Phonetic Alphabetic Writing List
A viewset for viewing and editing Phonetic Alphabetic Writings.
GET /api/sc/phonetic-alphabetic-writings/?format=api&page=8
{ "count": 496, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/phonetic-alphabetic-writings/?format=api&page=9", "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/phonetic-alphabetic-writings/?format=api&page=7", "results": [ { "id": 351, "polity": { "id": 642, "name": "so_geledi_sultanate", "long_name": "Sultanate of Geledi", "start_year": 1750, "end_year": 1911 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Arabic writing system is phonetic. “The first obvious indication of such interest would be that given by the evidence of attempts to write the language, for if different signs were used to designate different sounds there was at least sufficient phonetic interest present to distinguish one speech-sound from another.” §REF§ (Semaan 1968, 6) Semaan, Khalil I. 1968. Linguistics in the Middle Ages: Phonetic Studies in Early Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Semaan/titleCreatorYear/items/U3W57I6B/item-list §REF§ " }, { "id": 352, "polity": { "id": 643, "name": "et_showa_sultanate", "long_name": "Shoa Sultanate", "start_year": 1108, "end_year": 1285 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Arabic writing system is phonetic. \"The precise use of the Islamic calendar and of Arabic script and language are strong evidence of the presence of an Islamic scholarly elite. This literate elite is represented by the faqīh Ibrāhīm b. al-Ḥasan, “ qāḍī al-quḍā (lit. “cadi of the cadis”) of Šawah” whose death occurred in 1255. The title “cadi of the cadis” refers to the judge at the head of the judiciary of a state or of a city, and therefore presupposes a sophisticated judicial hierarchy.\"§REF§(Chekroun and Hirsch 2020: 94-95) Seshat url: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/TA84VGHX/item-list§REF§ " }, { "id": 353, "polity": { "id": 644, "name": "et_harla_k", "long_name": "Harla Kingdom", "start_year": 500, "end_year": 1500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Arabic writing system is phonetic. “The first obvious indication of such interest would be that given by the evidence of attempts to write the language, for if different signs were used to designate different sounds there was at least sufficient phonetic interest present to distinguish one speech-sound from another.” §REF§ (Semaan 1968, 6) Semaan, Khalil I. 1968. Linguistics in the Middle Ages: Phonetic Studies in Early Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Semaan/titleCreatorYear/items/U3W57I6B/item-list §REF§ " }, { "id": 354, "polity": { "id": 646, "name": "so_ifat_sultanate", "long_name": "Ifat Sultanate", "start_year": 1280, "end_year": 1375 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Arabic writing system is phonetic. “The first obvious indication of such interest would be that given by the evidence of attempts to write the language, for if different signs were used to designate different sounds there was at least sufficient phonetic interest present to distinguish one speech-sound from another.” §REF§ (Semaan 1968, 6) Semaan, Khalil I. 1968. Linguistics in the Middle Ages: Phonetic Studies in Early Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Semaan/titleCreatorYear/items/U3W57I6B/item-list §REF§ " }, { "id": 355, "polity": { "id": 648, "name": "so_majeerteen_sultanate", "long_name": "Majeerteen Sultanate", "start_year": 1750, "end_year": 1926 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Arabic writing system is phonetic. “The first obvious indication of such interest would be that given by the evidence of attempts to write the language, for if different signs were used to designate different sounds there was at least sufficient phonetic interest present to distinguish one speech-sound from another.” §REF§ (Semaan 1968, 6) Semaan, Khalil I. 1968. Linguistics in the Middle Ages: Phonetic Studies in Early Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Semaan/titleCreatorYear/items/U3W57I6B/item-list §REF§ " }, { "id": 356, "polity": { "id": 649, "name": "et_funj_sultanate", "long_name": "Funj Sultanate", "start_year": 1504, "end_year": 1820 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Arabic writing system is phonetic. “The first obvious indication of such interest would be that given by the evidence of attempts to write the language, for if different signs were used to designate different sounds there was at least sufficient phonetic interest present to distinguish one speech-sound from another.” §REF§ (Semaan 1968, 6) Semaan, Khalil I. 1968. Linguistics in the Middle Ages: Phonetic Studies in Early Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Semaan/titleCreatorYear/items/U3W57I6B/item-list §REF§" }, { "id": 357, "polity": { "id": 654, "name": "so_isaaq_sultanate", "long_name": "Isaaq Sultanate", "start_year": 1300, "end_year": 1886 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Arabic writing system is phonetic. “The first obvious indication of such interest would be that given by the evidence of attempts to write the language, for if different signs were used to designate different sounds there was at least sufficient phonetic interest present to distinguish one speech-sound from another.” §REF§ (Semaan 1968, 6) Semaan, Khalil I. 1968. Linguistics