Symbols
60Click a symbol to copy it and open its page.
N'Ko vowels
Seven vowel letters, each written in full; ߑ, the dagbasinna, marks a syllable with no vowel.
N'Ko consonants
In N'Ko alphabetical order, read across each row; the label gives the usual Latin letters. ߒ is the syllabic n that begins the word ߒߞߏ.
Tone, length and nasal marks
Written above or below a vowel: paste the vowel first, then the mark right after it.
Punctuation
N'Ko runs right to left, so its comma and question mark face the other way.
N'Ko digits
Money signs
Guinea pays in the Guinean franc (GNF, written FG) and the Gambia in the dalasi (D); neither has a Unicode sign of its own.
Where Mandingo is written in N'Ko
On the map
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The Mandingo N'Ko alphabet
Mandingo is the name for a family of closely related West African languages, the Manding languages: Maninka (Maninkakan) in Guinea, Mandinka in the Gambia and Senegal, Bambara in Mali, Dyula in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, and the speech called Mandingo in Liberia and Sierra Leone. N'Ko (ߒߞߏ) was made for all of them. Its name means "I say" in every Manding language, and its creator, the Guinean scholar Solomana Kanté, devised it in 1949 so Manding speakers could read and write their languages in a script tailored to their sounds and tones.
N'Ko is written right to left, and its letters join one another along a baseline, so a word is one connected line. Every vowel is a full letter: ߊ a, ߋ e, ߌ i, ߍ ɛ, ߎ u, ߏ o and ߐ ɔ. Mind the Unicode names, which can mislead: the letter named EE (ߋ) is the closed e, the one named E (ߍ) is the open ɛ, OO (ߏ) is o and O (ߐ) is the open ɔ. Next to them CLDR's N'Ko alphabet lists ߑ, the dagbasinna, a sign indicating that a consonant cluster is intended.
After the vowels comes ߒ, a syllabic n that can stand alone, as at the start of ߒߞߏ. The consonants follow in N'Ko order: ߓ b, ߔ p, ߕ t, ߖ j, ߗ c, ߘ d, ߙ r, ߚ rr, ߛ s, ߜ gb, ߝ f, ߞ k, ߟ l, ߡ m, ߢ ɲ, ߣ n, ߤ h, ߥ w and ߦ y. ߜ is named gba for the gb sound, which occurs in Maninka and some Bambara varieties but is absent from others. CLDR's N'Ko list also has the two woloso letters ߠ and ߧ, abstract letters indicating consonants mutated by a preceding nasal. The three jona letters ߨ ߩ ߪ in the Unicode block are older forms that CLDR leaves out; they are in the N'Ko collection with the rest of the script.
Tone marks and nasal vowels in N'Ko
Maninka is a tonal language, and N'Ko writes tone, which Latin spellings of the Manding languages usually leave out. Small marks over a vowel show whether it is high, low, rising or falling, and whether it is short or long: ߫ short high, ߬ short low, ߭ short rising, ߯ long high, ߰ long low, ߱ long rising and ߮ long descending. A careful N'Ko text marks tone throughout, so a reader can pronounce a word without guessing from context.
߲, a dot under the vowel, makes it nasal: ߞߊ߲ is kan, language, as in Maninkakan, the Maninka language. ߳, a double dot above, is written over some letters to spell sounds of borrowed words. All of these are combining characters: copied alone they show over a dotted circle and attach to the letter right before them, so paste the vowel first and the mark after it. The apostrophes ߴ and ߵ stand where a vowel has been dropped in fast speech and still carry its high or low tone. The phrases on this page are written without tone marks; a careful text adds them.
N'Ko punctuation, digits and money signs ߸ ؟
N'Ko has its own comma ߸ and exclamation mark ߹, and for questions it uses the reversed Arabic question mark ؟, which suits right-to-left writing. ߺ, the lajanyalan, stretches the join between two letters to lengthen a word in headings and titles, like the Arabic tatweel; ߽, the dantayalan, is a combining mark used for abbreviations.
