Quick comments on language in Mali today

In transit on the way back from a quick 3 weeks in Mali as part of a short-term consultancy with the Mali Justice Project. More on the project at another time, hopefully, but here are some quick (and unfortunately superficial) observations regarding language in Mali while they're still fresh in the memory.

This was my first time in Mali since 2008. Bamako has grown considerably, and from observations and descriptions, there is a much larger urban middle class. However, that has not seemed to have been accompanied by a shift to French in everyday language (as one might see in some other cities in Francophone states). Bambara seems to be spoken everywhere, with French and occasional other languages as well.

As an obvious foreigner, efforts to use Bambara are generally met positively or matter-of-factly (to the extent one's accent hasn't obscured the fact one is using the language). That was great, though I admit it almost got a bit disconcerting to have airport security shift out of role to banter with the toubab speaking broken Bambara.

Only one real opportunity to speak Fulfulde, and that with a colleague in the project office. I found though that the whoosh of Fulfulde I was able to call up (to my surprise) was hard to turn off at first. Part of that is shifting between too many languages for a former monolingual (even crossed wires between Bambara and Chinese once - an old occasional lapse I ascribe to the similar structures of the languages and how I think my brain handles them).

In traveling outcountry to Segou and Sikasso, also found Bambara easy to use in various settings. With Segou that is expected, since it is ethnically Bambara (and the center of a major precolonial Bambara kingdom), but even in Sikasso, the major city in the ethnically Senufo/Minianka region of Mali, there was no problem speaking Bambara with anyone small merchants to heads of services. In fact, a 2-day project meeting of people involved in commerce, transportation, and services de contrôle in Sikasso worked mainly in Bambara after starting in French.

Not so much signage in Bambara, though on the road to Segou did notice a couple of signs with N'Ko (wasn't able to get photos, sorry). Orange - the phone company - had a TV ad with "I ni tié" (i ni cɛ ≈ thank you). Frenchified renditions of Bambara text are frequent in the written forms I saw in such short usage, which generally accompanied French.

Also had the chance to visit the ACALAN offices - more about that in another post.

Graphics arrangement for posters in Arabic & N'Ko

Localization primarily concerns language - translation from a source language to a target language - but also requires attention to cultural dimensions of communication and presentation of images. One aspect that apparently has been overlooked on more than one occasion is the arrangement of graphics when the target language is written - and read - right-to-left (RTL).

An often cited example is advertising translated into Arabic, where "before" (on the left) and "after" (on the right) pictures were not switched in the Arabic version, unintentionally implying the opposite of the visual message the advertisers hoped to convey (one site mentions this happening for a medicine and for laundry detergent).

RTL in ebola materials

International SOS to its credit has various ebola education materials in several languages, including Arabic and N'Ko, which are both written RTL. However these products - whatever the quality of their translations (which I'm not in a position to judge) - have run afoul of the same issue described above: The graphic layouts have not been inverted to correspond with the text direction.

First, ebola awareness posters in Arabic and N'Ko:

Ebola awareness posters in N'Ko (Manding) and Arabic, from International SOS

The graphics in these posters are arranged in exactly the same way as they are for left-to-right languages (like English), which means that the text reads one way, while the images are ordered in the opposite direction. Not ideal - readers can probably figure it out (assuming a certain level of literacy and familiarity with a visual clue like the arrow point, which we take for granted), but why make them work at it? Imagine following instructions or a comic in English with illustrations in panels organized from your right to your left.

But it's easy to fix. Here's the middle section of the N'Ko poster with graphics inverted:

This was quick and dirty, done with MS Paint on a laptop (can anyone who reads N'Ko evaluate it?). A professional effort would use a more sophisticated graphics program (Gimp or Adobe Photoshop) to get the spacings and alignments right and maybe flip some of the individual images. But the text and the illustrated story line here do at least go in the same direction.

Handwashing poster in Arabic from ISOS

And there's more. A handwashing poster in Arabic, again from International SOS (translation by Translators Without Borders), has the images of steps ordered in the direction contrary to how the language is read. It could be redone with the image sequence reversed to RTL and the digits changed to Arabic form (١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩٠).

Again, I'm not trying to be critical, but these are errors that stand out, and don't require any particular knowledge of the languages or scripts involved to set right.

A lot of good effort and resources went into producing such materials, and for good reasons, but all that gets unnecessarily discounted if such a basic mistake - one well known in advertising, localization, and development communication - is not corrected before dissemination.

But starting from where we are, with the urgency of the epidemic that prompted these efforts behind us, we have the opportunity to more carefully review and revise such materials to prepare them for re-use/re-purposing (per the 2Ds+4Rs). And in the case of layout, to think about establishing a best-practice of producing alternate graphics templates with inverted image order for RTL languages. How can this be done?

Where has that word been all these years?

Recently had an interesting conversation in Philadelphia with Coleman Donaldson, who just completed his master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, writing his thesis on aspects of the history of N'Ko.* One anecdote he shared stuck with me - how a Manding speaker read a word written in N'Ko that brought tears to his eyes, as he'd last heard that from his mother when he was 15. There's a lot wrapped up in a reaction like that, but one question that has stayed with me is what happened to that word in all the years in between?

That is taking a certain liberty with the story, and it is certainly true that in any language and culture, someone may hear something infrequently used years apart and react to it strongly. But in a world where many unwritten and policy-neglected languages are contracting, the thought I had was that the spoken language alone may not keep the range of expression that it had been able to in earlier times. How many words are lost through lack of use in speech, lack of teaching, and not being written and read?

A humorous account of an exchange in Mali about the Bambara word for indigo-dyed cloth - galafini - and some tailors' ignorance of it is another case in point, but this is not an esoteric term or rare concept in the context it was discussed. I personally recall being surprised when in Niger to find a native Fulfulde speaker who knew only the locution neɗɗo mo yiyataa (person who can't see) for blind person, and not the word bumɗo in his language (derived from the root wum- etc.). I also remember when in Guinea in the mid-1980s hearing co-workers my age saying that their elders could hold a conversation in front of them in their common language (Pular) that they could not fully understand, due to terms and expressions used that they did not know.