in the Middle Ages: Phonetic Studies in Early Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Semaan/titleCreatorYear/items/U3W57I6B/item-list §REF§ " }, { "id": 358, "polity": { "id": 655, "name": "ni_proto_yoruba", "long_name": "Proto-Yoruba", "start_year": 301, "end_year": 649 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. \"Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 391)§REF§" }, { "id": 359, "polity": { "id": 656, "name": "ni_yoruba_classic", "long_name": "Classical Ife", "start_year": 1000, "end_year": 1400 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. \"Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 391)§REF§" }, { "id": 360, "polity": { "id": 657, "name": "ni_formative_yoruba", "long_name": "Late Formative Yoruba", "start_year": 650, "end_year": 1049 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. \"Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 391)§REF§" }, { "id": 361, "polity": { "id": 659, "name": "ni_allada_k", "long_name": "Allada", "start_year": 1100, "end_year": 1724 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “In Allada the local people, it was noted in 1670, in the absence of writing used knotted strings to keep records of various matters, including commercial transactions (“the price of goods”).” §REF§Austin, Gareth, et al. “Credit, Currencies, and Culture: African Financial Institutions in Historical Perspective.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 34, no. 1, 2001, p. 144: 33. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SPXH2IUW/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 362, "polity": { "id": 661, "name": "ni_oyo_emp_2", "long_name": "Ilú-ọba Ọ̀yọ́", "start_year": 1601, "end_year": 1835 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Arabic. “The influx of Islam into West Africa was very significant. Through Islam, the people of diverse ethnic groups and languages found a common bond of allegiance to a central authority. Ability of Muslims to read and write and to communicate over long distances made them valuable in advising the rulers of the Ancient Empires of West Africa. […] The educational value of Islam was tremendous. Some rulers employed Muslim Interpreters to record events in Arabic language and to communicate with more distant rulers on behalf of the rulers. As a result of the influx of foreign Muslims into West Africa, Arabic writing and learning were introduced.” §REF§Adelowo, E. D. ‘Islam in Oyo and its Districts in the Nineteenth Century’. Thesis, University of Ibadan, 1978, 24–25. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/UHKKZNRA/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 363, "polity": { "id": 663, "name": "ni_oyo_emp_1", "long_name": "Oyo", "start_year": 1300, "end_year": 1535 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. \"Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 391)§REF§" }, { "id": 364, "polity": { "id": 664, "name": "ni_proto_yoruboid", "long_name": "Proto-Yoruboid", "start_year": -300, "end_year": 300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. \"Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 391)§REF§" }, { "id": 365, "polity": { "id": 666, "name": "ni_sokoto_cal", "long_name": "Sokoto Caliphate", "start_year": 1804, "end_year": 1904 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Arabic and Ajami. “Since the 17th century, Hausa has been written in a version of Arabic script called ajami that, like Arabic, is written and read left to right. Hausa is a tonal language, signifying that the meaning of a word depends on the high, medium, or low tone assigned to the vowels. The spellings of words, however, have not been standardized, and variations exist. Many of the written works in Hausa, especially prior to the mid-20th century, are based on Islamic themes.” §REF§Falola, Toyin, and Ann Genova. Historical Dictionary of Nigeria. The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2009: 149. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SJAIVKDW/collection§REF§ “In the city of Sokoto there was a small bureaucracy headed by the vizier who in his own house had some scribes to receive and write short (one-page) letters in classical Arabic to those emirs he was in charge of overseeing (Last 1967:190-97) . Imported paper and local ink were used, and letters from the Amir al-mu'minin had his personal stamp on them (the vizier and the emirs had no stamp of their own). The letters were never dated, but they were folded in a precise way and carried in a pouch by a messenger; it could take a week or more for a letter to reach the addressee, since fifteen miles a day was a good speed and distances were huge.”§REF§Last, Murray. “Contradictions in Creating a Jihadi Capital: Sokoto in the Nineteenth Century and Its Legacy.” African Studies Review, vol. 56, no. 2, 2013, pp. 1–20: 6. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5RUPN5VI/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 366, "polity": { "id": 669, "name": "ni_hausa_k", "long_name": "Hausa bakwai", "start_year": 900, "end_year": 1808 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Since the 17th century, Hausa has been written in a version of Arabic script called ajami that, like Arabic, is written and read left to right. Hausa is a tonal language, signifying that the meaning of a word depends on the high, medium, or low tone assigned to the vowels. The spellings of words, however, have not been standardized, and variations exist. Many of the written works in Hausa, especially prior to the mid-20th century, are based on Islamic themes.” §REF§Falola, Toyin, and Ann Genova. Historical Dictionary of Nigeria. The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2009: 149. