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Writing systems of Africa
The writing systems of Africa are the current and historical writing systems used on the African continent, both those which are indigenous and those which were introduced. In many African societies, history was traditionally recorded orally despite most societies having developed a writing script, leading to them being termed "oral cultures" in contrast to "literate cultures". However, this generalization misses the significant pre-modern use of written languages in various African cultures and the widespread modern adoption of written language on the continent.
Today, the Latin script is commonly encountered across much of Africa, especially in the regions of Western Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. The Arabic script is mainly used in North Africa. Among the indigenous writing systems, the Ge'ez script is widely used in the Horn of Africa, and the Tifinagh script is used in many parts of the Sahel region. Variations of the Arabic-derived Ajami script are also notably used in various regions of Subsaharan Africa. There are also several widely used constructed writing systems in wide use today in West Africa, with the most frequently used being the Vai syllabary and the N'Ko script.
There are also various notable indigenous African writing systems which are no longer in common use today, the most famous being Egyptian hieroglyphs. A significant number of less common writing systems are also of significant local, regional, or historical importance, many of which are described below.
While historic writing systems from North Africa are among the oldest in the world, native writing systems and scripts are less common in the cultures of Subsaharan Africa. However, this is not to say that there are no indigenous pre-modern writing systems in the region; the Tifinagh script has been used by the Tuareg people since antiquity, as has the Geʽez script and its derivatives in the Horn of Africa. Other groups have encountered the Latin and Arabic scripts for centuries, but rarely adopted them in a widespread manner until the 19th century as they simply did not find them necessary for their own societies (Ajamiyya writing being a notable exception).
Perhaps the most famous African writing system is ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. These developed later into forms known as Hieratic, Demotic and, through Phoenician and Greek, Coptic. The Bohairic dialect of the Coptic language is still used today as the liturgical language in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and the Coptic Catholic Church of Alexandria. Other dialects of Coptic include Sahidic, Akhmimic, Lycopolitan, Fayyumic, and Oxyrhynchite.
The Meroitic language and its writing system was used in Meroë and the wider Kingdom of Kush (in modern day Sudan) during the Meroitic period. The Kingdom of Kush previously used the Egyptian writing system since 2000 BC. The meroitic script was used from 450 BC to 400 AD.
The Tifinagh alphabet is still actively used to varying degrees in trade and modernized forms for writing of Berber languages (Tamazight, Tamashek, etc.) of the Maghreb, Sahara, and Sahel regions (Savage 2008).
Neo-Tifinagh is encoded in the Unicode range U+2D30 to U+2D7F, starting from version 4.1.0. There are 55 defined characters, but there are more characters being used than those defined. In ISO 15924, the code Tfng is assigned to Neo-Tifinagh.
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Writing systems of Africa
The writing systems of Africa are the current and historical writing systems used on the African continent, both those which are indigenous and those which were introduced. In many African societies, history was traditionally recorded orally despite most societies having developed a writing script, leading to them being termed "oral cultures" in contrast to "literate cultures". However, this generalization misses the significant pre-modern use of written languages in various African cultures and the widespread modern adoption of written language on the continent.
Today, the Latin script is commonly encountered across much of Africa, especially in the regions of Western Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. The Arabic script is mainly used in North Africa. Among the indigenous writing systems, the Ge'ez script is widely used in the Horn of Africa, and the Tifinagh script is used in many parts of the Sahel region. Variations of the Arabic-derived Ajami script are also notably used in various regions of Subsaharan Africa. There are also several widely used constructed writing systems in wide use today in West Africa, with the most frequently used being the Vai syllabary and the N'Ko script.
There are also various notable indigenous African writing systems which are no longer in common use today, the most famous being Egyptian hieroglyphs. A significant number of less common writing systems are also of significant local, regional, or historical importance, many of which are described below.
While historic writing systems from North Africa are among the oldest in the world, native writing systems and scripts are less common in the cultures of Subsaharan Africa. However, this is not to say that there are no indigenous pre-modern writing systems in the region; the Tifinagh script has been used by the Tuareg people since antiquity, as has the Geʽez script and its derivatives in the Horn of Africa. Other groups have encountered the Latin and Arabic scripts for centuries, but rarely adopted them in a widespread manner until the 19th century as they simply did not find them necessary for their own societies (Ajamiyya writing being a notable exception).
Perhaps the most famous African writing system is ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. These developed later into forms known as Hieratic, Demotic and, through Phoenician and Greek, Coptic. The Bohairic dialect of the Coptic language is still used today as the liturgical language in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and the Coptic Catholic Church of Alexandria. Other dialects of Coptic include Sahidic, Akhmimic, Lycopolitan, Fayyumic, and Oxyrhynchite.
The Meroitic language and its writing system was used in Meroë and the wider Kingdom of Kush (in modern day Sudan) during the Meroitic period. The Kingdom of Kush previously used the Egyptian writing system since 2000 BC. The meroitic script was used from 450 BC to 400 AD.
The Tifinagh alphabet is still actively used to varying degrees in trade and modernized forms for writing of Berber languages (Tamazight, Tamashek, etc.) of the Maghreb, Sahara, and Sahel regions (Savage 2008).
Neo-Tifinagh is encoded in the Unicode range U+2D30 to U+2D7F, starting from version 4.1.0. There are 55 defined characters, but there are more characters being used than those defined. In ISO 15924, the code Tfng is assigned to Neo-Tifinagh.