So, what if the man in the anecdote (as I heard it) did not read that particular word in N'Ko and it had never been written down (except perhaps in an academic publication or two in shelved in university libraries in Europe and America)? And in that way, that that particular word and concept was lost to him, and became progressively forgotten in the speech community? Could it effectively be lost entirely?

Such loss of words - and hence range of expression - must have a cost to speakers of the affected languages and to their communities and societies at large. It arguably may not be too far from the Orwellian "Newspeak" in impact, though as a process not as a project.

How many efforts are there in Africa that successfully counter such language contraction, as N'Ko seems to be doing for Manding?

More on N'Ko

I have mentioned N'Ko on this blog previously, but here are three important aspects in addition to its being a script invented in 1949 by Souleymane Kanté in Guinea that are worth knowing:

1. N'Ko is also a kind of "koiné," or emerging standard, of the Manding languages of several countries in West Africa, which is expressed in a growing number of publications. Manding is a subgroup of Mande languages that include several highly mutually intelligible languages, notably: Several varieties of Maninka and Mandinka, which Ethnologue groups as the Mandingo "macrolanguage"; Bambara; and Jula.
2. Tone markings are integral to the system, not optional as in the Latin-based orthographies (where they are generally omitted except in dictionaries). This feature allows for distinctions not only between words with different tones, but also use of tones affecting meaning in phrases.
3. N'Ko is also a movement, involving people volunteering time to teach others and distribute materials. From the point of view of someone who has worked in and studied community development, this is remarkable. (I personally first learned of this aspect of N'Ko in Bamako in 2000 on meeting one activist, Sounkalo Dembele, who was at the time making trips to various villages near the city on his own time to teach N'Ko classes.)

______
* "Colonial and Islamic Language Policy and the Birth of N'Ko in Postwar French West Africa," 2015

Unicode and the architecture of ICT

Latin omega, used in Kulango, and now
included in Unicode's latest version.

Unicode released its 8th version earlier this month, so maybe it's a good time to take stock of what the effort to encode all the world's scripts in a single system - which includes the Universal Coded Character Set (ISO/IEC 10646) - has meant for African languages.

The attention with a coding system for characters is naturally on the characters and scripts they are part of, and among the changes in Unicode 8 are some Latin-based characters used to write the Kulango language of Ivory Coast and the endangered Ik language of Uganda. These have been added to Unicode's "Latin Extended-D" block. (The Unicode standard also includes technical specifications for handling text.)

In past years there have been similar small additions to Unicode, as well as major additions of whole African scripts like Osmanya (2003), Tifinagh (2005), N'Ko (2006), Vai (2008), Bamum (2009), Mende Kikakui (2014), and Bassa Vah (2014).

The Ethiopic/Ge'ez script - used for several languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea, such as Amharic and Tigrinya - was first added in 1999, before the Unicode standard was widely adopted. At the time, different scripts used different coding systems, hindering use of languages with complex or non-Latin scripts, and posing particular problems for anyone wanting to combine scripts in a document or on a webpage.

Unicode as an enabling architecture

With that I wanted to quote from an unsigned blog posting entitled "What are we missing out on" (9 Dec. 2014) that was part of an American University course on international communication, as I think it offers an important perspective on why encoding scripts in Unicode is important:

"Tonight’s presentation on Ethiopic language and its inclusion in Unicode presented an important element about the global digital divide because it asks the question: how can, even with access to information communication technologies and internet access, someone utilize technology if it is not available in their native language? In short, they can’t. This is an important element to consider in regard to technology and the reality of, to borrow from Laura DeNardis’s description, its architecture. As the group described in their literature related to their case study, the architecture of something has the power to include and exclude. The analogy we have used in class in class is that of bridges that are built low enough to prevent busses driving under them.

"In the case of Ethiopia, technology was created in a way that excludes the nation’s 90 languages because American companies created the technology in English with a western cultural perspective. Further, their commercial interests drive their actions, and there is no financial incentive to include languages in which there is no commercial demand. Therefore, not only are these groups of people excluded from the benefits of technology, we are also denied the benefit of their knowledge. As the group noted, we “feel” like we are so much more connected, but cannot assume that the majority of the information is in English and unless everyone is able to put information in the digital realm, we are missing out. After this presentation, I cannot help but to believe that we are indeed missing out. Tonight we discussed Ethiopic, but what other languages are we missing out on?"

The "architecture" of information and communication technology (ICT) in this case starts with the internationalization piece ("i18n"), which is addressed in part by Unicode. It would also include availability or not of localized ("L10n") software, which is especially important for major languages, and content. Localization is also conditioned by factors such as education, policy (of national governments as well as of development organizations), and, as alluded to above, economics. As such, once one moves beyond the enabling architecture, the interplay of factors looks more like an "ecology."

Unicode, by adding scripts and amending characters, makes the written form of African languages theoretically accessible on modern computing devices and across the internet. That's huge progress beyond where things were a decade and a half ago, when various 8-bit encodings dominated (at which time I noted some issues of lack of support for African language scripts were stuck at practically the same place they had been ten years before!). But it's still only part of the process of fully addressing the linguistic dimensions of the digital divide in Africa. Until that happens, we all will be "missing out" in different ways.

More on written Malinke

The previous post highlighted issues with choice of Malinke orthography, and with spelling, in an ebola poster. Thanks to several responses* to a message about this sent to the Mande Studies Association (MANSA) list, I'm able to give more information on the situation of written Malinke in Guinea.

First, as background: Malinke (known to its speakers as Maninka) is a Manding language (within the Mande group) spoken primarily in upper Guinea as well as in southwestern Mali. It is closely related to Mandingo (Mandinka), Bambara (Bamanan), and Dyula (Jula) spoken in several countries of West Africa. There are four ways of writing the language in Guinea, of which the first two in the list below are Latin-based. The Latin-based and Arabic-based (Ajami) transcriptions include modifications to letter values to accommodate the sounds in the language - a process observed with other languages of the region as well.

1. Pre-1985 orthography (developed by the newly independent Guinea using available characters and accents on French typewriters, for use in all Guinean languages)
2. Current or "reformed" orthography (harmonized with usage in neighboring countries per the African Reference Alphabet, which incorporates some characters used in the International Phonetic Alphabet)
3. Ajami (Arabic-based; I understand that this is more commonly used in Mandingo/Mandinka of Gambia and Senegal than for any other Manding language)
4. N'Ko (created by Solomana Kante in 1949 and spread since then by an active grassroots movement; it is incidentally the only system in which one consistently marks tones)

The information from responses to my message on MANSA is that N'Ko today is the most used system for writing Maninka in Guinea. It evidently was finally recognized by the Guinean government in 2011.

