] b
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𖫣 IPA: [v] v
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𖫤 IPA: [h] h
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𖫥 IPA: [p] p
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𖫦 IPA: [ɾ] r
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𖫧 IPA: [a] a
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𖫨 IPA: [ɔ] ɔ
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𖫩 IPA: [o] o
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𖫪 IPA: [u] u
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𖫫 IPA: [e] e
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𖫬 IPA: [ɛ] ɛ
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𖫭 IPA: [i] i
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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
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𖫨𖫐 IPA: [ɔ̃] ɔ̃
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𖫪𖫐 IPA: [ũ] ũ
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𖫬𖫐 IPA: [ɛ̃] ɛ̃
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𖫭𖫐 IPA: [ĩ] ĩ
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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: ˦
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low ◌𖫱 IPA: ˨
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mid ◌𖫲 IPA: ˧
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mid-rising ◌𖫳 IPA: ˨˧
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falling ◌𖫴 IPA: ˥˩
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𖫧𖫰 á
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𖫧𖫱 à
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𖫧𖫲 a
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𖫧𖫳 ǎ
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𖫧𖫴 â
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𖫨𖫰 ɔ́
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𖫨𖫱 ɔ̀
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𖫨𖫲 ɔ
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𖫨𖫳 ɔ̌
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𖫨𖫴 ɔ̂
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𖫩𖫰 ó
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𖫩𖫱 ò
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𖫩𖫲 o
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𖫩𖫳 ǒ
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𖫩𖫴 ô
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𖫪𖫰 ú
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𖫪𖫱 ù
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𖫪𖫲 u
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𖫪𖫳 ǔ
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𖫪𖫴 û
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𖫫𖫰 é
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𖫫𖫱 è
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𖫫𖫲 e
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𖫫𖫳 ě
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𖫫𖫴 ê
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𖫬𖫰 ɛ́
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𖫬𖫱 ɛ̀
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𖫬𖫲 ɛ
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𖫬𖫳 ɛ̌
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𖫬𖫴 ɛ̂
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𖫭𖫰 í
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𖫭𖫱 ì
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𖫭𖫲 i
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𖫭𖫳 ǐ
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𖫭𖫴 î
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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)
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𖫑 IPA: [k] 𖫑𖫧𖫰 (to cut open)
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𖫒 IPA: [s] 𖫒𖫧𖫲 (to be tired)
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𖫓 IPA: [f] 𖫓𖫧𖫰 (to rip)
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𖫔 IPA: [ɓ/m] 𖫔𖫧𖫰𖫐𖫧𖫲𖫐 (night)
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𖫕 IPA: [dʲ]/[ɲ] 𖫕𖫧𖫰 (to climb up)
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𖫖 IPA: [g] 𖫖𖫧𖫲𖫐 (to choose)
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𖫗 IPA: [d] 𖫗𖫧𖫲 (somewhere)
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𖫘 IPA: [k͡p] 𖫘𖫧𖫰 (to happen)
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𖫙 IPA: [ɟ] 𖫙𖫧𖫳𖫧𖫱 (truth)
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𖫚 IPA: [xʷ]/[ħʷ] 𖫚𖫧𖫲 (hand)
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𖫛 IPA: [w] 𖫛𖫧𖫲 (they/them)
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𖫜 IPA: [z] 𖫜𖫧𖫱 (to remove)
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𖫝 IPA: [g͡b/ŋ͡m] 𖫝𖫧𖫲 (on (a road))
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𖫞 IPA: [ɗ/ɾ/ɺ] 𖫞𖫧𖫰 (to call)
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𖫟 IPA: [c] 𖫟𖫧𖫰 (to deceive)
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𖫠 IPA: [hʷ] 𖫠𖫧𖫲𖫞𖫧𖫲 (to vomit)
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𖫡 IPA: [t] 𖫡𖫧𖫲𖫐 (three)
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𖫢 IPA: [b] 𖫢𖫧𖫲𖫐 (to be rich, plentiful)
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𖫣 IPA: [v] 𖫣𖫧𖫱𖫧𖫳 (green leaf)
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𖫤 IPA: [h] 𖫤𖫨𖫲𖫐𖫞𖫬𖫱𖫞𖫬𖫱 (hundred)
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𖫥 IPA: [p] 𖫥𖫧𖫰 (to drink)
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𖫦 IPA: [ɾ] 𖫦𖫧𖫰 (to plant)
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𖫧 IPA: [a] 𖫧𖫱 (we)
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𖫨 IPA: [ɔ] 𖫨𖫲 (he, she, it, his, hers, its, him, her)
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𖫩 IPA: [o] 𖫩𖫰𖫩𖫱-𖫟𖫪𖫱 (oak tree)
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𖫪 IPA: [u] 𖫓𖫪𖫰𖫞𖫪𖫰 (to float)
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𖫫 IPA: [e] 𖫟𖫫𖫰𖫞𖫬𖫱 (book)
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𖫬 IPA: [ɛ] 𖫞𖫬𖫲 (thing)
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𖫭 IPA: [i] 𖫭𖫰𖫐𖫙𖫧𖫱 (angel)
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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
References
- 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.