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SJAIVKDW/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 367, "polity": { "id": 670, "name": "ni_bornu_emp", "long_name": "Kanem-Borno", "start_year": 1380, "end_year": 1893 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Written Arabic was present. “In the case of Borno, one such group that appear to have benefitted most from this system is the '(scholastic) class. The reason for their dominance is obvious. In the first place they constituted a literate, knowledgeable and articulate group in the society. Because of their skill, especially in Arabic, an international medium which was also the official language of Borno, as well as the Maghrib, they were Borno’s intellectual link with the Islamic World.” §REF§AMINU, M. (1981). THE PLACE OF MAHRAMS IN THE HISTORY OF KANEM-BORNO. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 10(4), 31–38: 33. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5ERZU7K2/collection§REF§ Ajami script was also used to write Kenumu, a close linguistic relative of Kanuri: “The Bornu manuscripts discussed in the present article were first described by A. D. H. Bivar in his publication of 1960 'A dated Kuran from Bornu' (Bivar 1960). The author gave a short but very informative account of four early quranic manuscripts with interlinear vernacular glosses in Arabic/Ajamic script, which he examined during his travels to northern Nigeria in 1958-59. Among the most remarkable findings of Bivar's investigation was the discovery of a date in one of the Qurans, and the identification of the vernacular language. Apart from the vernacular glosses, the dated manuscript, which was in the possession of Imam Ibrahim, Imam Juma Maiduguri (the head of the Muslim community of Maiduguri), carried an abridged Arabic commentary, the jami ahkam al-qur'an of al-Qurtubi, and a colophon with the date of completion of this commentary–1 Jumadi II, 1080 ah (26 October, ad 1669) (Bivar 1960: 203). The language of the glosses in all four Qurans was established as Kanembu, one of the dialects of Kanuri–a major Nilo-Saharan language spoken mainly in north-east Nigeria and the main language of ancient Bornu.” §REF§Bondarev, Dmitry. “The Language of the Glosses in the Bornu Quranic Manuscripts.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, vol. 69, no. 1, 2006, pp. 113–40: 113. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/EK9MA3WU/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 368, "polity": { "id": 671, "name": "ni_dahomey_k", "long_name": "Foys", "start_year": 1715, "end_year": 1894 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “The question as to the manner in which a record of the age of these children was kept by a people who had no writing, poses itself here.” §REF§HERSKOVITS, M. J. (1932). POPULATION STATISTICS IN THE KINGDOM OF DAHOMEY. Human Biology, 4(2), 252–261: 258. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8T74FM7D/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 369, "polity": { "id": 680, "name": "se_futa_toro_imamate", "long_name": "Imamate of Futa Toro", "start_year": 1776, "end_year": 1860 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Arabic writing system is phonetic. “The first obvious indication of such interest would be that given by the evidence of attempts to write the language, for if different signs were used to designate different sounds there was at least sufficient phonetic interest present to distinguish one speech-sound from another.” §REF§ (Semaan 1968, 6) Semaan, Khalil I. 1968. Linguistics in the Middle Ages: Phonetic Studies in Early Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Semaan/titleCreatorYear/items/U3W57I6B/item-list §REF§ " }, { "id": 370, "polity": { "id": 682, "name": "se_jolof_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Jolof", "start_year": 1549, "end_year": 1865 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"All correspondence in Senegambia was in Arabic, and literate marabouts were the official secretaries.\" §REF§(Charles 1977: 19) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/NRGZDV3Z/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 371, "polity": { "id": 684, "name": "ug_toro_k", "long_name": "Toro", "start_year": 1830, "end_year": 1896 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"As we have seen, to secure their essential ties, the ancient states, lacking writing and money, relied on kinship, trust, and personal relationships, which were periodically rekindled by direct contact and exchanged words.\" §REF§(Chrétien 2006: 178) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 372, "polity": { "id": 685, "name": "ug_buganda_k_1", "long_name": "Buganda I", "start_year": 1408, "end_year": 1716 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. When literacy was introduced into the kingdom of Buganda, it was confined to speakers of Arabic and Kiswahili. \"§REF§(Pawliková-Vilhanová 2014: 145) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T7IMKZJJ.