The current Latin-based orthography (#2) is used by literacy efforts, but has not been taught in schools, so is not widely used (language of instruction policy in Guinea would be another discussion). The old Latin-based orthography (#1), which was taught in schools through 1984, is still used by people familiar with it. Apparently people not familiar with the current Latin-based system (due mainly to the unfamiliar extended characters borrowed from IPA) are more comfortable with the old orthography. However, the irregularities in use of the latter observed in the previously discussed ebola poster are said to be common in other writing.

Some suggestions:

• Development communication and health education efforts in Upper Guinea should prioritize use of N'Ko. 
• If Latin transcriptions are used, it may make sense to make use of both Latin transcriptions. Conversion from one to the other should be simple (a guide and perhaps a software tool could be developed to facilitate this).
• In any case, material in any Malinke transcription - whether composed or translated - should be reviewed (per 2Ds & 4Rs), preferably before publication. While it may be that irregular spelling can still be understood, the range of alternate spellings could lead to misunderstanding and will make sharing and re-use problematic.
• On a broader scale, primary education in countries where extended Latin alphabets are used (such as those of West Africa) should teach the expanded alphabet to children, regardless of the language of instruction. This would facilitate first language literacy, and could be done in a way that does not confuse students.

* Thanks to Valentin Vydrin, Ibrahima Sory Condé, and John Hutchison for their responses and information.

N'Ko on the web: Review of experience with ebola FAQ

Here's a quick recap of the demonstration of (experiment with) posting the N'Ko text of a WHO FAQ on ebola. Shortly after I posted it, I wrote "There would seem to be no reason not to use the internet for dissemination of webpages and mobile content about ebola in N'Ko, ..." Then Charles Riley of Yale University and Athinkra LLC pointed out some problems. And I found others.

I stand by that estimation, but after some tedious work on formatting and font coding in HTML, do so with greater emphasis on the caveats: "... although there would need to be attention to testing of commonly used systems and of ways to feed or facilitate loading of fonts that include N'Ko."

A summary of findings and lessons learned follows, but first a quick recap of what I did. My first attempt was to copy-past N'Ko text from a PDF of the FAQ on ebola, which as previously mentioned, did not work (RTL text was switched to LTR; character order was mixed, and combining diacritics sometimes not combined). Working from the Word document original, in contrast, was deceptively easy since I was working in Firefox (FF) ver. 32 - copy-paste into the "Compose" screen on Blogger, fix some bullets and do some minor formatting and voilà!

Problems were identified in Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 and Chrome 37 (mostly white boxes but some strings of text), and FF (some alignment of combining diacritics used to mark tones). Varying font commands inherited from the Word source document caused the irregular display of characters, and were fixed (an alternative to try later would be an unformatted text paste). 

However, while this work facilitated a correct display of diacritics on FF 32.02 and MSIE 8 on a computer running Windows XP, the diacritics were all off the mark in FF 32.03 and MSIE 11 on a Windows 7 system (the latter did not have the DejaVu fonts installed, which might be the problem there).

Lessons learned so far:

• align="left" - Full justification of N'Ko text may space the combining diacritics as if they were characters, leading to misalignment.
• Font choice/availability - N'Ko text display seems especially sensitive to font commands. Do not have an answer to why formatted text from a Word document pasted into Blogger looked fine in FF but not in MSIE 8 or Chrome. Installation of a font with N'Ko support may help.
• Browsers may not be the main issue - Despite initially encountering display issues in MSIE 8 and Chrome more than FF, those could be corrected in the source code. Also, the fact that the most current FF (32.03) and MSIE (11) misplace all diacritics on a computer without a particular font (DejaVu) points back to the font issue. 
• But browsers are not not an issue - The N'Ko script normally shows liaisons between characters within words (somewhat like Arabic), but while these show on FF, they did not on MSIE
• No bold or italics - Bold N'Ko is apparently not supported by the DejaVu font. Italics are, but while those did display on FF 32, they would not on MSIE 8.

Next steps

This has been a learning experience, but it should be pointed out that with sites like Kanjamadi, N'Ko on the internet is a reality and a potential to be pursued, even as there are issues. (Kanjamadi displays impressively on the same FF32 on XP that did great with the WHO ebola FAQ, but cannot load in MSIE 8 and has the same diacritic problems on MSIE 11 on the Windows 7 machine mentioned above).

Before posting more in N'Ko, it would be helpful to have more feedback on display issues for this script in function of available fonts, browsers, and operating systems.

Next steps should have as their goal a simple how-to for organizations wanting to display text in N'Ko on the web - whether for ebola education or any other useful purpose. Similar localization guides could be developed for other West African languages as well.

WHO FAQ on ebola, in N'Ko

"N'Ko" written in N'Ko

N'Ko is a script used mainly for Manding languages of West Africa, as well as an effort to create standardized form of those largely mutually intelligible languages.

I've reproduced below a translation into N'Ko of a FAQ on Ebola provided by the World Health Organization's (WHO) Regional Office for Africa, which was done by Boubacar Diakité and Baba Mamadi Diané.This was one of the translations mentioned in a previous post on this blog that have been facilitated by Athinkra, LLC. (Thanks to Charles Riley for his help.)

N'Ko was invented by Soulemayne Kante in Guinea in 1949. Although it is not officially recognized by any government, its use has been spread by grassroots education efforts in several countries in West Africa. It is written right to left, and includes tone marks.

