Bamum letter Phase-E Taq

It is a Bamum letter from the historical Phase-E script.

“Taq” is the name used to identify this Bamum letter, not a translation of its meaning. In historical Bamum, a letter is read within its spelling and writing phase; alone, this glyph cannot decode a whole message.

Phase E, developed around 1907–1908, was the fifth form of the script and simplified earlier picture signs and word signs. Phase F followed around 1910 and moved toward a syllabary, a system in which each sign represents a syllable. The modern Phase-G repertoire is distinct from these historical forms. Characters from the earlier phases are mainly used by specialist linguists and historians.

Why was the Bamum script created?

It was developed to write Bamum and keep the kingdom’s records.

The earliest surviving Bamum manuscript dates to 1897. King Njoya and royal advisers shaped the first form from hundreds of signs for objects and actions, then revised it repeatedly; Bamum writing was an evolving project.

It served palace administration and schools, and appeared in histories, laws, maps, records of births, deaths and marriages, medicine, and religious works.