Why West Africa keeps inventing writing systems

These dozens of modern African scripts are adding a brand new chapter to the history of writing!

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~ Briefly ~

Meet Adlam, N'ko, Vai and over twenty more scripts that capture West African linguistic features and give new visual representation to native West African tongues.

Topics covered:
backstories of Adlam and N'ko
list of many other scripts
examples of African scripts beyond West Africa
prenasalized stops like ᵐb
labiovelars like g͡b
vowel length in Fula
length and tone in N'ko
nasalization as an areal feature
older visual codes like N'sibidi and Adinkra
sociolinguistics of script creation

See the sources doc below for much more information.

~ Credits ~

Art, narration, animation and four pieces of music by Josh from NativLang

Sources for claims made, plus credits for music, fonts, sfx:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v...

~ Music ~

Please see my doc above for full credits. Public domain credits:

Teko, song of nostalgia, traditional music of Burkina Faso, Tuasgo & Gouama accompanied by Kondé:
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt...

Creative Commons credits:

Monkoto by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song...
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Thinking Music by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song...
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Kumasi Groove by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song...
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Silver Flame by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song...
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Infados by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song...
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license