Mwangwego Script Encyclopedia Information

Home to several Bantu languages, like Chichewa, Malawian Lomwe and Lambya, Malawi sure boasts quite a lot of languages in the Bantu language group. “The script is also included in primers and studying train materials for college students. As of mid-2024, one other cohort of academics are being trained. Extra than 2,000 people have been taught the script, he said, a few of whom are actually performing as academics in their flip. If a script exists solely in historical documents, engravings, and inscriptions, it is all too simple to imagine it’s no longer in use, and the tradition that created it has also been lost.

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When designing fonts supporting writing methods (popularly referred to as alphabets, although most are not) that aren’t but encoded into Unicode, one tends to make use of unconventional methods to get issues working. Right Here is an unorthodox methodology I personally applied through the course of of creating a font for the Mwangwego script. The finish product was a writing system presenting as an alphasyllabary, written left to right, with vowel marks hooked up to the bottom proper of each base character.

What we most likely know now could be that, both Chichewa and Kyandonde are Bantu languages, which might have adopted comparable writing methods as languages like Swahili, which might very probably be the Arabic script, but that is only a hypothesis. Summarized, everybody on the earth should have the flexibility to use their very own language on telephones and computer systems. The Unicode Consortium helps make that possible by standardizing the world’s writing systems…and emoji. After all, it’s not only a matter of taking visual inspiration however MwangWego.com philosophical inspiration as well. But at nearly 26 years since its creation, what kind of progress has this writing system made? While it recorded around 400 learners firstly of the 2010s, with targets to teach it to thousands, precise numbers since this statistic have yet to materialise.

As a designer, I strive to develop work that speaks to both me and others in regards to the beauty (runako) that exists in Afrikan societies. In my design process, as a substitute of jumping on to the internet to research, I look around my surroundings getting inspiration from nature and everything I lay my eyes on. There is lots to admire, from hut patterns, stone sculptures, wild animals, conventional musical instruments and so forth. Getting inspiration from all this, I breathe life into the designs (especially typefaces) so that Afrikan concepts, innovation and lifestyle are visible. Our next writing system takes us to Southern Africa, particularly in a landlocked nation referred to as Malawi.

He was put in the headman of his village as Yaphet Mwakasungula IV on December 29, 1997.

• This is how far I’ve managed to go, the bottom consonants & syllables could be accurately displayed while using the Latin character code-points nonetheless, there are nonetheless extra consonant onsets formed by including non-spacing modifiers and diacritics.
• Summarized, everyone on the planet should have the flexibility to use their own language on telephones and computers.
• In reality, looking out up references on many of those writing system web sites have returned a end result that the area for Mwangwego’s primary web site was now on sale.

He theorised that, as there were words which means ‘write’ in Malawian languages, there might have been indigenous, pre-colonial scripts. This is how far I’ve managed to go, the base consonants & syllables can be precisely displayed while utilizing the Latin character code-points however, there are still extra consonant onsets formed by adding non-spacing modifiers and diacritics. These would require an equally easy however totally different shaping methodology which I’m still experimenting on.

One Thought On “writing In Africa — Mwangwego”

Welcome to the fourth monthly Endangered Alphabets feature about calligraphy and sort design–in indigenous and minority writing methods. Whereas Mwangwego faces an uphill battle to realize widespread adoption in Malawi, it does not stand alone in an isolated case research. Throughout the continent, various movements and projects have been began by people to represent their very own individuals and language. Perhaps the principle challenges nows to encourage widespread adoption, training, and cementing such writing methods as a part of their respective cultural identities.

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Solely one book has ever been revealed entirely written in Mwangwego, and the writing system has not yet been recognised by the ISO normal as of 2018. In truth, looking up references on many of these writing system web sites have returned a result that the area for Mwangwego’s main website was now on sale. While the creator remains to be energetic on Twitter, he does appear to still be resolved in promoting his writing system into Malawian colleges.