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ߢߌ߬ߣߌ߲߬ߞߊ߬ߟߌ߬ ߛߌߦߊߡߊ߲ ߡߍ߲ ߦߋ߫ ߞߍ߫ ߟߊ߫ ߛߊߦߌߘߊ߲ߜߊ ߢߐߛߌ ߟߊߞߏߘߐ߫

ߛߊߦߌߘߊ߲ߜߊ ߢߐߛߌ ߦߋ߫ ߡߎ߲߬ ߘߌ߫؟

ߛߊߦߌߘߊ߲ߜߊ ߦߋ߫ ߓߣߊ߬ߖߎ߰ ߜߍߟߍ߲߫ ߞߟߊߞߟߊߡߊ ߘߏ߫ ߟߋ߬ ߘߌ߫߸ ߊ߬ ߛߌߦߊߡߊ߲ ߘߐ߫ ߊ߬ ߦߋ߫ ߡߐ߰ ߝߊ߰ ߟߊ߫ ߟߋ߬ ߸ ߊ߬ ߣߌ߫ ߢߊߕߍ߯ߘߐߡߊ ߡߍ߲ ߠߎ߬ ߕߍ߫ ߡߐ߰ ߘߌ߫ ߸ ߦߏ߫ ( ߜߐ߲߭، ߥߏ߬ߘߏ߲، ߊ߬ ߣߌ߫ ߞߏ߲ߞߏߡߐ߰ߣߍ߲ )߸ ߞߵߏ ߞߎ߲߭ ߞߍ߫ ߊ߬ߟߋ߬ ߛߊߦߌߘߊ߲ߜߊ߫ ߢߐߛߌ߫ ߞߟߊߞߟߊߡߊ ߞߍ ߘߌ߫ ߞߵߊ߬ߟߎ߬ ߟߊߛߐ߬ߘߐ߲߬، ߓߣߊ߬ ߞߟߊ߬ߞߟߊ߬ߡߊ߬ߓߊ߫ ߟߋ߬߸ ߡߍ߲ ߦߋ߫ ߝߊ߰ߟߌ ߞߍ߫ ߟߊ߫ ߌߞߘߐ߫ ߸ ߞߏ߬ߣߌ߲߬ ߊ߬ ߓߴߛߋ߫ ߡߊߕߊ߲߬ߞߊ߬ ߟߊ߫.

ߖߊ߲߬ߞߊߙߏ ߣߌ߲߬ ߦߋ߫ ߖߍ߲ߛߍ߲߫ ߠߊ߫ ߘߌ߬؟

ߢߐߛߌ ߣߌ߲߬ ߡߊߞߍ߫ ߦߙߐ߫ ߛߎ߲ߞߎ߲ߡߊ ߟߐ߲ߣߍ߲߫ ߕߍ߫߸ ߊ߬ ߘߏ߲߬ ߞߍߟߌ ߞߊ߬ ߡߐ߰ ߡߌ߬ߘߊ߬ ߝߟߐ ߞߍ߫ ߏ߬ ߘߐߞߣߍߣߍ߲߫ ߕߍ߫، ߞߏ߬ߣߌ߲߬ ߊ߬ ߛߌߦߊߡߊ߲ ߘߐ߫ ߸ ߊ߬ ߞߊ߬ ߡߐ߰ ߝߟߐ ߡߍ߲ ߟߊߛߐ߬ߘߐ߲߬ ߏ߬ ߞߍߣߍ߲߫ ߣߌߡߊߝߋ߲߫ ߓߣߊ߬ߓߊ߰ߕߐ ߘߏ߫ ߟߋ߬ ߛߌߟߊ ߝߍ߬.

ߝߣߊ߫߸ ߊ߬ ߢߐߛߌ ߓߴߛߋ߫ ߡߐ߰ ߟߊߛߐ߬ߘߐ߲߬ ߠߴߊ߬ ߟߊ߫ ߡߐ߰ ߡߌ߬ߣߊ߬ߣߍ߲ ߡߊ߰ߢߐ߲߰ߠߊ ߘߐ߫ ߸ ߊ߬ ߝߊ߬ߘߌ߬ߡߊ߬ ߖߌ ߣߌ߫ ߖߋ߬ߟߌ ߣߌ߫ ߘߊߖߌ ߣߌ߫ ߞߐߡߊߕߊ߮ ߣߌ߫ ߕߙߊߖߌ ߣߌ߫ ߘߏ߫ ߜߘߍ߫ ߟߎ߫ ߛߌߟߊ ߝߍ߬ ߜߍ ߘߐ߫߸ ߊ߬ ߣߌ߫ ߤߊߟߌ߬ ߓߣߊ߬ߓߊ߰ߕߐ ߟߊ߫ ߝߊ߬ߣߌ߲߬ ߣߐ߯ߣߍ߲ ߟߊߓߊ߯ߙߊ ߛߌߟߊ ߝߍ߬.

ߊ߬ ߓߴߛߋ߫ ߡߐ߰ ߟߊߛߐ߬ߘߐ߲߬ ߠߊ߫ ߝߋ߲߫ ߜߘߍ߫ ߟߎ߫ ߛߌߟߊ ߝߍ߬߸ ߦߏ߫ ߛߊ߬ߦߌ߬ߟߊ߲ ߡߍ߲ ߠߎ߬ ߡߊߣߐߘߐ߲ߞߐߣߍ߲߫ ߊ߬ ߕߌ߰ߟߊ߬ߡߐ߮ ߡߊ߬ߖߌ ߟߎ߬ ߟߊ߫.

ߊ߬ ߞߐ߯ߟߌ ߞߎ߲߬ߕߊ߮ ߕߋ߬ߟߊ߫ ߂-߂߁

ߛߊߦߌߘߊ߲ߜߊ ߕߐ߰ߡߊ߬ߛߙߋ ߣߴߊ߬ ߥߟߏߒߡߊߞߏ ߟߎ߬ ߦߋ߫ ߡߎ߲߬ ߘߌ߫؟

• ߝߊ߬ߘߌ߬ߜߊ
• ߝߣߐ
• ߞߣߐߓߏߙߌ
• ߞߊ߲ߠߊߓߊ߯ߣߍ߲
• ߞߎ߬ߘߋ߲ ߠߎ߬ ߣߌ߫ ߝߛߊ߬ ߘߌߡߌ߲
• ߞߣߐߘߌߡߌ߲
• ߞߎ߲߬ߘߌߡߌ߲
• ߡߊߞߌ߬ߛߍߞߌ߬ߛߍ
• ߝߊ߬ߘߌ ߡߊߞߌ߬ߛߍߞߌ߬ߛߍ ߣߌ߫ ߢߊߞߌߛߍ ߥߎ߬ߟߋ߲߬ߠߌ߲߸ ߊ߬ ߣߌ߫ ߛߌ߬ߞߏ߲ߕߌ ߣߌ߫ ߖߋ߬ߟߌ߬ߓߐ ߝߊ߬ߘߌ ߡߊ߬߸ ߏ߬ ߓߍ߯ ߦߴߊ߬ ߥߟߏߢߊ ߘߏ߫ ߟߋ߬ ߘߌ߫ ߖߊ߲߬ߞߊ߬ߙߏ߬ߕߐ ߡߊ߬.

