L2/16-019

Title: Proposal for encoding the Mandombe script in the SMP of the UCS (revised)

Authors: Andrij Rovenchak, Helma Pasch, Charles Riley, Nandefo Robert Wazi

Date: 15 January 2016

Preliminary proposal N3970 containing introductory information about the Mandombe script and
details of character composition was submitted in 2010:
L2/11-053 “Proposal to add the Mandombe Script”
by David Wabeladio, Robert Wazi et Adrien Fwakasumbu
The present document largely incorporates the information given in
L2/15-118 “Preliminary proposal for encoding the Mandombe script in the SMP of the UCS”
by Andrij Rovenchak, Helma Pasch, Charles Riley, Nandefo Robert Wazi
Revisions address issues raised in L2/15-312 and L2/15-310

1. Introduction. Mandombe ( ), which means “for the Blacks”, is a modern African script
which was invented in 1978 by David Wabeladio Payi (*15.07.1957 – †04.04.2013). It is one of very
few scripts which were invented south of the equator. It was first designed to write Kikongo and
Lingala, the most important languages of Congo, and then developed further so that basically any
language can be written with this script.

Unlike other modern African scripts, Mandombe does not imitate the type of letters from the Roman or
Arabic alphabets, but the symbols are designed according to strong geometrical rules, on the basis of
the stylized cyphers (2) and (5), which give the script an outstanding appearance. These shapes
are based on the observation of the uncoated portion of the brick wall of the inventor‟s room.

From the beginning, the Mandombe script was invented as a medium to write all types of texts, and
there are documents of religious nature (see Figs. 1–4) and also secular texts, cf. Figs. 5–8, as well as in
occasional public inscriptions (Fig. 9).

The inventor, David Wabeladio Payi was a member of the Kimbanguist church. He was given a
professorship at the Kimbanguist University in Kinshasa, where he taught the script to numerous
students. On December 22, 2011 he was granted the title Doctor honoris causa at the University of
Kinshasa. Former students of Wabeladio teach the script at the Kimbanguist education centers in
Kisangani, Brazzaville and Pointe Noire. The script is also taught in the Kimbanguist centers overseas,
e.g. Brussels, Paris. There is hope among those who master the script that it will get a communicative
function at least within the Kimbanguist church. The number of active Mandombe users is five to six
thousand in Africa and a few hundred in diasporas. There are about 500 teachers who are trained by the
Centre de l‟Ecriture Négro-Africaine (CENA).

Apart from its function as a medium of writing, the Mandombe script is also the basis of graphical
design: the letters whose shapes can be combined are used to create fascinating pictures.

There are published texts in and about Mandombe, one of which carries the title, Mandombe: écriture
négro-africaine [Wabeladio Payi 1996]. It has been suggested that the copyright on at least some of
these texts be voluntarily withdrawn, in order to allow for the encoding proposal to go forward in the
UTC and with ISO, on the grounds that for implementation to proceed a script cannot be copyrighted.
Putting aside the issue of whether the copyright should be withdrawn, it is an open question as to
whether a copyright once asserted for a textual work can in fact be withdrawn. The closest that any
publisher might be able to achieve in practice is to assign the work a CC0 license.

1
With respect to statements given on p. 29 of the previous proposal L2/11-053, no requests for funding
are currently being made to facilitate future utilization of the Mandombe script.

2. Structure. Mandombe is written left to right. Structurally, the script is an abugida or an

alphasyllabary. A sign orientation is used as a distinguishing feature. For syllables having a more
complex structure than CV a special set of diacritical signs and other marks are used.

3. Collating order. Collation order is that in the code chart. It is based on the arrangement according to
letter shapes as given in the original inventor‟s book [Wabeladio Payi 1996]:

2
This is the main set of characters containing sixteen series.

3
Afterwards, additional characters follow:

That is, the order is as follows:

B-, D-, G-, F-, M-, K-, P-, L-, V-, N-, T-, S-, R-, W-, Z-, Y-,
SH-, CH-, J-, DJ-,
GB-, KP-, KT-.

