The Goulsse alphabet was created for writing Gur languages of West Africa, such as Mossi and Kasem. It is also used to write the constructed language FuturLang,[1] as well as the constructed language Tlebiafirikikan.[2] It was developed in 2022 by two people, Wenitte Apiou and Babaguioue Micareme Akouabou of Burkina Faso.[3] The alphabet contains 30 letters,[3] plus punctuation marks, and dots above some vowel symbols to mark nasalization.
The script is written from left to right in a straight line. It does not distinguish between upper and lower case letters. Also, despite the fact that Gur languages have tonal distinctions, the script does not provide a way to mark tone differences.[4]
The name Goulsse means 'writing' in Mossi, spoken in Burkina Faso.[1] It is one of several scripts that have been created in West Africa to contribute to ethnic and linguistic revitalization.[5][1] The script has been taught in Po, Burkina Faso.[4]
In 2024, a proposal was published advocating the adoption of Goulsse as a United African Phonetic Alphabet (UAPA), emphasizing its potential as a pathway to linguistic unity and revitalization.[6]
In 2024, a further proposal was published advocating the adoption of Goulsse as a complementary universal phonetic alphabet to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), highlighting its ease of learning, absence of case distinctions, and mathematically based extensibility. It also emphasized Goulsse’s capacity to represent non-human, AI-generated, and even alien sounds, thereby extending its applicability beyond human languages. [7]
Table
edit| Letter | Image | Unicode Character | |
|---|---|---|---|
| a |  |
/ | |
| e |  |
\ | |
| ba |  |
△ | |
| ca |  |
||
| da |  |
||
| fa |  |
||
| ga |  |
||
| ha |  |
||
| ja |  |
||
| ka |  |
||
| la |  |
||
| ma |  |
||
| na |  |
||
| pa |  |
||
| nya |  |
||
| nga | |
||
| ra |  |
߉ | |
| sa |  |
⊢ | |
| ta |  |
||
| va |  |
||
| wa |  |
||
| ya |  |
Θ | |
| za |  |
||
| ɗa |  |
||
| ɛ |  | ||
| ɩ |  |
||
| ʋ |  |
||
| o |  |
□ |
References
edit- ^ a b c Simon Ager, ed. (2023). "Goulsse alphabet". omniglot.com.
- ^ Apiou, Wenitte (2024). "Tlebiafirikikan: A Comprehensive Linguistic Analysis and Reference Grammar". Academia.edu. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
- ^ a b Brookes, Tim (23 August 2022). "The Vanderbilt–Burkina Faso Connection". Endangered Alphabets. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
- ^ a b Brookes, Tim (November 2022). "Minority Languages in West Africa". MultiLingual. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
- ^ Unseth, Peter (2011). "Invention of Scripts in West Africa for Ethnic Revitalization". In Fishman, Joshua A.; García, Ofelia (eds.). Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity: The Success-Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts. Vol. 2. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 23–32. ISBN 978-0-19-983799-1.
- ^ Apiou, Wenitte (2024). "Proposing Goulsse as a United African Phonetic Alphabet: A Pathway to Linguistic Unity and Revitalization". Academia.edu. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
- ^ Apiou, Wenitte (2024). "Proposing Goulsse as a Complementary Universal Phonetic Alphabet for the Age of AI and Beyond". Academia.edu. Retrieved 2024-12-16.