AYNEHA among the writing systems of West Africa
Creating a script of one's own for one's language: West Africa has done it several times over the past two centuries. AYNEHA is part of this history.
A long history
Many African languages were long passed on orally. To write them, people often borrowed an existing alphabet: the Arabic alphabet (Ajami), then the Latin alphabet. But on several occasions, people chose another path: inventing an entirely new script, designed for their language.
| Script | Country | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Vai | Liberia, Sierra Leone | around 1833 |
| Bamum | Cameroon | late 19th c. |
| Mende | Sierra Leone | 1921 |
| Masaba (Bambara) | Mali | 1930 |
| N'Ko (Manding languages) | Guinea, Mali | 1949 |
| Bété | Côte d'Ivoire | 1956 |
| Nti (Soninke) | Mali | 1984-1985 |
| Adlam (Fula) | Guinea | 1989 |
| Dogon NÈNÈ (Dogon languages) | Mali (Dogon Country) | 2019 |
| EpChos (African languages) | Benin | around 2019 |
| AYNEHA (Songhay) | Mali (Gao) | 2026 |
Mali alone has seen several of these scripts emerge: Masaba for Bambara, N'Ko for the Manding languages, Nti for Soninke, Dogon NÈNÈ and AYNEHA. Masaba is now endangered: only a few dozen people can still read and write it. Nti, on the other hand, is still taught, in class and over WhatsApp.
Like AYNEHA, Mende, N'Ko, Adlam and Dogon NÈNÈ are read from right to left.
The main families of scripts
Not all scripts work the same way. What changes is what a sign stands for: a word, a syllable or a sound.
- Logographic script: a sign stands for a word or an idea. Thousands are needed. Example: Chinese characters.
- Syllabary: a sign stands for a whole syllable. “ba”, “bi” and “bo” each have their own sign, unrelated to one another. Often more than a hundred are needed. Example: Japanese kana.
- Abjad: only consonants have letters. Vowels are guessed by the reader or added with small marks. Example: the Arabic alphabet, used for Ajami.
- Abugida (or alphasyllabary): each consonant carries a default vowel, which is changed by adding a mark to it. Example: the Ethiopic script.
- Alphabet: consonants and vowels each have their own letters, on an equal footing. A few dozen letters are enough. Examples: the Latin alphabet, the Greek alphabet.
Where each script fits
| Script | Type | Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Vai | Syllabary | Over 200 signs |
| Bamum | Logographic, later a syllabary | Simplified over successive versions to about 80 signs |
| Mende | Syllabary | Nearly 200 signs |
| Masaba | Syllabary | 123 signs |
| N'Ko | Alphabet | Tones are marked with accents |
| Bété | Syllabary | Several hundred signs |
| Nti | Alphabet* | 27 letters |
| Adlam | Alphabet | Upper and lower case |
| Dogon NÈNÈ | Alphabet | 29 joined letters, upper and lower case, tones marked with accents |
| EpChos | Alphabet* | 36 letters |
| AYNEHA | Alphabet | 27 letters: 5 vowels and 22 consonants, no capital letters |
* Nti and EpChos are described as alphabets by the available sources, but how they work in detail is still poorly documented.
AYNEHA, an alphabet
AYNEHA is an alphabet: each vowel and each consonant has its own letter. It works on the same principle as N'Ko, Adlam and Dogon NÈNÈ. With 27 basic letters, it is quick to learn: a syllabary such as Masaba requires memorising more than a hundred signs.
Two choices set it apart from its neighbours: AYNEHA has no capital letters, just one form per letter, and it does not mark tones at this stage, whereas N'Ko and Dogon NÈNÈ mark them with accents.
A neighbouring script: Dogon NÈNÈ
Dogon NÈNÈ is a script created by Yahya Sékou Salah GUINDO for the Dogon language and its various varieties: in Dogon, “nènè” means “the language”. Created in 2019, it has 29 letters and is written, like AYNEHA, from right to left. Its letters join together within a word, and accents mark the tones of the language.
Dogon NÈNÈ has its own digits: you can see them and convert your numbers with the site's number converter, alongside AYNEHA, N'Ko and Adlam digits.
More than a tool
A script created for a language does more than a practical job. It also carries a strong symbolic value: it says that this language deserves signs of its own. N'Ko thus went hand in hand with a vast literacy movement and strengthened the cultural identity of speakers of the Manding languages, in Guinea, Mali and beyond.
AYNEHA embraces this double role: writing Songhay precisely, and asserting the graphic independence of the language.
What these scripts teach us
- A script can succeed when a community learns it, teaches it and passes it on. N'Ko and Adlam are taught today, used on phones and encoded in the Unicode standard: N'Ko since 2006, Adlam since 2016.
- A script can also fade away. Mende was widely used in the 1920s and 1930s for letters and records, then declined in the face of the Latin alphabet used by literacy campaigns.
- Tools matter. What cannot be learned easily is not passed on. That is why AYNEHA came from the start with its font, its keyboard, its online tools and an app to learn on one's own.
What sets AYNEHA apart
The creation stories of several of these scripts speak of a dream or a revelation, and some were reserved for initiates. AYNEHA follows another path:
- A reasoned design: one character for each sound retained, and public, documented writing rules.
- Open to all: anyone can learn it, free of charge, with no conditions.
- Free and open: the font is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 and the apps' code is free software.
- Born in the age of the phone: the font, keyboard, apps and website were created together with the script itself.
Going further
The online encyclopedia Omniglot presents most of these scripts, as well as AYNEHA. To discover AYNEHA itself, start with the alphabet or the FAQ.