§REF§ " }, { "id": 373, "polity": { "id": 686, "name": "tz_karagwe_k", "long_name": "Karagwe", "start_year": 1500, "end_year": 1916 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote characterises the people of Tanganyika (the broader region of which Karagwe formed part) as \"pre-literate\" in the early 19th century. \"We do not know what inland Tanganyikans believed in the early nineteenth century. They were pre-literate, and the religions of pre-literate peoples not only leave little historical evidence but are characteristically eclectic, mutable, and unsystematic.\"§REF§(Iliffe 1979: 26) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SB2AJMVC/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 374, "polity": { "id": 687, "name": "Early Niynginya", "long_name": "Kingdom of Nyinginya", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1897 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Languages spoken in this polity were turned into \"written artefacts\" only in the colonial period: \"Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts).\"§REF§(Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 375, "polity": { "id": 688, "name": "ug_nkore_k_1", "long_name": "Nkore", "start_year": 1450, "end_year": 1749 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. When literacy was introduced into the kingdom of Buganda, it was confined to speakers of Arabic and Kiswahili. \"§REF§(Pawliková-Vilhanová 2014: 145) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T7IMKZJJ.§REF§ We are inferring presence for the kingdom of Nkore due to likely spread of literacy from the Buganda polity. Note that both Arabic an Kiswahili feature phonetic alphabets. " }, { "id": 376, "polity": { "id": 689, "name": "rw_ndorwa_k", "long_name": "Ndorwa", "start_year": 1700, "end_year": 1800 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Languages spoken in Rwanda were turned into \"written artefacts\" only in the colonial period: \"Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts).\"§REF§(Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 377, "polity": { "id": 690, "name": "bu_burundi_k", "long_name": "Burundi", "start_year": 1680, "end_year": 1903 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"As we have seen, to secure their essential ties, the ancient states, lacking writing and money, relied on kinship, trust, and personal relationships, which were periodically rekindled by direct contact and exchanged words.\" §REF§(Chrétien 2006: 178) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.§REF§Languages spoken in this polity were turned into \"written artefacts\" only in the colonial period: \"Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts).\"§REF§(Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 378, "polity": { "id": 691, "name": "rw_mubari_k", "long_name": "Mubari", "start_year": 1700, "end_year": 1896 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Languages spoken in Rwanda were turned into \"written artefacts\" only in the colonial period: \"Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts).\"§REF§(Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 379, "polity": { "id": 692, "name": "rw_gisaka_k", "long_name": "Gisaka", "start_year": 1700, "end_year": 1867 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Languages spoken in Rwanda were turned into \"written artefacts\" only in the colonial period: \"Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts).\"§REF§(Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 380, "polity": { "id": 693, "name": "tz_milansi_k", "long_name": "Fipa", "start_year": 1600, "end_year": 1890 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote characterises the people of Tanganyika (the broader region of which the Fipa formed part) as \"pre-literate\" in the early 19th century. \"We do not know what inland Tanganyikans believed in the early nineteenth century. They were pre-literate, and the religions of pre-literate peoples not only leave little historical evidence but are characteristically eclectic, mutable, and unsystematic.\"§REF§(Iliffe 1979: 26) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SB2AJMVC/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 381, "polity": { "id": 694, "name": "rw_bugesera_k", "long_name": "Bugesera", "start_year": 1700, "end_year": 1799 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Languages spoken in Rwanda were turned into \"written artefacts\" only in the colonial period: \"Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts).\"§REF§(Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 382, "polity": { "id": 696, "name": "tz_buhayo_k", "long_name": "Buhaya", "start_year": 1700, "end_year": 1890 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote characterises the people of Tanganyika (the broader region of which Buhaya formed part) as \"pre-literate\" in the early 19th century. \"We do not know what inland Tanganyikans believed in the early nineteenth century. They were pre-literate, and the religions of pre-literate peoples not only leave little historical evidence but are characteristically eclectic, mutable, and unsystematic.