View source for Mandombe script

{{Short description|Congolese writing system}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox writing system
|name        = Mandombe
|type        = [[Featural writing system|Featural]] [[alphabet]]
|time        = 1978–present
|languages   = [[Kikongo]], [[Kituba language |Kikongo ya leta]], [[Lingala]], [[Tshiluba]], [[Swahili language|Swahili]]
|fam1        = [[Constructed script|Artificial script]]
|creator     = [[Wabeladio Payi]]
|sample      = Mandombe in Mandombe.svg
|imagesize   = 200px
}}
[[Image:Mandombe Sample.jpg|thumb|right|A Mandombe book]]

'''Mandombe''' or '''Mandombé''' is a script proposed in 1978 in [[Mbanza-Ngungu]] in the [[Bas-Congo]] province of the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] by [[Wabeladio Payi]], who related that it was [[Revelation|revealed]] to him in a dream by [[Simon Kimbangu]], of the [[Kimbanguist Church]]. Mandombe is based on the "sacred shapes" and intended for writing African languages such as [[Kikongo]], as well as the four national languages of the Congo, [[Kituba language|Kikongo ya leta]], [[Lingala]], [[Tshiluba]] and [[Swahili language|Swahili]], though it does not have enough vowels to write Lingala fully. It is taught in Kimbanguist church schools in Angola, the Republic of the Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is also promoted by the Kimbanguist ''Centre de l’Écriture Négro-Africaine'' (CENA). The Mandombe Academy at CENA is currently working on transcribing other African languages in the script.<ref>Pasch, Helma. 2008. Competing scripts: the introduction of the Roman alphabet in Africa. ''[[International Journal of the Sociology of Language]]'' 191:65–109.</ref> It has been classified as the third most viable indigenous script of recent indigenous west African scripts, behind only the [[Vai syllabary]] and the [[N'Ko alphabet]].<ref>Unseth, Peter. 2011. Invention of Scripts in West Africa for Ethnic Revitalization. In ''The Success-Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts'', ed. by Joshua A. Fishman and Ofelia García, pp. 23–32. New York: Oxford University Press.</ref>

A preliminary proposal has been made to include this script in the combined character encoding [[ISO 10646]]/[[Unicode]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2015/15118r-mandombe.pdf |title=Preliminary proposal for encoding the Mandombe script in the SMP of the UCS Revised) |last1=Rovenchak |first1=Andrij |last2=Pasch |first2=Helma |last3=Riley |first3=Charles |last4=Wazi |first4=Nandefo Robert |date=20 July 2015 |website=Unicode |access-date=30 July 2015 }}</ref> A revised [https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2016/16077-mandombe.pdf Unicode proposal] was written in February 2016 by Andrij Rovenchak, Helma Pasch, Charles Riley, and Nandefo Robert Wazi.

==Structure==
Mandombe has consonant letters and vowel letters which are combined into syllabic blocks, rather like [[hangul]]. All letters are based on a square S or 5 shape. The six vowels are distinguished by numerals added to the right of the 5-shape. The consonants fall into four 'groups', or shapes, which are distinguished by adding a short stroke to the 5-shape for three of the groups; and into four 'families', or orientations, which are distinguished by reflecting and rotating the letter shapes. The four families of consonants are attached to the same corner of the vowel, which is reflected or rotated to match the consonant, so that the consonant resides in a different corner of the syllabic block depending on its orientation. Unlike [[Pitman shorthand]], which also distinguishes consonants by rotation, in Mandombe the groups and families do not form natural classes, apart from a fifth group of fricatives and affricates made by inverting one of the four basic groups. Vowel sequences and nasal vowels are created with diacritics, prenasalized consonants by prefixing ''n'' (the basic 5-shape), and consonant clusters by inserting a consonant between the two parts of the vowel (between the 5-shape and the additional strokes).

==Vowels==
Vowel letters are composed of two parts: the basic 5-shape of the Mandombe script plus a numeral, or—in the case of ''ü''  ({{IPAslink|y}})—by modifying the basic ''u'' vowel letter. Vowel 1 is ''i'', vowel 2 ''u'', vowel 3 ''e'', vowel 4 ''o'', and vowel 5 ''a''.