ߊ߬ ߘߌ߫ ߛߋ߫ ߡߊߕߊ߲߬ߞߊ߬ ߟߊ߫ ߘߌ߬؟

• ߛߊߦߌߘߊ߲ߜߊߕߐ ߝߊ߬ߘߌ߬ߡߊ߬ߖߌ ߕߋߟߋ߲ߒߡߊ߫ ߡߊ߲߯ߢߐ߲߯ߦߊ ߡߊߕߊ߲߬ߞߊ ߸ ߥߟߴߊ߬ ߟߊ߫ ߛߊ߬ߓߊ߰ߕߐ ߡߊߕߊ߲߬ߞߊ ߓߟߏߡߊߘߏ߲ ߠߊ߫߸ ߡߊ߬ߕߊ߲߬ߞߊ߬ߟߊ߲߬ ߢߟߊ ߟߊ߫߸ ߊ߬ ߣߌ߫ ߞߎ߲߬ߡߊ߬ߘߏ߲ ߠߊ߫.
• ߞߊ߬ ߕߊ߯ ߡߐ߱ ߡߊߟߐ߬ ߜߋߙߋ߲ߜߋߙߋ߲ߦߘߊ ߡߊߛߎߘߎ߲ ߘߏ߫ ߟߊ߫ ߖߏߣߊ߫߸ ߕߎ߲߬ߞߎ߬ߙߎ߲߬ ߞߍߣߍ߲߫ ߡߍ߲ ߠߊ߫ ߛߊߦߌߘߊ߲ߜߊߕߐߦߊ ߟߊ߫߸ ߛߊ߫ ߞߊ߬ ߘߐ߰ߘߏ߲߬ ߞߍ߫ ߊ߬ ߟߊ߫ ߖߏߣߊ߫. ߛߊߦߌߘߊ߲ߜߊߕߐ ߡߊ߰ߢߐ߲߰ߠߊ߬ߓߊ߮ ߟߎ߫ ߣߐ߬ߝߍ߬ߓߐߟߌ ߣߴߊ߬ߟߎ߫ ߜߋ߬ߟߎ߲߬ߠߌ߲ ߦߋ߫ ߏ߬ ߘߐ߫ ߞߏ߫ ߞߘߎ߬ߜߍߟߍ߲ ߠߋ߬ ߘߌ߫.
• ߊ߬ߟߋ߬ ߛߊߦߌߘߊ߲ߜߊ ߞߍߣߍ߲߫ ߡߍ߲ ߠߎ߬ ߛߕߊ ߘߌ߫߸ ߏ߬ ߟߎ߬ ߞߊ߫ ߞߊ߲߫ ߞߊ߬ ߟߊߘߊ߬ߙߏ߬ ߡߊ߬ߕߊ߲߬ߞߊ߬ߝߋ߲߫ ߝߊ߲߬ߞߊ߬ߡߊ ߟߎ߫ ߟߋ߬ ߟߊߓߊ߯ߙߊ ߘߐ߫߸ ߞߊ߬ ߕߊ߯ ߊ߬ߟߎ߫ ߛߎ߬ߘߏ߲߬ ߌߞߘߐ߫.
• ߕߎ߲߬ߞߎߙߎ߲߫ ߞߍߣߍ߲߫ ߡߍ߲ ߠߎ߬ ߟߊ߫ ߛߊߦߌߘߊ߲ߜߊߞߏ ߡߊ߬߸ ߞߊ߬ ߥߊ߫ ߏ߬ ߟߎ߬ ߡߊߓߏ߬ߙߌ߬ ߜߋߙߋ߲ߜߋߙߋ߲ߦߘߊ߫ ߡߊߛߎߘߎ߲ ߠߊ߫ ߖߏߣߊ߫.
• ߕߎ߲߬ߞߎ߬ߙߎ߲߬ ߓߊ߯ ߞߍ߫ ߞߏ߫ ߊ߬ ߗߏ߯ߦߊ ߘߏ߫ ߦߋ߫ ߡߍ߲ ߠߊ߫ ߘߐߙߐ߲߫߸ ߞߵߏ߬ ߣߌ߫ ߓߣߊ߬ߓߊ߰ߕߐ ߕߐ߭ ߟߎ߬ ߓߐ߫ ߢߐ߲߮ ߞߊ߲߬߸ ߞߵߊ߬ ߟߊߞߋ߲߬ߛߎ߬ ߛߍߡߦߊ ߛߋߒߞߏߟߦߊ ߞߐ߬ߣߐߡߊ߬ ߞߋߟߋ߲ߘߌ߫.
• ߘߊ߲ߘߊߛߏ ߓߊ߯ߙߟߊ ߓߍ߯ ߣߌ߫ ߛߊߦߌߘߊ߲ߜߊ ߛߎ߲ߞߎ߲ ߞߊ߬ߟߊߡߦߊ߬ߟߌ ߟߋ߬ ߞߊ߫ ߞߊ߲߫߸ ߊ߬ ߣߴߊ߬ ߟߊ߫ ߞߟߊߞߟߊߡߦߊ ߛߌߟߊ ߟߎ߬. ߓߌ߲ߓߌ߲ߠߌ߲߫ ߞߙߍߞߙߍߣߍ߲߫ ߞߊ߫ ߞߊ߲߫ ߞߊ߬ ߞߍ߫ ߞߍߢߊ߫ ߣߊ߬ߕߐ ߢߌ߲߬ ߠߎ߫ ߟߐ߬ߞߎ߬ߟߌ ߞߊ߲߬: ߦߏ߫ ߣߊ߬ߝߏߟߏ߲ ߛߐ߰ߟߌ߸ ߖߋ߬ߟߌ߸ ߟߊ߬ߓߎ߬ߦߌ߬ߟߌ߸ ߘߐ߬ߛߏ߬ߛߏ߬ߟߌ߸ ߝߙߋ߬ߞߋ߬ߘߐ߬ߦߊ ߸ ߊ߬ ߣߌ߫ ߛߏ߬ߛߏ߬ߟߌ߬ ߕߙߏߞߏ ߟߎ߬߸ ߣߌ߲߬ ߓߍ߯ ߦߋ߫ ߞߍ߫ ߛߍߡߦߊ ߞߎ߬ߙߎ߲߬ߘߎ ߘߊ߲߬ߠߊߕߍ߰ߣߍ߲ ߠߎ߫ ߞߐ߬ߣߐߡߊ߬.

