Writing Systems across Languages: Prolegomena to Translating and Literacing

Abstract

Abstract: Translating instructional materials as part of language revitalization essentially involves good literacy practice, including issues related to writing and orthography. However, despite the initial enthusiasm for the existence of a script in a language, it is often the case that a poor understanding of writing systems leads to unexpected results. This article explores the common writing systems in modern languages and highlights that decisions guiding the translation and creation of content for literacy programs should rely on the various factors that generally influence the emergence of a script. It draws on a set of literacy programs in bi/multilingual contexts that require the translation of new content, then analyzes the linguistic units (phonology, morphology) of a few Ivorian languages used as samples. The study argues that the traditional claim that a systematic representation of spoken language is the sine qua non of a successful literacy program is based on a shallow view, as evidenced by linguistic sources as well as the history and socio-political contexts in which writing systems are rooted. Translation projects geared to basic or functional literacy in so-called minority languages should therefore take into account the factors discussed along these lines. Keywords: writing systems, translation, literacy, alphabet, orthography