DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0403
290
Editorial Notes
or G. dorcas. The horns had been taken off the cores at the base, and the ends had been
rubbed down to the required chisel-shape, as
shown in fig. 8.
The finished tool is employed for sliver-
ing bark off of trees for the purpose of making
cords, the chief use of which is in binding
the thatch of tukuls. The holal is considered
more satisfactory for removing strips of bark than is an iron knife, probably because a
slight misdirection of the latter might sever the strip, whereas a slip of the blunter tool
would do no harm.6
8. The origin of the Vai syllabary. — About the middle of January, 1849, an
English naval officer reported to the missionaries at Sierra Leone the existence of a
written language among certain natives near Cape Mount. In the hope that this dis-
covery might prove useful for the furtherance of missionary effort, S. W. Koelle deter-
mined to investigate it. His researches, he informs us, led to the discovery of the Vai
syllabary 7 which, according to his informants, had been invented about fifteen years
previously — i. e. about 1835 — by a small group of natives. Of the spread of the script
within fifteen years among a people who, before its invention, had been quite ignorant
of writing, Koelle makes this remarkable statement:
At the present time it would appear. . . .that in Bandakoro all grown up people of the male sex are
more or less able to read and to write, and that in all other Vei towns there are at least some men who
can spell their “country-book”.8
The truth of such a record of development of a native writing is important not only
for our understanding of the mental capacity of the natives themselves, but also for our
knowledge of the origin and history of writing in general. Consequently, any additional
information on the origin of the Vai syllabary is not without value.
Contrary to the generally received opinion, the first published notice of the lan-
6 This account is based on one published in the brief notes referred to in n. 2.
7 For recent accounts of the Vai writing, see F. W. H. Migeon, ‘The syllabic writing of the Vai people’ (Jour.
Afr. Soc. vol. 9, no. 33, London, Oct. 1909, p. 46-58); H. H. Johnston, Liberia, London, 1906, vol. 2, p. 1107—1135;
Momolu Massaquoi, ‘The Vai people and their syllabic writing ’ (Jour. Afr. Soc., vol. 10, no. 40, London, July 1911,
p. 459-466); M. Delafosse, Les Vai, leur langue et leur systbme d’ecriture (L’Anthropologie, vol. 10, Paris, 1899,
p. 294-314); The Vey language (Spirit of Missions, vol. 64, New York, 1899, p. 577-579). Two of the early descrip-
tions are: F. E. Forbes, Despatch concerning the discovery of a native written character, etc. (Jour. R. Geog. Soc.,
vol. 20, London, 1850, p. 89-101); E. Norris, Notes on the Vei language and alphabet (Jour. R. Geog. Soc., vol. 20,
London, 1850, p. 101-113). Cf. also S. W. Koelle, Outlines of a grammar of the Vei language, London, 1854, Appen-
dix, p. 229-256.
8 S. W. Koelle, Narrative of an expedition into the Vy country of West Africa and the discovery of a system of
syllabic writing recently invented by the natives of the Vy tribe, London, 1849, p. 25. Cf. also Church Missionary
Soc. for Africa and the East, 1849-1850, p. Ixvii-lxix.
Editorial Notes
or G. dorcas. The horns had been taken off the cores at the base, and the ends had been
rubbed down to the required chisel-shape, as
shown in fig. 8.
The finished tool is employed for sliver-
ing bark off of trees for the purpose of making
cords, the chief use of which is in binding
the thatch of tukuls. The holal is considered
more satisfactory for removing strips of bark than is an iron knife, probably because a
slight misdirection of the latter might sever the strip, whereas a slip of the blunter tool
would do no harm.6
8. The origin of the Vai syllabary. — About the middle of January, 1849, an
English naval officer reported to the missionaries at Sierra Leone the existence of a
written language among certain natives near Cape Mount. In the hope that this dis-
covery might prove useful for the furtherance of missionary effort, S. W. Koelle deter-
mined to investigate it. His researches, he informs us, led to the discovery of the Vai
syllabary 7 which, according to his informants, had been invented about fifteen years
previously — i. e. about 1835 — by a small group of natives. Of the spread of the script
within fifteen years among a people who, before its invention, had been quite ignorant
of writing, Koelle makes this remarkable statement:
At the present time it would appear. . . .that in Bandakoro all grown up people of the male sex are
more or less able to read and to write, and that in all other Vei towns there are at least some men who
can spell their “country-book”.8
The truth of such a record of development of a native writing is important not only
for our understanding of the mental capacity of the natives themselves, but also for our
knowledge of the origin and history of writing in general. Consequently, any additional
information on the origin of the Vai syllabary is not without value.
Contrary to the generally received opinion, the first published notice of the lan-
6 This account is based on one published in the brief notes referred to in n. 2.
7 For recent accounts of the Vai writing, see F. W. H. Migeon, ‘The syllabic writing of the Vai people’ (Jour.
Afr. Soc. vol. 9, no. 33, London, Oct. 1909, p. 46-58); H. H. Johnston, Liberia, London, 1906, vol. 2, p. 1107—1135;
Momolu Massaquoi, ‘The Vai people and their syllabic writing ’ (Jour. Afr. Soc., vol. 10, no. 40, London, July 1911,
p. 459-466); M. Delafosse, Les Vai, leur langue et leur systbme d’ecriture (L’Anthropologie, vol. 10, Paris, 1899,
p. 294-314); The Vey language (Spirit of Missions, vol. 64, New York, 1899, p. 577-579). Two of the early descrip-
tions are: F. E. Forbes, Despatch concerning the discovery of a native written character, etc. (Jour. R. Geog. Soc.,
vol. 20, London, 1850, p. 89-101); E. Norris, Notes on the Vei language and alphabet (Jour. R. Geog. Soc., vol. 20,
London, 1850, p. 101-113). Cf. also S. W. Koelle, Outlines of a grammar of the Vei language, London, 1854, Appen-
dix, p. 229-256.
8 S. W. Koelle, Narrative of an expedition into the Vy country of West Africa and the discovery of a system of
syllabic writing recently invented by the natives of the Vy tribe, London, 1849, p. 25. Cf. also Church Missionary
Soc. for Africa and the East, 1849-1850, p. Ixvii-lxix.