Boko (alphabet)
Encyclopedia
Boko is a Latin alphabet devised by Europeans in the early 19th century for the Hausa language
. It was developed and introduced in the early 20th century by the British (mostly) and French colonial authorities and used as the official script of the Hausa language. It was made the official alphabet in 1930. Since the 1950s boko has been the main alphabet for Hausa speakers. Arabic script (Ajami) is used now only in Islamic schools and in a big part of Islamic literature. In Nigeria Boko has been written in pan-Nigerian font
since the 1980s.
Derivatively "boko" also refers to non-Islamic (usually western) education ('yan boko = "modern school") or secularism
.
There are some differences in boko used in Niger
and Nigeria
due to different pronunciations in the French and English languages. The letter is used only in Niger
; in Nigeria
it is written .
Tone, vowel length, and the distinction between /r/ and /ɽ/ (which does not exist for all speakers) are not marked in writing. So, for example, /daɡa/ "from" and /daːɡaː/ "battle" are both written daga.
Hausa language
Hausa is the Chadic language with the largest number of speakers, spoken as a first language by about 25 million people, and as a second language by about 18 million more, an approximate total of 43 million people...
. It was developed and introduced in the early 20th century by the British (mostly) and French colonial authorities and used as the official script of the Hausa language. It was made the official alphabet in 1930. Since the 1950s boko has been the main alphabet for Hausa speakers. Arabic script (Ajami) is used now only in Islamic schools and in a big part of Islamic literature. In Nigeria Boko has been written in pan-Nigerian font
Pan-Nigerian alphabet
The Pan-Nigerian alphabet is a set of 33 Latin letters standardized by the National Language Centre of Nigeria in the 1980s. It is intended to be sufficient to write all the languages of Nigeria without using digraphs.-History:...
since the 1980s.
Derivatively "boko" also refers to non-Islamic (usually western) education ('yan boko = "modern school") or secularism
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
.
| A a | B b | C c | D d | E e | F f | G g | H h | I i | J j | K k | L l | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /a/ | /b/ | /ɓ/ | /tʃ/ | /d/ | /ɗ/ | /e/ | /ɸ/ | /ɡ/ | /h/ | /i/ | /(d)ʒ/ | /k/ | /kʼ/ | /l/ |
| M m | N n | O o | R r | S s | Sh sh Sh (digraph) Sh is a digraph of the Latin alphabet, a combination of S and H.-English:In English, sh usually represents . The exception is in compound words, where the s and h are not a digraph, but pronounced separately, e.g. hogshead is hogs-head , not *hog-shead... |
T t | Ts ts | U u | W w | Y y | Z z | |||
| /m/ | /n/ | /o/ | /r/, /ɽ/ | /s/ | /ʃ/ | /t/ | /(t)sʼ/ | /u/ | /w/ | /j/ | /ʔʲ/ | /z/ | /ʔ/ |
There are some differences in boko used in Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
and Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
due to different pronunciations in the French and English languages. The letter is used only in Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
; in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
it is written .
Tone, vowel length, and the distinction between /r/ and /ɽ/ (which does not exist for all speakers) are not marked in writing. So, for example, /daɡa/ "from" and /daːɡaː/ "battle" are both written daga.
See also
- Ajami (Arabic alphabet) for Hausa language
- Boko HaramBoko HaramBoko Haram is a Nigerian Islamist group that seeks the imposition of Shariah law throughout the whole of Nigeria. The group presently has an undefined structure and chain of command...