ߡߐ߱ ߞߋ߬ߟߋ߲߬ߞߋ߬ߟߋ߲߬ߠߊ߫ ߓߍ߯ ߣߴߊ߬ ߕߊ߫ ߘߎ߲߬ߘߎ߬ߡߊ߬ ߓߟߏߡߊߘߏ߲߸ ߞߎ߲߬ߡߊ߬ߘߏ߲߸ ߊ߬ ߣߌ߫ ߡߊ߬ߕߊ߲߬ߞߊ߬ߟߊ߲߬ ߢߟߊ ߞߊ߫ ߞߊ߲߫ ߞߊ߬ ߞߍ߫، ߝߣߊ߫߸ ߏ߬ ߓߊ߯ߙߊ߫ ߡߎߙߊ߲߫ ߟߊߓߊ߯ߙߊߣߍ߲߫ ߟߊߝߟߌ߬ߓߊߟߌ ߟߎ߬ ߡߊ߲߫ ߞߊ߲߫ ߞߊ߬ ߟߊߓߊ߯ߙߊ߫ ߝߋߎ߫߸ ߝߏ߫ ߣߴߊ߬ߟߎ߬ ߟߊߢߐߛߌߒߕߊ߲ߧߊ߫ ߘߊ߫.

• ߊ߬ߟߋ߬ ߖߊ߲߬ߞߊߙߏ ߘߌ߫ ߛߋ߫ ߟߊߖߍ߲ߛߍ߲߫ ߠߊ߫ ߛߊߦߌߘߊ߲ߜߊߕߐ ߟߊ߫ ߝߊ߰ߣߌ߲߬ ߣߐ߯ߣߍ߲ ߠߎ߬ ߛߌߟߊ ߝߍ߬߸ ߥߟߴߊ߬ ߟߊ߫ ߟߊߝߋ߲߫ ߟߊߒߞߣߐ ߟߎ߫ ߝߍ߬߸ ߏ߬ ߞߏߛߐ߲߫ ߝߏ߫ ߞߵߏ߬ ߟߎ߬ ߢߐߛߌߒߕߊ߲ߧߊ߫ ߟߋ߬.
• ߛߊߦߌߘߊ߲ߜߊ ߓߘߊ߫ ߡߊ߰ ߡߌ߬ߙߌ߲߬ߘߌ ߡߍ߲ ߠߎ߬ ߟߊ߫߸ ߏ߬ ߟߎ߬ ߦߴߊ߬ߟߎ߬ ߞߊߘߊ߲߫ ߞߙߊߕߊߕߊ߫ ߞߵߊ߬ߟߎ߬ ߛߏߡߐ߮ ߟߎ߬ ߡߊߜߍ߲߫ ߖߊ߲߬ߞߊߙߏ ߣߌ߲߬ ߛߎ߲ߞߎ߲ ߞߎ߲߬ߠߊ߬ߝߎߟߋ߲ ߠߊ߫ ߓߘߍߞߍ߭߸ ߊ߬ ߣߌ߫ ߝߍ߬ߙߍ ߡߍ߲ ߠߎ߬ ߞߊ߫ ߞߊ߲߫ ߞߊ߬ ߛߌ߰ ߛߋ߲߬ߞߊ߲߬ ߊ߬ ߡߊ߲߬ߕߊߣߌ߲ ߘߟߊߞߎ߬ߘߎ ߘߐ߫ ߜߎߕߙߎ߬، ߞߵߏ߬ ߟߴߊ߬ ߟߊ߫ ߡߐ߰ ߝߊ߰ߣߍ߲ ߠߎ߫ ߛߎ߬ߘߏ߲ ߞߍߢߊ ߞߊ߲߬. ߊ߬ߟߋ߬ ߛߊߦߌߘߊ߲ߜߊ ߞߍߣߍ߲߫ ߡߍ߲ ߠߎ߬ ߛߕߊ ߘߌ߫߸ ߏ߬ ߟߎ߫ ߛߎ߬ߘߏ߲ ߞߊ߫ ߞߊ߲߫ ߠߋ߬ ߞߊ߬ ߟߞߊߟߌߦߊ߫߸ ߊ߬ ߣߌ߫ ߝߊ߲ߕߊ߲ߞߊ߫ ߞߐ߲ߞߐ߲ ߞߐ߬ߣߐߡߊ߬.