The last set of characters (GB-, KP-, and KT- series) are mentioned in the original inventor‟s book
(note a typo PKA instead of KPA):

4
Additional characters are used to represent bare vowels, as well as H + <vowel> and <vowel> + H
series, in the original book they are allocated in the so-called 5th group:

As the main set of characters contains sixteen rows corresponding to sixteen initial consonants, we
suggest using this property in order to facilitate script encoding. Additional seven rows of consonants
are then complemented by one row from the 5th group shown above. Further rows from this group are
added after 16+7 rows of more complex syllables (prenasalized and containing intervening R or L).

Syllables in Mandombe are composed from a number of basic elements as demonstrated below.

Ä
A. Syllables consisting of a single vowel are formed by adding the basic vowel shape to < >:

a
h + a ha e
h + e he i
h+i hi

o
h + o ho u
h + u hu ü
h+[ h[

B. Glyphs for syllables are obtained by joining vowel symbols to respective consonants at a certain
point only, for instance,

ba b + a b¢ da A + b 0D
bi b + 1 bÀ di I + b 6D
bu b + u bÊ du U + b 8D
le d + l ´L pe l + g P3
lo m + l ¾L po l + p P5
5
C. More complex syllables (containing diphtongs, pre- and post-nasalization as well as intervening R
or L) are formed in the following fashion:

lua v + a N + l aÒL pro l + h + o Psµ

gue f + w + =# G9$ plo l + / + o l/o
sio {+o N + s oÆs dri {+H+b èHb
muo U + =< + k O8M nso m + s + h ¼sn
bon b + o + =û bpû mbi H+b+1 sbÀ

Two additional marks are used to represent apostrophe and high-tone vowels (the latter is optional):

Note low-tone moto („man‟) versus high-tone móto („fire‟), the tonal mark is encircled in red.

4. Character names. The usual UCS conventions are used, with SH representing /ʃ/, CH representing
/ʧ/, DJ representing /ʤ/, and UE representing the round front vowel /y/ (French <u> or German <ü>).

According to the recommendation given in L2/15-204, we have changed the encoding model with
syllable units being encoded instead of their elements. The names of such characters is
MANDOMBE SYLLABLE …
Diacritical marks used to denote diphtongs are encoded separately to reduce the total number of
proposed characters. The following are the names of these marks:
MANDOMBE COMBINING A DIPHTONG MARK

6
MANDOMBE COMBINING A DIPHTONG MARK FLIPPED
…

After Mandombe was initially used only to write Lingala and Kikongo, i.e. CVCV languages, the
“joined” addition became necessary. It provides shapes for consonants in syllable coda (as opposed to
syllable-initial consonants), which are useful for writing languages other than Kikongo or Lingala, e.g.,
for Wolof. For those syllable-final shapes the following names is suggested:
MANDOMBE CONSONANT B
MANDOMBE CONSONANT D
…

Here are the Mandombe characters for bare consonants:

They are given in the following order, used below as the collation order:
B, D, G, F; M, K, P, L; V, N, T, S; R, W, Z, Y; SH, CH, J, DJ

Note that some shapes can be used for syllable-initial foreign sounds (like the labio-velar plosives GB,
and KP).

The sample of text in Wolof with final consonants in some words is shown in Fig. 4.

The total number of characters in the proposal is 1050.

6. Linebreaking. Linebreak can occur after a punctuation sign, including syllable separator and word
separator. Characters forming a syllable cannot be broken.

7. Punctuation and digits. In Mandombe, script-specific punctuation is used, including a syllable

separator, which is a blank space, and a word separator, which is a dot resting on the baseline.
Of ten Mandombe digits, five have the shape similar to vowels (I = 1, U = 2, E = 3, O ≈ 4, A = 5).
{NB: this order can be an alternative for ordering vowels, instead of the A-E-I-O-U one}.
However, it seems that the vowels and digits require separate codepoints as – at least in some texts –
the digits are taller than the respective vowels when resting on the baseline (see Fig. 1).

8. Additions and extensions. Possible additions include calendar characters for a recently devised
Kimbanguist calendar (7 symbols for days of week and 12 symbols for combining days of week and
months); such calendar characters can be named starting with KIMBANGUMUNA, not
MANDOMBE.
7
There is a potential possibility that other symbols to reflect phonology of some other African languages
will be introduced in future (tone marks, letters for click consonants, etc.), and they can be placed in the
reserved codepoints.