\"§REF§(Iliffe 1979: 26) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SB2AJMVC/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 383, "polity": { "id": 697, "name": "in_pandya_emp_2", "long_name": "Pandya Dynasty", "start_year": 590, "end_year": 915 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Another phonetic feature of the speech of many Tamils is the fronting of the short vowel a which we represent generally as [a] in transcription and transliteration.” §REF§ (Schiffman 1999, 17) Schiffman, Harold F. 1999. A Reference Grammar of Spoken Tamil. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/GBFQFXFD/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 384, "polity": { "id": 698, "name": "in_cholas_1", "long_name": "Early Cholas", "start_year": -300, "end_year": 300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Prakrit declensions differ from those of Sanskrit mainly through the working of the phonetic rules given above and some others affecting particular inflections […]” §REF§ (Woolner 1986, 32) Woolner, Alfred C. 1986. Introduction to Prakrit. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/P5VJ9KME/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 385, "polity": { "id": 699, "name": "in_thanjavur_maratha_k", "long_name": "Thanjavur Maratha Kingdom", "start_year": 1675, "end_year": 1799 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Telugu is one of the four literary languages of the Dravidian family […] Its phonemic system contains native as well as borrowed sounds (from Sanskrit, Perso-Arabic and English sources). All nasal, trills, approximants and laterals are voiced; all fricatives are voiceless; stops are differentiated both for voicing and aspiration.” §REF§ (Bhaskararao 2010, 1055) Bhaskararao, P. 2010. ‘Telugu’ In Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World. Edited by Keith Brown and Sarah Ogilvie. Oxford: Elsevier Science. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/5I6DBU98/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 386, "polity": { "id": 700, "name": "in_pandya_emp_1", "long_name": "Early Pandyas", "start_year": -300, "end_year": 300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Another phonetic feature of the speech of many Tamils is the fronting of the short vowel a which we represent generally as [a] in transcription and transliteration.” §REF§ (Schiffman 1999, 17) Schiffman, Harold F. 1999. A Reference Grammar of Spoken Tamil. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/GBFQFXFD/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 387, "polity": { "id": 701, "name": "in_carnatic_sul", "long_name": "Carnatic Sultanate", "start_year": 1710, "end_year": 1801 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “The gradual process in understanding the Persian sound system from the 17th until this century is marked by two important developments. On the one hand, one observes an increasing awareness of dialectal differences in pronunciation in terms of geography and social level […] On the other hand, one observes a gradual shift from focusing on the letters towards focusing on pronunciations […]” §REF§ (Windfuhr 2011, 129-130) Windfuhr, Gernot L. 2011. Persian Grammar: History and State of Its Study. Berlin: De Gruyter. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/IGNA8G68/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 388, "polity": { "id": 702, "name": "in_pallava_emp_2", "long_name": "Late Pallava Empire", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 890 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Prakrit declensions differ from those of Sanskrit mainly through the working of the phonetic rules given above and some others affecting particular inflections […]” §REF§ (Woolner 1986, 32) Woolner, Alfred C. 1986. Introduction to Prakrit. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/P5VJ9KME/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 389, "polity": { "id": 703, "name": "in_kalabhra_dyn", "long_name": "Kalabhra Dynasty", "start_year": 200, "end_year": 600 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Prakrit declensions differ from those of Sanskrit mainly through the working of the phonetic rules given above and some others affecting particular inflections […]” §REF§ (Woolner 1986, 32) Woolner, Alfred C. 1986. Introduction to Prakrit. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/P5VJ9KME/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 390, "polity": { "id": 704, "name": "in_thanjavur_nayaks", "long_name": "Nayaks of Thanjavur", "start_year": 1532, "end_year": 1676 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Telugu is one of the four literary languages of the Dravidian family […] Its phonemic system contains native as well as borrowed sounds (from Sanskrit, Perso-Arabic and English sources). All nasal, trills, approximants and laterals are voiced; all fricatives are voiceless; stops are differentiated both for voicing and aspiration.” §REF§ (Bhaskararao 2010, 1055) Bhaskararao, P. 2010. ‘Telugu’ In Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World. Edited by Keith Brown and Sarah Ogilvie. Oxford: Elsevier Science. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/5I6DBU98/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 391, "polity": { "id": 705, "name": "in_madurai_nayaks", "long_name": "Nayaks of Madurai", "start_year": 1529, "end_year": 1736 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Another phonetic feature of the speech of many Tamils is the fronting of the short vowel a which we represent generally as [a] in transcription and transliteration.” §REF§ (Schiffman 1999, 17) Schiffman, Harold F. 1999. A Reference Grammar of Spoken Tamil. