Table of Contents
Did Africans have writing systems?
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. As mentioned above, the Bohairic dialect of Coptic is used currently in the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Did Africa have a written language before colonization?
All alphabets come from Egyptian Hieroglyphs which were invented around 3200 BC. So yes, Africa had writing systems long before colonialism.
What is precolonial African literature?
In the pre-colonial African societies oral literature was the only form of literature known to the various people of Kenya. The literature also corporated past events that were hidden in proverbs, riddles, tales, taboos and superstitions, legends and myths.
How many African writing systems are there?
There are fifteen African writing systems that predate English, yet ask around if Africa had writing before colonization and some people are likely to deny that Africa had any writing systems before 1500 AD. Not many people know that there are even African writing systems that predate Latin.
When did Africa develop written language?
Communicating through script and symbol ‘2 Yet writing – in the form of Egyptian hieroglyphs – emerged in Africa from the 4th century BCE. In Ethiopia, the Ethiopic script was developed in the 4th century CE, and in Sudan the Meroïtic script was created about 180 BCE.
What are the pre-colonial literature?
Pre-colonial literary pieces transferred in traditional narratives, speeches, and songs include Tigmo in Cebuano, Bugtong in Tagalog, patototdon in Bicol, and paktakon in Ilonggo. Baybayin (to spell) was the pre-colonial writing system in the Philippines. Some modern scripts in the Philippines descended from Baybayin.
Did Sub-Saharan Africans develop writing?
In fact, says Fallou Ngom, who grew up in Senegal, people in sub-Saharan Africa have used a written system derived from Arabic to record the details of their daily lives since at least the 10th century.