9. Acknowledgement. This project was partly supported by a grant from the United States National
Endowment for the Humanities (PR-50205-15), which funds the Universal Scripts Project (part of the
Script Encoding Initiative at the University of California, Berkeley). Any views, findings, conclusions
or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the National
Endowment for the Humanities.

10. Bibliography

Pasch, Helma. 2010. Mandombe. Afrikanistik online, 7: Available from: < http://www.afrikanistik-
aegyptologie-online.de/archive/2010/2724>.
Rovenchak, Andrij & Jason Glavy. 2011. “Mandombe script”, in African Writing Systems of the
Modern Age: The Sub-Saharan Region. New Haven, Buena Park, New Rochelle, London, Lviv,
Abidjan: Athinkra, 84–86. ISBN 978-0-9818294-1-8
Wabeladio Payi, David. 1996. Mandombe Ecriture negro-africaine: Manuel d’apprentisage
à l’usage des apprenants. Editions du C.E.N.A., Kinshasa.

8
9. Character repertoire. Character names for syllables are as follows:
1x000 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE BA
1x001 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE DA
…
1x00F MANDOMBE SYLLABLE YA
1x010 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE BE
1x011 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE DE
…
1x01F MANDOMBE SYLLABLE YE
…
1x050 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE BUE
1x051 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE DUE
…
1x05F MANDOMBE SYLLABLE YUE
1x060 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE SHA
1x061 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE CHA
…
1x06F MANDOMBE SYLLABLE HA
…
1x0B0 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE SHUE
1x0B1 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE CHUE
…
1x0BF MANDOMBE SYLLABLE HUE
1x0C0 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE MVA
1x0C1 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE NNA
…
1x0CF MANDOMBE SYLLABLE NHA
…
1x110 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE MVUE
…
1x11F MANDOMBE SYLLABLE NHUE
1x120 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE BRA
1x121 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE DRA
…
1x12F MANDOMBE SYLLABLE YRA
…
1x170 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE BRUE
1x171 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE DRUE
…
1x17F MANDOMBE SYLLABLE YRUE
1x300 MANDOMBE SYLLABLE MVLA
…
1x35F MANDOMBE SYLLABLE NHLUE

9
1x000 Mandombe 1x41F

1x00 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05

A E I O U UE
0
B-
b¢ b¬ bÀ bp bÊ bk
1
D-
0D 2D 6D 4D 8D HD
2
G-
G1 G3 G7 G5 G9 Gh
3
F-
§f ±f Åf »f Ïf wf
4
M-
0M 2M 6M 4M 8M HM
5
K-
K¥ K¯ KÃ K¹ KÍ Kr
6
P-
P1 P3 P7 P5 P9 Ph
7
L-
ªL ´L ÈL ¾L ÒL zL
8
V-
0V 2V 6V 4V 8V HV
9
N-
n£ n¿ nÁ n· nË nl
A
T-
T1 T3 T7 T5 T9 Th
B
S-
¨s ²s Æs ¼s Ðs xs
C
R-
0R 2R 6R 4R 8R HR
D
W-
W¤ W® WÂ W¸ WÌ Wm
E
Z-
©Z ³Z ÇZ ½Z ÑZ yZ
F
Y-
Y1 Y3 Y7 Y5 Y9 Yh

10
1x000 Mandombe 1x41F

1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x0A 1x0B

A E I O U UE
0
SH-
g¢ g¬ gÀ g¶p gÊ gk
1
CH-
§q ±q Åq »q Ïq wq
2
J-
B1 B3 B7 B5 B9 Bh
3
DJ-
0F 2F 6F 4F 8F HF
4
GB-
DÒ DÓ DÔ DÕ DÖ D×
5
KP-
MÈ MÉ MÊ MË MÌ MÍ
6
KT-
Ú1 Ú3 Ú7 Ú5 Ú9 Úh
—
7
¡ « ¿ µ É j
8
MB-
sb¢ sb¬ sbÀ sbp sbÊ sbk
9
ND-
0DS 2DS 6DS 4DS 8DS HDS
A
NG-
NG1 NG3 NG7 NG5 NG9 NGh
B
MF-
§fn ±fn Åfn »fn Ïfn wfn
C
MM-
0Mt 2Mt 6Mt 4Mt 8Mt HMt
D
NK-
sK¥ sK¯ sKÃ sK¹ sKÍ sKr
E
MP-
[P1 [P3 [P7 [P5 [P9 [Ph
F
H-
0 2 6 4 8 H

