African Script and Scripture: The History of the Kikakui (Mende) Writing System for Bible Translations

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Periodical article

Title:	African Script and Scripture: The History of the Kikakui (Mende) Writing System for Bible Translations
Author:	Tuchscherer, Konrad
Year:	1995
Periodical:	African Languages and Cultures
Volume:	8
Issue:	2
Pages:	169-188
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Sierra Leone
Subjects:	writing systems Bible translation African languages Mende Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/1771691
Abstract:	The 'Kikakui' script, employed by the Mende of Sierra Leone, is one of a number of indigenous writing systems invented and introduced in West Africa during the 19th and 20th centuries. This paper examines the lack of historical information on the script in the scholarly literature. It focuses primarily on one aspect of the script's history, viz. its use as a medium for the translation of the Bible into Mende by missionaries in the 1920s. After an outline of the history of the script and a description of its internal organization, the author deals with the translation efforts of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in the 1920s. He identifies a number of factors which contributed to the failure of Kikakui to establish itself as a medium for Mende Bible translations. These include the introduction of a new script for writing Mende, the so-called 'Westermann' script, and the rejection of 'Kikakui' by Mende Christians. Bibliogr., notes, ref.