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/GBFQFXFD/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 392, "polity": { "id": 611, "name": "si_mane_emp", "long_name": "Mane", "start_year": 1550, "end_year": 1650 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. \"The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4).\"§REF§(Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 393, "polity": { "id": 616, "name": "si_pre_sape", "long_name": "Pre-Sape Sierra Leone", "start_year": 600, "end_year": 1400 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. \"The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4).\"§REF§(Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 394, "polity": { "id": 621, "name": "si_sape", "long_name": "Sape", "start_year": 1400, "end_year": 1550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. \"The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4).\"§REF§(Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 395, "polity": { "id": 662, "name": "ni_whydah_k", "long_name": "Whydah", "start_year": 1671, "end_year": 1727 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " No writing system in Allada the year before Whydah became independent, so likely the same in Whydah: “Another question arising from the incidence of credit in both the local economy and the overseas trade is the nature of the indigenous system of recordkeeping. In Allada the local people, it was noted in 1670, in the absence of writing used knotted strings to keep records of various matters, including commercial transactions (“the price of goods”). Several later accounts allude to other mechanical devices for keeping financial (and fiscal) records in Dahomey.” §REF§Austin, Gareth, et al. “Credit, Currencies, and Culture: African Financial Institutions in Historical Perspective.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 34, no. 1, 2001, p. 144: 33. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SPXH2IUW/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 396, "polity": { "id": 668, "name": "ni_nri_k", "long_name": "Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì", "start_year": 1043, "end_year": 1911 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " No references found in the consulted literature to a written form of Nri that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet. “If these are the problems to be faced in languages that have written form hundreds of years ago one cannot imagine what problems there are in dealing with languages whose written forms are yet to be established.” §REF§Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (1975). Some Fundamental Problems in the Application of Lexicostatistics in the Study of African Languages. Paideuma, 21, 6–17: 10. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IISK3KCM/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 397, "polity": { "id": 672, "name": "ni_benin_emp", "long_name": "Benin Empire", "start_year": 1140, "end_year": 1897 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “Since the end of the 15th century, a great deal of material about Benin has been supplied by sailors, traders, etc., returning to Europe. However, information on the Edo people before this date is very difficult to obtain, as there was no written record and the oral record is at best rather fragmentary.” §REF§Bondarenko, Dmitri M., and Peter M. Roese. ‘Benin Prehistory: The Origin and Settling down of the Edo’. Anthropos 94, no. 4/6 (1999): 542–52: 542. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Y4V3D623/collection§REF§ “The theme of this study presses the sources for the reconstruction of Benin military history to its limits because written documents scarcely exist, except for the reports and accounts of European visitors.” §REF§Osadolor, O. B. (2001). The Military System of Benin Kingdom, c.1440–1897. University of Hamburg, Germany: 27–28. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/N4RZF5H5/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 398, "polity": { "id": 570, "name": "es_spanish_emp_2", "long_name": "Spanish Empire II", "start_year": 1716, "end_year": 1814 }, "year_from": 1716, "year_to": 1814, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Spanish is a phonetic language." }, { "id": 399, "polity": { "id": 607, "name": "si_early_modern_interior", "long_name": "Early Modern Sierra Leone", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1896 }, "year_from": 1650, "year_to": 1832, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. \"The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4).\"§REF§(Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 400, "polity": { "id": 607, "name": "si_early_modern_interior", "long_name": "Early Modern Sierra Leone", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1896 }, "year_from": 1833, "year_to": 1896, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Phonetic_alphabetic_writing", "phonetic_alphabetic_writing": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. \"The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4).\"§REF§(Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.§REF§" } ] }