Editing Africa Alphabet

{{Short description|Letters created for African languages}}
{{distinguish|African Reference Alphabet}}
{{Infobox writing system
|name=African Alphabet
|type=alphabet
|time=1928–present
|languages=[[Languages of Africa]]
}}
The '''Africa Alphabet''' (also '''International African Alphabet''' or '''IAI alphabet''') is a set of letters designed as the basis for [[List of Latin-script alphabets|Latin alphabets]] for the [[languages of Africa]]. It was initially developed in 1928 by the [[International African Institute|International Institute of African Languages and Cultures]] from a combination of the [[English alphabet]] and the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA). Development was assisted by native speakers of African languages and led by [[Diedrich Hermann Westermann]], who served as director of the organization from 1926 to 1939. The aim of the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures, later renamed the International African Institute (IAI), was to enable people to write for practical and scientific purposes in all African languages without the need of [[diacritic]]s.

The Africa Alphabet influenced the development of orthographies of many African languages, serving "as the basis for the transcription" of about 60 by one count.<ref>{{harvp|Sow|Abdulaziz|1993|p=527}}</ref> Discussion of how to harmonize these with other systems led to several largely abortive proposals such as the [[African Reference Alphabet]] and the [[World Orthography]].

==Overview==
The Africa Alphabet was built from the [[consonant]] letters of the English alphabet and the [[vowel]] letters, and any additional consonants, of the IPA. Capital forms of IPA letters were invented as necessary. Thus J and Y are pronounced {{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}} and {{IPAblink|j}} as in English, while Ɔ, Ɛ and Ŋ are pronounced {{IPAblink|ɔ}}, {{IPAblink|ɛ}} and {{IPAblink|ŋ}} as in the IPA.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

== Characters ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+International African Alphabet
|- 
|{{letter|ch2=a|ch1=A|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch2=b|ch1=B|color=black}}
|{{letter|ch2=ɓ|ch1=Ɓ|color=black|note={{noteTag|name=Ɓ|groch1=letters|The capital Ɓ has the form of Ƃ in the original document, which is not the current standard  in most languages, but is still preferred for [[Dan language|Dan]] and [[Kpelle language|Kpelle]] languages of Liberia. Some fonts, such as [[Gentium]], provide for this via [[character variant]]s.}} }} 
|{{letter|ch2=c|ch1=C|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch2=d|ch1=D|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch2=ɖ|ch1=Ɖ|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch2=e|ch1=E|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch2=ɛ|ch1=Ɛ|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=Ə|ch2=ə|color=black}}
|{{letter|ch2=f|ch1=F|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch2=ƒ|ch1=Ƒ|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch2=g|ch1=G|color=black}}
|- 
|{{letter|ch1=Ɣ|ch2=ɣ|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=H|ch2=h|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=X|ch2=x|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=I|ch2=i|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=J|ch2=j|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=K|ch2=k|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=L|ch2=l|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=M|ch2=m|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=N|ch2=n|color=black}}
|{{letter|ch1=Ŋ|ch2=ŋ|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=O|ch2=o|color=black}}
|{{letter|ch1=Ɔ|ch2=ɔ|color=black}} 
|- 
|{{letter|ch1=P|ch2=p|color=black}}
|{{letter|ch1=R|ch2=r|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=S|ch2=s|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=Ʃ|ch2=ʃ|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=T|ch2=t|color=black}}
|{{letter|ch1=U|ch2=u|color=black}}  
|{{letter|ch1=V|ch2=v|color=black}}
|{{letter|ch1=Ʋ|ch2=ʋ|color=black}}
|{{letter|ch1=W|ch2=w|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=Y|ch2=y|color=black}} 
|{{letter|ch1=Z|ch2=z|color=black}}
|{{letter|ch1=Ʒ|ch2=ʒ|color=black|note={{noteTag|name=Ʒ|groch1=letters|In the original document, the capital Ʒ has the form of a reversed Σ, which is still preferred for [[Dagbani language]] in Ghana. Some fonts, such as [[Gentium]], provide for this via [[character variant]]s.}} }}
|}
{{noteFoot|groch1=letters}}

==See also==
*[[African Reference Alphabet]]
*[[Latin-script alphabet]]
*[[Dinka alphabet]]
*[[ISO 6438]]
*[[Pan-Nigerian alphabet]]
*[[Lepsius Standard Alphabet]]
*[[Writing systems of Africa]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book |last=Coulmas |first=Florian |title=The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems |year=1996 |publisher=Blackwell |location=Oxford |doi=10.1002/9781118932667 |isbn=9780631194460}}
*{{cite book |author=International Institute of African Languages and Cultures |url=http://www.bisharat.net/Documents/poal30.htm |title=Practical Orthography of African Languages |edition=Revised |location=London |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1930 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928031022/http://www.bisharat.net/Documents/poal30.htm |archive-date=2023-09-28}}
*{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Sow |first1=Alfa I. |last2=Abdulaziz |first2=Mohamed H. |title=Language and Social Change |editor-first=Ali A. |editor-last=Mazrui |volume=8 |encyclopedia=[[General History of Africa]] |publisher=University of California Press |year=1993}}

[[Category:Latin alphabets]]
[[Category:Writing systems of Africa]]
[[Category:Writing systems introduced in 1928]]
[[Category:Orthography]]