11
1x000 Mandombe 1x41F

1x0C 1x0D 1x0E 1x0F 1x10 1x11

A E I O U UE
0
MV-
0VT 2VT 6VT 4VT 8VT HVT
1
NN-
sn£ sn¿ snÁ sn· snË snl
2
NT-
VT1 VT3 VT7 VT5 VT9 VTh
3
NS-
¨sn ²sn Æsn ¼sn Ðsn xsn
4
-H
1 3 7 5 9 h
5
NW-
sW¤ sW® sWÂ sW¸ sWÌ sWm
6
NZ-
©Zn ³Zn ÇZn ½Zn ÑZn yZn
7
NY-
]Y1 ]Y3 ]Y7 ]Y5 ]Y9 ]Yh
8
NSH-
ng¢ ng¬ ngÀ ng¶p ngÊ ngk
9
NCH-
§qs ±qs Åqs »qs Ïqs wqs
A
NJ-
SB1 SB3 SB7 SB5 SB9 SBh
B
NDJ-
0FN 2FN 6FN 4FN 8FN HFN
C
NGB-
äb¢ äb¬ äbÀ äbp äbÊ äbk
D
NKP-
äK¥ äK¯ äKÃ äK¹ äKÍ äKr
E
NKT-
CT1 CT3 CT7 CT5 CT9 CTh
F
NH-
0s 2s 6s 4s 8s Hs

12
1x000 Mandombe 1x41F

1x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17

A E I O U UE
0
BR-
bNSċ bNSĚ bNSĤ bNSĮ bNSĸ bNSł
1
DR-
¦nD °nD ÄnD ºnD ÎnD vnD
2
GR-
Gs¡ Gs« Gs¿ Gsµ GsÉ Gsj
3
FR-
ĐNSf ĕNSf ğNSf ĩNSf ijNSf ĽNSf
4
MR-
¦nM °nM ÄnM ºnM ÎnM vnM
5
KR-
KMtĎ KMtĝ KMtħ KMtı KMtĻ KMtŅ
6
PR-
Ps¡ Ps« Ps¿ Psµ PsÉ Psj
7
LR-
ē[tL Ę[tL Ģ[tL Ĭ[tL Ķ[tL ŀ[tL
8
VR-
¦nV °nV ÄnV ºnV ÎnV vnV
9
NR-
nVTČ nVTě nVTĥ nVTį nVTĹ nVTŃ
A
TR-
Ts¡ Ts« Ts¿ Tsµ TsÉ Tsj
B
SR-
đVTs ĖVTs ĠVTs ĪVTs ĴVTs ľVTs
C
RR-
¦nR °nR ÄnR ºnR ÎnR vnR
D
WR-
W]cč W]cĜ W]cĦ W]cİ W]cĺ W]cń
E
ZR-
Ē]YZ ė]YZ ġ]YZ ī]YZ ĵ]YZ Ŀ]YZ
F
YR-
Ys¡ Ys« Ys¿ Ysµ YsÉ Ysj

13
1x000 Mandombe 1x41F

1x18 1x19 1x1A 1x1B 1x1C 1x1D

A E I O U UE
0
SHR-
gNSċ gNSĚ gNSĤ gNSĮ gNSĸ gNSł
1
CHR-
ĐNSq ĕNSq ğNSq ĩNSq ijNSq ĽNSq
2
JR-
Bs¡ Bs« Bs¿ Bsµ BsÉ Bsj
3
DJR-
¦nF °nF ÄnF ºnF ÎnF vnF
4
GBR-
DÙċ DÙĚ DÙĤ DÙĮ DÙĸ DÙł
5
KPR-
MtĎ Mtĝ Mtħ Mtı MtĻ MtŅ
6
KTR-
Ús¡ Ús« Ús¿ Úsµ ÚsÉ Úsj
7
HR-
¦n °n Än ºn În vn
8
MB-
sbNSċ sbNSĚ sbNSĤ sbNSĮ sbNSĸ sbNSł
9
NDR-
¦nDS °nDS ÄnDS ºnDS ÎnDS vnDS
A
NGR-
NGs¡ NGs« NGs¿ NGsµ NGsÉ NGsj
B
MFR-
ĐNSfn ĕNSfn ğNSfn ĩNSfn ijNSfn ĽNSfn
C
MMR-
¦nMt °nMt ÄnMt ºnMt ÎnMt vnMt
D
NKR-
sKMtĎ sKMtĝ sKMtħ sKMtı sKMtĻ sKMtŅ
E
MPR-
[Ps¡ [Ps« [Ps¿ [Psµ [PsÉ [Psj
F
NLR-
ē[tLn Ę[tLn Ģ[tLn Ĭ[tLn Ķ[tLn ŀ[tLn