A [[vowel]] can be written individually and form a [[syllable]] on its own. In a [[vowel sequence]] or [[diphthong]], however, a [[diacritic]] is used for the second vowel or part of the vowel. That is, ''lio'' (two syllables) is written ''li'' plus the diacritic for ''o'', while ''mwa'' (one syllable) is written ''mu'' plus the diacritic for ''a''. Diacritics come at the end of the last stroke of the vowel. While there is a diacritic for ''u'', sequences ending in ''u'' are instead generally written as two full syllables, the second being ''wu''. This strategy is apparently also employed in some other cases rather than using diacritics.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}}

{| class="wikitable"
!Latin script !! Mandombe !! Composition !! Diacritic
|-
|i || align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe i.svg|18px]] || align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe groupe1.svg|9px]] [[Image:Mandombe digit 1.svg|9px]] || align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe diac i.svg|2px]]
|-
|u || align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe u.svg|26px]] || align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe groupe1.svg|9px]] [[Image:Mandombe digit 2.svg|18px]] || align="center"|?
|-
|e || align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe e.svg|26px]] || align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe groupe1.svg|9px]] [[Image:Mandombe digit 3.svg|18px]] || align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe diac e.svg|10px]]
|-
|o || align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe o.svg|26px]] || align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe groupe1.svg|9px]] [[Image:Mandombe digit 4.svg|9px]] || align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe diac o.svg|12px]]
|-
|a || align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe a.svg|26px]] || align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe groupe1.svg|9px]] [[Image:Mandombe digit 5.svg|18px]] || align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe diac a.svg|10px]]
|}

''Ü'' is [[Image:Mandombe IPA y.svg|26px]]. It has no diacritic.

==Consonants groups and families==
There are four basic [[consonant]] shapes. Each shape (base character) can be [[reflection (mathematics)|reflected]] horizontally, vertically, or both to represent a different consonant; the four consonants thus formed are considered to be a group, and consonants reflected in the same way are considered to be a family. These consonants are combined with vowels, which are similarly reflected, to create syllables.
; Family 1: The consonant with the basic orientation is attached to the lower left of the vowel
; Family 2: The consonant-plus-vowel is reflected both horizontally and vertically (rotated 180°)
; Family 3: The consonant-plus-vowel is reflected horizontally
; Family 4: The consonant-plus-vowel is reflected vertically
Vowel diacritics are reflected along with the main vowel.

The use of geometric transformation is also present in Pitman shorthand and [[Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics]], though Mandombe consonants in the same group do not seem to have any phonological relationship (except the fifth group named ''mazita ma zindinga'', in which all consonants are [[affricate]]s and [[fricative]]s).

===Examples===
{|class="wikitable"
! Consonant !! Family 1 !! Family 2 !! Family 3 !! Family 4
|-
|align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe groupe1.svg|10px]]<br/>Group 1||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe na connect.svg|34px]]<br/>'''n'''a||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe va connect.svg|34px]]<br/>'''v'''a||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe sa connect.svg|34px]]<br/>'''s'''a||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe ta connect.svg|34px]]<br/>'''t'''a
|-
|align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe groupe2.svg|10px]]<br/>Group 2||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe be connect.svg|34px]]<br/>'''b'''e||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe de connect.svg|34px]]<br/>'''d'''e||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe fe connect.svg|34px]]<br/>'''f'''e||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe ge connect.svg|34px]]<br/>'''g'''e

|-
|align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe groupe3.svg|10px]]<br/>Group 3||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe ko connect.svg|34px]]<br/>'''k'''o||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe mo connect.svg|34px]]<br/>'''m'''o||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe lo connect.svg|34px]]<br/>'''l'''o||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe po connect.svg|34px]]<br/>'''p'''o

|-
|align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe groupe4.svg|10px]]<br/>Group 4||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe groupe4fam1i connect.svg|26px]]<br/>'''w'''i||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe groupe4fam2i connect.svg|26px]]<br/>'''r'''i||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe zi connect.svg|26px]]<br/>'''z'''i||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe yi connect.svg|26px]]<br/>'''y'''i
|-
|align="center"|''Mazita ma zindinga''||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe shu.svg|34px]]<br/>'''sh'''u||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe dju.svg|34px]]<br/>'''dj'''u||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe tshu.svg|34px]]<br/>'''tsh'''u||align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe ju.svg|34px]]<br/>'''j'''u
|}

