This paper deals with aspects of some writing systems developed indigenously in West Africa, specifically in terms of their origin and characteristics. The main focus is on the syllabic scripts of four languages from the Nande family of the Niger-Cong ...

This paper deals with aspects of some writing systems developed indigenously in West Africa, specifically in terms of their origin and characteristics. The main focus is on the syllabic scripts of four languages from the Nande family of the Niger-Congo phylum, and they are the Vai, Mende, Loma and Kpelle scripts found in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Drawing on Dalby's pioneer work(1967~69) and some others (Gregersem 1977, Singler 1997) on this subject, the paper forst classifies totally 16 indigenous writing systems of West Africa, after their geographical distribution, genetiv relationship and script types, and then moves to the four Mande syllabaries.
Beginning with the Vai syllabary of Liberia, the oldest (invented in 1833) and the most important indigenous script in Africa, the paper surveys all the scripts in terms of their origin, usage, formal characteristics and principles behind them.
Although there were some inconsistencies and complexities involved in the scripts, they generally enjoyed a great deal of popularity among the people who used them mostly for private purposes like correspondence, record-keeping, etc.
Despite the fact that nost of the scripts are nowadays hardly in use, gicing place to the Roman alphabet, it should be acknowledged that they reflect one of the highly intellectual achievements ever found in the African continent.

1. 들어가는 글
2. 만데 어군 언어들의 문자체계의 기원 및 특성
2.1 바이(Vai)
2.2 멘데 (Mende)
2.3 로마(Loma)
2.4 뻴레(Kpelle)
2.5 목록: 바이, 멘데, 로마, 뻴레 음절문자
3. 맺는 글

1. 들어가는 글
2. 만데 어군 언어들의 문자체계의 기원 및 특성
2.1 바이(Vai)
2.2 멘데 (Mende)
2.3 로마(Loma)
2.4 뻴레(Kpelle)
2.5 목록: 바이, 멘데, 로마, 뻴레 음절문자
3. 맺는 글