14
1x000 Mandombe 1x41F

1x1E 1x1F 1x20 1x21 1x22 1x23

A E I O U UE
0
MVR-
¦nVT °nVT ÄnVT ºnVT ÎnVT vnVT
1
NNR-
snVTČ snVTě snVTĥ snVTį snVTĹ snVTŃ
2
NTR-
VTs¡ VTs« VTs¿ VTsµ VTsÉ VTsj
3
NSR-
đVTsn ĖVTsn ĠVTsn ĪVTsn ĴVTsn ľVTsn
4
NRR
¦nRc °nRc ÄnRc ºnRc ÎnRc vnRc
5
NWR-
sW]cč sW]cĜ sW]cĦ sW]cİ sW]cĺ sW]cń
6
NZR-
Ē]YZn ė]YZn ġ]YZn ī]YZn ĵ]YZn Ŀ]YZn
7
NYR-
]Ys¡ ]Ys« ]Ys¿ ]Ysµ ]YsÉ ]Ysj
8
NSHR-
ngNSċ ngNSĚ ngNSĤ ngNSĮ ngNSĸ ngNSł
9
NCHR-
ĐNSqs ĕNSqs ğNSqs ĩNSqs ijNSqs ĽNSqs
A
NJR-
SBs¡ SBs« SBs¿ SBsµ SBsÉ SBsj
B
NDJR-
¦nFN °nFN ÄnFN ºnFN ÎnFN vnFN
C
NGBR-
fbNSċ fbNSĚ fbNSĤ fbNSĮ fbNSĸ fbNSł
D
NKPR-
fKMtĎ fKMtĝ fKMtħ fKMtı fKMtĻ fKMtŅ
E
NKTR-
CTs¡ CTs« CTs¿ CTsµ CTsÉ CTsj
F
NHR-
¦ns °ns Äns ºns Îns vn

15
1x000 Mandombe 1x41F

1x24 1x25 1x26 1x27 1x28 1x29

A E I O U UE
0
BL-
bNāċ bNāĚ bNāĤ bNāĮ bNāĸ bNāł
1
DL-
ŌĀnD ōĀnD ŎĀnD ŏĀnD ŐĀnD őĀnD
2
GL-
Gsąņ GsąŇ Gsąň Gsąʼn GsąŊ Gsąŋ
3
FL-
ĐĆSf ĕĆSf ğĆSf ĩĆSf ijĆSf ĽĆSf
4
ML-
ŌĀnM ōĀnM ŎĀnM ŏĀnM ŐĀnM őĀnM
5
KL-
KMĄĎ KMĄĝ KMĄħ KMĄı KMĄĻ KMĄŅ
6
PL-
Psąņ PsąŇ Psąň Psąʼn PsąŊ Psąŋ
7
LL-
ēĉtL ĘĉtL ĢĉtL ĬĉtL ĶĉtL ŀĉtL
8
VL-
ŌĀnV ōĀnV ŎĀnV ŏĀnV ŐĀnV őĀnV
9
NL-
nVĂČ nVĂě nVĂĥ nVĂį nVĂĹ nVĂŃ
A
TL-
Tsąņ TsąŇ Tsąň Tsąʼn TsąŊ Tsąŋ
B
SL-
đćTs ĖćTs ĠćTs ĪćTs ĴćTs ľćTs
C
RL-
ŌĀnR ōĀnR ŎĀnR ŏĀnR ŐĀnR őĀnR
D
WL-
W]ăč W]ăĜ W]ăĦ W]ăİ W]ăĺ W]ăń
E
ZL-
ĒĈYZ ėĈYZ ġĈYZ īĈYZ ĵĈYZ ĿĈYZ
F
YL-
Ysąņ YsąŇ Ysąň Ysąʼn YsąŊ Ysąŋ

