Mandinka/keyboard

Justification

The Mandinka language is written using three different writing systems: the Arabic script, the N'Ko script, and the Latin script. The Latin script is the official script for Mandinka. However, Mandinka has been written in the Arabic script for much longer, and that script continues to be widely used. The N'Ko script, a pan-Manding writing system developed in 1949, also sees widespread use, particularly in Guinea-Bissau, northeast Guinea, and parts of the Ivory Coast and Mali. Our keyboard system incorporates both the N'Ko and Arabic scripts for Mandinka, the first Mandinka dual-script keyboard.

Our reasoning involved a consideration of the existing infrastructure available to support writing Mandinka in the Latin script. While there isn't a uniquely Mandinka keyboard in the Latin script, most keyboards are manufactured with the Latin script in mind. This narrowed our choices to the Arabic and N'Ko scripts. While there are existing physical Arabic-script keyboards, there are none that incorporate the unique Ajami script developed for Mandinka. Similarly, there are no N'Ko physical keyboards that we were aware of.

Rather than making one choice over the other, we wanted to offer Mandinka speakers the opportunity to write in the script that most comfortably suited them, and encourage development of literacy in both scripts.

Existing Resources

N'Ko Resources:

N'Ko Keyboard [1] (Windows): This keyboard was developed as part of Microsoft's "Globalization Essentials", a series of resources designed to support a number of languages.

N'Ko Qwerty [2] (Windows): This keyboard utilizes the QWERTY layout to support N'Ko. The philosophy is to make it easier to type in N'Ko without learning a new keyboard layout, though the question remains of who it would be easier for.

Arabic Script Resources:

Ajami Keyboard [3] {Boston University}: Developed by Jamra Patel for keyboard