Guinean writer and educator who invented the N'Ko alphabet
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Solomana Kante (left) and Baba Mamadi Diane (right)Map of the life of Sulemaana Kante, inventor of the N'ko alphabetGrave of Solomana Kanté
Solomana Kanté (also written as Sùlemáana Kántε,[1]Souleymane Kanté or Sulemaana Kantè; N'Ko: ߛߎ߬ߟߋ߬ߡߊ߬ߣߊ߬ ߞߊ߲ߕߍ߫, 1922 – November 23, 1987) was a Guinean writer, neographer, and educator,[2] best known as the inventor of the N'Ko alphabet for the Manding language varieties of Africa.
Kanté created N'Ko, a modern script for, as he saw it,[3] the Manding language in 1949 after five years of experimentation with various writing systems.[1] The script first came into use in Kankan, Guinea and was disseminated from there into other Manding-speaking parts of West Africa.
^Donaldson, Coleman (2017-01-01). "Orthography, Standardization, and Register: The Case of Manding". In P. Lane, J. Costa, & H. De Korne (Eds.), Standardizing Minority Languages: Competing Ideologies of Authority and Authenticity in the Global Periphery (Pp. 175–199). New York, NY: Routledge. (2).
Sources
Conrad, David C. (2001). "Reconstructing Oral Tradition: Souleymane Kanté’s Approach to Writing Mande History". Mande Studies 3, 147–200.
Kaba, Diaka Laye (1992). "Souleymane Kanté: l’inventeur de l’alphabet N’ko". L’Educateur: Trimestriel Pédagogique des Enseignants de Guinée 11–12, 33
Kanté, Bourama (1996). "Souvenir de Kanté Souleymane". Somoya Sila: Journal Culturel de l'Association ICRA-N'KO 19.
Kanté, Souleymane (1961). "Alphabet de la langue N’ko: ‘N’ko sebesun’." In Méthode pratique d’écriture N’ko. Kankan, reprinted by Mamady Keita (1995), Siguiri.
Vydrine, Valentin, ed. (2001). "Lettres de Souleymane Kanté et Maurice Houis". Mande Studies 3, 133–146.