16
1x000 Mandombe 1x41F

1x2A 1x2B 1x2C 1x2D 1x2E 1x2F

A E I O U UE
0
SHL-
gNāċ gNāĚ gNāĤ gNāĮ gNāĸ gNāł
1
CHL-
ĐĆSq ĕĆSq ğĆSq ĩĆSq ijĆSq ĽĆSq
2
JL-
Bsąņ BsąŇ Bsąň Bsąʼn BsąŊ Bsąŋ
3
DJL-
ŌĀnF ōĀnF ŎĀnF ŏĀnF ŐĀnF őĀnF
4
GBL-
Dāċ DāĚ DāĤ DāĮ Dāĸ Dāł
5
KPL-
MĄĎ MĄĝ MĄħ MĄı MĄĻ MĄŅ
6
KTL-
Úsąņ ÚsąŇ Úsąň Úsąʼn ÚsąŊ Úsąŋ
7
HL-
ŌĀn ōĀn ŎĀn ŏĀn ŐĀn őĀn
8
MBL-
sbNāċ sbNāĚ sbNāĤ sbNāĮ sbNāĸ sbNāł
9
NDL-
ŌĀnDS ōĀnDS ŎĀnDS ŏĀnDS ŐĀnDS őĀnDS
A
NGL-
NGsąņ NGsąŇ NGsąň NGsąʼn NGsąŊ NGsąŋ
B
MFL-
ĐĆSfn ĕĆSfn ğĆSfn ĩĆSfn ijĆSfn ĽĆSfn
C
MML-
ŌĀnMt ōĀnMt ŎĀnMt ŏĀnMt ŐĀnMt őĀnMt
D
NKL-
sKMĄĎ sKMĄĝ sKMĄħ sKMĄı sKMĄĻ sKMĄŅ
E
MPL-
[Psąņ [PsąŇ [Psąň [Psąʼn [PsąŊ [Psąŋ
F
NLL-
ēĉtLn ĘĉtLn ĢĉtLn ĬĉtLn ĶĉtLn ŀĉtLn

17
1x000 Mandombe 1x41F

1x30 1x31 1x32 1x33 1x34 1x35

A E I O U UE
0
MVL-
ŌĀnVT ōĀnVT ŎĀnVT ŏĀnVT ŐĀnVT őĀnVT
1
NNL-
snVĂČ snVĂě snVĂĥ snVĂį snVĂĹ snVĂŃ
2
NTL-
VTsąņ VTsąŇ VTsąň VTsąʼn VTsąŊ VTsąŋ
3
NSL-
đćTsn ĖćTsn ĠćTsn ĪćTsn ĴćTsn ľćTsn
4
NRL
ŌĀnRc ōĀnRc ŎĀnRc ŏĀnRc ŐĀnRc őĀnRc
5
NWL-
sW]ăč sW]ăĜ sW]ăĦ sW]ăİ sW]ăĺ sW]ăń
6
NZL-
ĒĈYZn ėĈYZn ġĈYZn īĈYZn ĵĈYZn ĿĈYZn
7
NYL-
]Ysąņ ]YsąŇ ]Ysąň ]Ysąʼn ]YsąŊ ]Ysąŋ
8
NSHL-
ngNāċ ngNāĚ ngNāĤ ngNāĮ ngNāĸ ngNāł
9
NCHL-
ĐĆSqs ĕĆSqs ğĆSqs ĩĆSqs ijĆSqs ĽĆSqs
A
NJL-
SBsąņ SBsąŇ SBsąň SBsąʼn SBsąŊ SBsąŋ
B
NDJL-
ŌĀnFN ōĀnFN ŎĀnFN ŏĀnFN ŐĀnFN őĀnFN
C
NGBL-
fbNāċ fbNāĚ fbNāĤ fbNāĮ fbNāĸ fbNāł
D
NKPL-
fKMĄĎ fKMĄĝ fKMĄħ fKMĄı fKMĄĻ fKMĄŅ
E
NKTL-
CTsąņ CTsąŇ CTsąň CTsąʼn CTsąŊ CTsąŋ
F
NHL-
ŌĀns ōĀns ŎĀns ŏĀns ŐĀns őĀns