ߟߊ߬ߛߐ߬ߘߐ߲߬ߠߌ߲

ߌߞߏߡߌ߲߬ ߊ߬ ߟߊ߫ ߡߐ߰ ߟߊ߬ߛߐ߬ߘߐ߲߬ߧߊ߬ ߝߟߐ ߦߋ߫ ߡߊ߰ߟߌ ߟߋ߬ ߘߌ߫ ߞߟߊߞߟߊߡߊ ߟߊ߫߸ ߖߋ߬ߟߌ ߘߐ߫߸ ߓߎ߬ߦߌ߬ߕߊ ߘߐ߫߸ ߊ߬ ߣߌ߫ ߝߊ߬ߘߌ߬ߡߊ߬ߖߌ ߘߐ߫߸ ߏ߬ ߞߏߛߐ߲߬ ߡߐ߱ ߟߎ߬ ߞߊ߫ ߞߊ߲߫ ߞߊ߬ ߕߏ߫ ߜߋ߬ߟߎ߲߬ߠߌ߲߬ ߜߘߋߜߘߋ ߞߐ߬ߣߐߡߊ߬ ߡߍ߲ ߠߎ߫ ߕߘߍ߬ ߓߣߊ߬ߓߊ߰ߕߐ ߛߋ߲߬ߘߐ߫ ߛߌߟߊ ߏ߬ ߟߎ߫ ߝߍ߬߸ ߞߵߊ߬ߟߎ߫ ߝߊ߬ߘߌ ߜߊ߲߬ߘߌ߬ߦߊ ߡߊߝߟߍ߫ ߕߋ߬ߟߋ ߞߘߐ߫ ߛߋ߲߬ߧߊ߫ ߝߌ߬ߟߊ߬، ߞߊ߬ߕߎ߲߯ ߸ ߞߵߊ߬ߟߎ߬ ߟߊߘߏ߲߬ ߘߊ߲ߘߊߛߏ ߟߊ߫ ߞߊߟߌߦߊ߫ ߘߐ߫ ߌߞߘߐ߫ ߣߴߊ߬ ߦߋ߫ ߘߊ߫ ߞߏ߫ ߊ߬ ߝߊ߬ߘߌ߬ߜߊ ߢߐ߲߰ ߦߴߊ߬ ߘߏ߫ ߟߊ߫.

ߟߊ߬ߝߛߊ߬ߟߌ ߣߌ߫ ߟߊ߬ߛߋ߬ߟߌ ߓߌ߬ߟߊ߬ߢߐ߲߰ߡߊ߬ߘߊ

ߜߋߟߋ߲ߜߋߟߋ߲߫ ߝߙߍߕߍ : +߄߇߂ ߄߁߃ ߉߄߂߀، + ߂߄߂ ߀߆ ߆߁߄ ߂߄߀߁

ߢߎߡߍߙߋ߲ߞߏ߲ߘߏ : afrgodrdcam@who.int

Source: World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa

---

Addendum (24 Sept. 2014): 
The main reasons for posting this are: demonstration; and facilitation of review, reading, revisions, and re-use (4 R's?) of the text. A secondary purpose was to test support for the N'Ko script.

N'Ko was added to Unicode in July 2006, which is what makes it possible to post and read it in a blog like this. However, posting the text presented an unexpected challenge, since copying and pasting from the PDF made available by Athinkra on its site resulted in problems, including reversal of the right-to-left text to left-to-right. Pasting from Word document version supplied by Charles Riley held the text formatting without problem (there were minor issues with bullets and indents).

On the whole, it is impressive what one can do on current systems. There would seem to be no reason not to use the internet for dissemination of webpages and mobile content about ebola in N'Ko, although there would need to be attention to testing of commonly used systems and of ways to feed or facilitate loading of fonts that include N'Ko. 

Addendum (25 Sept. 2014): 

After some helpful observations from Charles Riley on display of this post in different browsers, I've revised some of the HTML and the N'Ko text should now be readable on more systems. I'll write about lessons learned in an upcoming post on this blog. [See here.]

More on ebola and health information in African languages

Quick follow-up on last week's post on Ebola and health information in African languages, to share some more information about initiatives on ebola education and reporting in African languages.

Following tweets on the previous post, there was additional information via Twitter on some videos in Nigerian languages:

@babatabita Check @LensOnEbola for more #Ebola videos from #Nigeria, in #Yoruba, #Pidgin and #English. @donosborn #NgHlth
— Nigeria Health Watch (@nighealthwatch) September 5, 2014

The Nigerian language videos (YouTube) that I'm aware of so far are as follows (would appreciate more links from those who have them):

• In Yoruba, "Owó Fifò," on hand washing
• In Pidgin, on ebola symptoms and what to do if one experiences them

Also from Nigeria, there is an official poster in Igbo - Nje Ọrịa Ebola - which since it is from the Nigerian government, may also be in other languages like Hausa and Yoruba.

There is a Senegalese video (also on YouTube) about ebola in Wolof, with some written French. (An August 29 newscast in Wolof on ebola in Senegal is also on YouTube.)

A GooglePlay app "About Ebola" is available in English, Jola (Diola in French spelling), Krio, Liberian English, and Wolof.

There appears to be significant information on ebola in Fula, notably on pulaar.org, including a recent long article "Ebola Hol no haɓtortee?" (ebola, how can it be fought/countered?). Peeral Media has a short piece in Fula on Facebook, with a parallel English version. A 5-minute audio "Info sur Ebola en Pulaar/Fulfulde" is available on YouTube (accompanied by one graphic). Another example is a story on Voice of Nigeria about the Nigerian Hajj Commission's screening of pilgrims going to Mecca: "Hukuuma hijju Najeeriya wiɗitay hijooɓe Najeeriya."

In Guinea, Studio Hirondelle in collaboration with the rural radio network has produced radio programs on ebola in Fula (Peulh in French; the endonym in Guinea is Pular) and Malinké (a Manding language for which the endonym is Maninka or Maninkakan).

WHO and Athinkra

Athinkra LLC is coordinating translations of a FAQ on ebola provided by the World Health Organization (WHO). Languages on its list so far include N'Ko (an alphabet for Manding), Vai (in its own script and Latin alphabet), and Fula (in the new Adlam script - more on the latter in another post). (Thanks to Coleman Donaldson for calling my attention to this.)

Rubric, Wikimedia ZA, and WikiProject Medicine

Further afield, there is a collaboration in South Africa among Rubric (a languages services company), Wikimedia ZA, and WikiProject Medicine (which has a Translation Task Force/Project) to translate ebola health info on Wikipedia into the official languages of that country.

Summary and thoughts

The above is an eclectic sampling of initiatives and reporting on ebola in some African languages. Much of this is happening on country levels or by individual or small group initiatives. This post helps fill out blank spots in the picture as portrayed in the previous posting, but it is far from complete.

At this point it would seem very useful to have a way of monitoring such efforts and products with an eye to facilitating communication and sharing among them (particularly important, I'd argue, for cross-border and closely-related languages), reviewing material for accuracy, and building a data bank of medical translations in African languages about ebola and related public health topics.

Three more items before the IDN/Unicode conference: Connections en route; education in African languages; African studies in China

Here are 3 unrelated items, the first was written mostly on the last leg of the trip yesterday, the second is part of a letter about education policy written earlier that I've been intending to post (relevant to this blog and in a way to the context of discussion of things like IDNs and localization), and the third to a link between where I just came from and where I am.