The N'Ko digits ߀ ߁ ߂ ߃ ߄ ߅ ߆ ߇ ߈ ߉ are 0 to 9. The two money signs (dorome) and (taman), together with the dantayalan, were added in Unicode 11.0 in 2018. Neither currency has a dedicated N’Ko Unicode sign: the Guinean franc uses FG (ISO code GNF), and the Gambian dalasi uses D (GMD).
How to type N'Ko on a keyboard or phone
Windows has an N'Ko keyboard layout: add N'Ko as a language under Time & language, Language & region, then switch with Windows Space. The Ebrima font that comes with Windows shows N'Ko letters, and Google's free Noto Sans NKo works on any system. Keyman offers N'Ko keyboards for Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone.
Copying from this page works everywhere: tap a letter in the grid, then paste. Because N'Ko runs right to left, the cursor may move the opposite way from what you expect when you edit mixed N'Ko and Latin text; that is normal. N'Ko letters and marks are in Unicode's N'Ko block, U07C0 to U07FF, first encoded in Unicode 5.0 in 2006; the question mark ؟ is U061F in the Arabic block. In HTML, write a letter by its number: ߊ gives ߊ and ߒ gives ߒ.
Where Mandingo is written in N'Ko: Guinea and the Gambia
N'Ko is strongest in Guinea , Solomana Kanté's own country, where Maninka speakers of Upper Guinea and the city of Kankan have used it for decades in classes, books, newspapers and on the radio. CLDR, the Unicode locale data, estimates about 3.9 million people for Mandingo written in N'Ko: about 3.2 million in Guinea and about 730,000 in the Gambia . In the Gambia, Mandinka is also widely written in Latin letters and in Arabic script.
The same alphabet serves the other Manding languages: see the Bambara (N'Ko) collection for Mali, the Dyula collection for Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, the Mandingo collection for the Latin spelling, and the N'Ko collection for every character of the script. The Guinea and Gambia collections have each country's flag, emoji and symbols.
How to use them
5 situationsClick to copyMandingo N'Ko Alphabet combos
8Worth knowing
- Solomana Kanté is said to have made N'Ko after reading a claim that African languages could not be written properly; he answered it with a script built for the sounds and tones of Manding.
- "N'Ko" means "I say" in every Manding language, Maninka, Mandinka, Bambara and Dyula alike, which is why one alphabet serves them all.
- N'Ko users celebrate 14 April, the date in 1949 given for the alphabet's creation, as N'Ko Alphabet Day.
- N'Ko has its own money signs, dorome and taman, added to Unicode in 2018.
Questions people ask
7What is the Mandingo alphabet?
The Manding languages are written in three ways: the Latin alphabet, Arabic script (Ajami) and N'Ko. N'Ko, shown on this page, was created in 1949 by Solomana Kanté for the Manding languages; it runs right to left, joins its letters, writes every vowel as a full letter and marks tone.
What is the Maninka alphabet?
In Guinea, Maninka is written above all in N'Ko: seven vowels ߊ ߋ ߌ ߍ ߎ ߏ ߐ, the syllabic n ߒ and the consonants ߓ to ߦ, with marks for tone and nasal vowels. It is also written in Latin letters.
Is there a Mandinka alphabet?
Yes. In the Gambia and Senegal, Mandinka is mostly written in Latin letters, and also in Arabic script and in N'Ko, the alphabet on this page.
How do I copy and paste N'Ko letters?
Click or tap any letter in the grid to copy it, then paste with CtrlV, CmdV or a long-press and Paste on a phone. For a tone mark, paste the vowel first and the mark right after it.
How do you type N'Ko on a keyboard?
On Windows, add N'Ko under Language & region and switch with Windows Space. Keyman has N'Ko keyboards for Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone. Use a font such as Noto Sans NKo or Ebrima.
What language is spoken in Guinea besides French?
Many; the largest are Pular (Fula), Maninka and Susu. Maninka, spoken mainly in Upper Guinea around Kankan, is the language most often written in N'Ko.
How do you say hello in Mandingo?
ߌ ߣߌ ߗߋ (i ni ce) is a greeting and a thank-you across the Manding languages; to several people Maninka says ߊߟߎ ߣߌ ߗߋ (alu ni ce).