18
The next set of characters for consonants is named according to the following scheme:
1x360 MANDOMBE CONSONANT B
1x361 MANDOMBE CONSONANT D
…
1x36F MANDOMBE CONSONANT Y
1x370 MANDOMBE CONSONANT SH
1x371 MANDOMBE CONSONANT CH
…
1x377 <reserved>
1x378 MANDOMBE CONSONANT NB
…
1x37F <reserved>
1x380 MANDOMBE CONSONANT MV
…
1x383 MANDOMBE CONSONANT NS
1x384 <reserved>
1x385 MANDOMBE CONSONANT NW
…
1x3EF MANDOMBE CONSONANT NHL

1x36 1x37 1x38 1x39 1x3A 1x3B 1x3C 1x3D 1x3E

0 B SH MV BR SHR MVR BL SHL MVL
1 D CH NN DR CHR NNR DL CHL NNL
2 G J NT GR JR NTR GL JL NTL
3 F DJ NS FR DJR NSR FL DJL NSL
4 M GB MR GBR NRR ML GBL NRL
5 K KP NW KR KPR NWR KL KPL NWL
6 P KT NZ PR KTR NZR PL KTL NZL
7 L NY LR HR NYR LL HL NYL
8 V NB NSH VR NBR NSHR VL NBL NSHL
9 N MD NCH NR MDR NCHR NL MDL NCHL
A T NG NJ TR NGR NJR TL NGL NJL
B S MF NDJ SR MFR NDJR SL MFL NDJL
C R MM NGB RR MMR NGBR RL MML NGBL
D W NK NKP WR NKR NKPR WL NKL NKPL
E Z MP NKT ZR MPR NKTR ZL MPL NKTL
F Y NH YR NLR NHR YL NLL NHL

19
1x000 Mandombe 1x41F

1x36 1x37 1x38 1x39 1x3A 1x3B 1x3C 1x3D 1x3E

0 bB gB dVT bNG gNG fnVT bNā gNā ĀnVT

1 qD Fq snJ fnD DSq snV> ĀnD ĆSq snVĂ
2 Gg Bg VTg Gsb Bsb VTsb Gsą Bsą VTsą
3 Ff qF Úsn DSf fnF CTsn ĆSf ĀnF ćTsn
4 qM qØ fnM DG fnRc ĀnM Dā ĀnRc
5 K× q× sWÖ KMÔ MÔ sW]\ KMĄ MĄ sW]ă
6 Pg Úg ÛZn Psb Úsb /YZn Psą Úsą ĈYZn
7 ÜL ]Yg ÓtL fn ]Ysb ĉtL Ān ]Ysą
8 dV sbB ngB fnV sbNG ngNG ĀnV sbNā ngNā
9 nJ qDS Fqs nV> fnDS DSqs nVĂ ĀnDS ĆSqs
A Tg NGg SBg Tsb NGsb SBsb Tsą NGsą SBsą
B Ús Ffn qFN CTs DSfn fnFN ćTs ĆSfn ĀnFN
C qR qMt äbØ fnR fnMt fbNG ĀnR ĀnMt fbNā
D WÖ sK× äK× W]\ sKMÔ fKMÔ W]ă sKMĄ fKMĄ
E ÛZ [Pg CTg /YZ [Psb CTsb ĈYZ [Psą CTsą
F Yg qs Ysb ÓtLn fns Ysą ĉtLn Āns

20
1x000 Mandombe 1x41F

1x3F 1x40 1x41

0 0 . =$
1 1 , Ní
2 2 Π=#
3 3 : Nì
4 4 œ =%
5 5 ; Nî
6 6 * =<
7 9 ! N>
8 7 ? =ä
9 8 t Nå
A
6 Ŗ =&
B
9 ŕ Nï
C
7 ŗ Ř
D
8 Ś
E
ť ř
F
Ť ś

21
1x3F0 0 MANDOMBE DIGIT ZERO

1x3F1 1 MANDOMBE DIGIT ONE

1x3F2 2 MANDOMBE DIGIT TWO

1x3F3 3 MANDOMBE DIGIT THREE

1x3F4 4 MANDOMBE DIGIT FOUR

1x3F5 5 MANDOMBE DIGIT FIVE

1x3F6 6 MANDOMBE DIGIT SIX

1x3F7 7 MANDOMBE DIGIT SEVEN

1x3F8 8 MANDOMBE DIGIT EIGHT

1x3F9 9 MANDOMBE DIGIT NINE

1x3FA 6 MANDOMBE MVUALA ZA PILUKA-1

 used in illustrations of Mandombe characters compositions
 similar to MANDOMBE DIGIT SIX