I will also quickly mention three other items that have just come up today relating to the upcoming conference: (1) I just received a note from Daniel Yacob with a powerpoint on IDNs in Ethiopic (script used for several languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea). It is of course with the non-Latin scripts that a lot of the most interesting problems for IDNs are encountered; (2) there is a series of articles on the IDN/Unicode conference and African language computing generally in a special issue of Les Echos here in Dakar (see the files section of Unicode-Afrique for the PDF of this); and (3) I just met Mamady Doumbouya of the N'ko Institute who is also here for the conference. We had a good talk about aspects of localization, African languages, and the N'ko movement. N'ko is a script devised less than 50 years ago, but is increasingly used in the Mandephone parts of West Africa (and it is in the process of being approved for addition to Unicode).

The three items I mentioned are as follows.

Connections en route: airport to airport

The travel day, and it is a long day traveling with the sun across Eurasia and then south to Africa, is not so hard as it is one that demands patience, then at points some frantic rushing and then more patience. Time to fill with some work and thinking. There is not much rest, but some adrenaline.

On this trip I had more opportunity to look at the various connection possibilities in airports. I was impressed that Chengdu airport now has a nice cyberlounge where you can link via cable (broadband) or use one of their computers. This is new, as far as I've noticed. Connection was broadband by cable.

Beijing has the same reliable but rather expensive business lounge (these are not the "business class" & first class lounges of the airlines). The cable hookup did not work for me even when trying to reconfigure my settings. The China Unicom wireless signal was not clear this time, though I didn't waste much time looking for it since you had to have a cellphone account with them to use it.

I was not able to link up on Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport for-pay wireless this time - not enought time in layover.. I did try in the plane as it was still loading, but the signal did not carry outside. This airport also has (or at least did as recently as last June) little for-pay internet kiosks.

No attempt to connect in Dakar airport on arrival, but I am pleased that the Novotel where we are staying has wireless in the ground floor (lobby, restaurant, bar).

Substantively some of what I'm doing is to keep thinking through all the things I want to cover with various people in Dakar in the conference and in diverse other meetings. Over the years so many issues and questions seem to have some connection with someone or some organization in Dakar. Part of what malkes this trip worth making the time is the potential to (re)connect with so many people.

Of course the IDN (internet domain names) & Unicode conference is the main event, and will bring together a number of people. Je tenterai d'ecrire un peu sur les participants et l'activite meme prochainement. From the description of the project of which this event is a part, it seems the issue is bigger than IDNs only. More soon - hopefully they'll put this document on the web.

Education in national languages of Ghana

The following is an excerpt (slightly edited to read better) from a letter I wrote to Paa Kwesi Imbeah on the subject of the apparently pretty exclusive focus on English as language of instruction that one sees in Ghana these days. I think it is useful to bring up the educational angle again as we prepare in Dakar for this Unicode/IDN meeting. (Paa Kwesi, by the way, will be presenting a paper on the Akan online dictionary at the Unicode conference IUC28 in Orlando, Florida, which also begins tomorrow):

English is the "language of the belly" or "language of the stomach," as they say. Some people see it as their ticket to eating enough. Others see it as their ticket to eating a lot. There is some truth to that but it hides other realities. One is that neglecting or, as a colleague once put it, taking for granted the indigenous languages leads to some significant losses and costs that aren't imediately apparent.

One you hint at in your letter is limited or impaired bilingualism or worse, semilingualism. This has been touched on in some entries on this blog and also in the Multilingual_Literacy group (link in the left hand column ; you can search the terms on the group's page).

Ghana's government is not alone in focusing on English. In the current global economic situation, the enhanced prospects of outsourcing industries, outside investments, etc. (already a part of the scene in the country) mean dollar and cedi signs to planners. But the global climate could change drastically in the future with English being less central (hard to see now but who can say?). So if Ghana sells its linguistic heritage for a middling average national competence in what is still essentially a foreign/international language, where would it be then?

But the worst of it is that it isn't an "either-or" question but a "both-and" issue. Good bilingual education can give you the best of both worlds (a lot of research worldwide shows this): Ghanaian languages and English. Unfortunately, the way it goes, they don't take advantage of the "both-and" approach and so somehow end up with a "neither-nor" result for a lot of the population.

I would add that there was a conference last month in Windhoek, Namibia on bilingual education in Africa. See an article and the conference document (the latter in PDF format and rather large).

African studies in China

I finally caught up with Prof. Li Anshan's article that was published a few months ago: "African Studies in China in the Twentieth Century: A Historiographical Survey" in the African Studies Review, 48(1): 59-87. Part of what interests me about China-Africa connections is that they are getting increasingly important. In and of itself, and as part of broader evolution of so-called South-South relations, the relationship between China (the world's most populous country with a rapidly growing economy) and Africa (the second largest continent with a rapidly growing population) will become ever greater in the development picture for Africa. It will be interesting also to see the evolution of studies and understanding of Africa in China and vice-versa. Anyway, an abstract from Johns Hopkins' Project Muse follows. I would add to it only that Prof. Li mentions that the only two African languages taught in China are Swahili and Hausa.

This article surveys African studies in China during the twentieth century. It is divided into five parts: "Sensing Africa" (1900–1949), "Supporting Africa" (1949–65), "Understanding Africa" (1966–76), and "Studying Africa" (1977–2000). From a Chinese perspective, the author tells how, when, and why Chinese scholars have conducted their research on Africa according to paradigms that evolved during the last century. In conclusion, the author points out the achievements as well as the problems in African studies in China today.

Cet article propose un aperçu des études africaines menées en Chine au cours du vingtième siècle. Il est divisé en cinq parties: «Approcher l'Afrique» (1900-1949), «Soutenir l'Afrique» (1949-65), «Comprendre l'Afrique» (1966-76) et «Étudier l'Afrique» (1977-2000). A partir d'une perspective chinoise, l'auteur examine comment, quand, et pourquoi les chercheurs chinois ont mené leur recherche sur l'Afrique, selon des paradigmes qui ont évolué au cours du siècle. En conclusion, l'auteur souligne les succès et les difficultés rencontrés par les études africaines en Chine aujourd'hui.