==Complex characters==
* [[Prenasalized stop|Prenasalisation]] of consonants is indicated with a variation on [[Image:Mandombe groupe1.svg|10px]] (n) disconnected from the vowel. This always joins the consonant body, else certain signs could be read in more than one way.
* [[Nasalisation]] of the vowel is marked by an attached diacritic: [[Image:Mandombe diac nas.svg|10px]].
* If [[Image:Mandombe groupe1.svg|10px]] is placed between the two separable parts of the vowel glyph, it represents an intervening /r/.

===Examples of complex syllables===

{|class="wikitable"
! Modification !! Mandombe !! Latin script
|-
| Vowel sequence || [[Image:Mandombe bie connect.svg|30px]] ||bi'''e'''
|-
| Diphthong/semivowel || [[Image:Mandombe mwa connect.svg|38px]] || mw'''a'''
|-
| Nasal vowel or final nasal consonant || [[Image:Mandombe ken connect.svg|34px]]||ke'''n'''
|-
| Prenasalized consonant ||[[Image:Mandombe mbu connect.svg|42px]]||'''m'''bu
|-
| Labial occlusion
| [[Image:Mandombe occlusion.svg|38px]] || '''g'''ba 
|-
|rowspan="2"|  Consonant clusters || [[Image:Mandombe pro connect.svg|46px]] || p'''r'''o
|-
| [[Image:Mandombe_plo_connect.svg|48px]] || p'''l'''o
|}

== Tones == 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| High tone || [[Image:Mandombe pó.svg|32px]] || pó
|}

== Digits ==
The digit for 1 resembles the [[Arabic numeral]] 1, and 2–5 are based on this shape. 6 and 9 are square versions of Arabic 6 and 9, and 7–8 are formed by reflecting them.

1–5 are also the shapes used for the vowels i u e o a.

{| class="wikitable"
!digit !! Mandombe
|-
|0|| align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe digit 0.svg|12px]]
|-
|1|| align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe digit 1.svg|9px]]
|-
|2|| align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe digit 2.svg|18px]]
|-
|3|| align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe digit 3.svg|18px]]
|-
|4|| align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe digit 4.svg|9px]]
|-
|5|| align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe digit 5.svg|18px]]
|-
|6|| align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe digit 6.svg|9px]]
|-
|7|| align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe digit 7.svg|9px]]
|-
|8|| align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe digit 8.svg|9px]]
|-
|9|| align="center"|[[Image:Mandombe digit 9.svg|9px]]
|}

==Punctuation==
A period is used as a [[word divider]] to separate words.

The punctuation corresponds to that of the Roman alphabet. A comma has the form of a short line, [[File:Mandombe diac i.svg|2px|alt=ı]], a period a turned vee, [[File:Mandombe diac o.svg|7px|ʌ]], like the diacritic for ''o'', and a colon and semicolon combinations of these (semicolon î, colon double [[File:Mandombe diac o.svg|7px|alt=ʌ]]). The exclamation mark is like a lambda, λ, and the question mark is like a turned Y, ⅄.

== See also==
* [[Syllabary]]
* [[Writing systems of Africa]]
* [[Africa Alphabet]]
* [[African reference alphabet]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{Commons|Mandombe|Mandombe}}
*[http://simonkimbangukiangani.org/page13.html L'écriture Mandombe] {{in lang|fr}}
*[http://www.bisharat.net/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Mandombe Mandombe script]
*[http://www.afrikanistik-online.de/archiv/2010/2724 Pasch describing the script, its origins, and its uses]


{{list of writing systems}}

[[Category:Abugida writing systems]]
[[Category:Writing systems of Africa]]
[[Category:Writing systems introduced in 1978]]