1x3FB 9 MANDOMBE MVUALA ZA PILUKA-2

 used in illustrations of Mandombe characters compositions
 similar to MANDOMBE DIGIT NINE

1x3FC 7 MANDOMBE MVUALA ZA PILUKA-3

 used in illustrations of Mandombe characters compositions
 similar to MANDOMBE DIGIT SEVEN

1x3FD 8 MANDOMBE MVUALA ZA PILUKA-4

 used in illustrations of Mandombe characters compositions
 similar to MANDOMBE DIGIT EIGHT

1x3FE <reserved>

1x3FF <reserved>

1x400 . MANDOMBE DOT

22
1x401 , MANDOMBE COMMA

1x402 – MANDOMBE COMMA ROTATED

1x403 : MANDOMBE COLON

1x404 ↓ MANDOMBE ALTERNATE COLON

1x405 ; MANDOMBE SEMICOLON

1x406 * MANDOMBE EXCLAMATION MARK

1x407 ! MANDOMBE EXCLAMATION MARK MIRRORED

1x408 ? MANDOMBE QUESTION MARK

1x409 t MANDOMBE ELLIPSIS

1x40A ← MANDOMBE MINUS SIGN

1x40B → MANDOMBE PLUS SIGN

1x40C ↔ MANDOMBE EQUAL SIGN

1x40D <reserved>
1x40E ť MANDOMBE NTENTIA MARK
this mark touches the character below it, unlike 1x414
1x40F ť MANDOMBE NTENTIA MARK FLIPPED
this mark touches the character above it, unlike 1x415
1x410 =$ MANDOMBE COMBINING A DIPHTONG MARK

1x411 Ní MANDOMBE COMBINING A DIPHTONG MARK FLIPPED

1x412 =# MANDOMBE COMBINING E DIPHTONG MARK

 these are short vertical strokes, not dots as in 1x418

1x413 Nì MANDOMBE COMBINING E DIPHTONG MARK FLIPPED

23
1x414 =% MANDOMBE COMBINING I DIPHTONG MARK
this mark does not touch the character below it, unlike 1x41E

1x415 Nî MANDOMBE COMBINING I DIPHTONG MARK FLIPPED

this mark does not touch the character above it, unlike 1x41F
1x416 =< MANDOMBE COMBINING O DIPHTONG MARK

1x417 N> MANDOMBE COMBINING O DIPHTONG MARK FLIPPED

1x418 =ä MANDOMBE COMBINING U DIPHTONG MARK

 these are dots, not short vertical strokes as in 1x412
1x419 Nå MANDOMBE COMBINING U DIPHTONG MARK FLIPPED

1x41A =& MANDOMBE COMBINING NASALIZATION MARK

1x41B Nï MANDOMBE COMBINING NASALIZATION MARK FLIPPED

1x41C Ř MANDOMBE ACUTE ACCENT-1

1x41D Ś MANDOMBE ACUTE ACCENT-2

1x41E ř MANDOMBE ACUTE ACCENT-3

1x41F ś MANDOMBE ACUTE ACCENT-4

24
10. Figures

Figure 1: An excerpt from the book teaching Mandombe

25
Figure 2a: Lord‟s Prayer in Kikongo written in the Mandombe script

TA E DIE

BI NKU LUA

Figure 2b: Identification of characters in the Lord‟s Prayer in Kikongo written in the Mandombe script
26
Figure 3: Lord‟s Prayer in Duala written in the Mandombe script

27
 L Y R

Figure 4: Lord‟s Prayer in Wolof written in the Mandombe script with some bare consonants shown

28
Figure 5: Book page in Kikongo written in the Mandombe script

29
Figure 6: Book page written in the Mandombe script

Figure 7: A specimen of the Mandombe handwriting

30
Figure 8: Mandombe class (source: Script Mandombe at Facebook, 30 December 2013)

31
Figure 9: Mandombe used in a public inscription (from Pasch 2010).

32