Quickstart Guide to Reading Oroko

́́[Note: The text for this post is taken from an OLDA (previously OLDC) brochure intended for distribution with the ABC Chart.]

For Oroko speakers who are literate in English or Duala, reading Oroko need not be difficult. This pamphlet has been designed to accompany the chart ABC wa Oroko, explaining the alphabet and some basic spelling rules. More complete lessons will be available in a Reading and Writing Manual.

The Oroko alphabet has a total of 27 letters - 7 vowels and 20 consonants. It has been designed to create a unified writing system for all Oroko clans. Of course, some letters will be said differently based on the clan or village of the speaker. Each reader is encouraged to maintain their unique way of speaking. However, it is very important that all writers use the common writing system presented in this paper to facilitate communication.


The following letters are familiar from English:

A    a       akpana          ‘yellow cocoyam’

E    e       ebongo         ‘chair’
I     i        iëiba              ‘stream’
O    o       ko                 ‘rat mole’
U    u       muna             ‘door’

K    k       kuma             ‘python’

M   m      mokondo      ‘tail’
N    n       naëende        ‘type of grass’
S    s       sombo          ‘drill monkey’
T    t        toko              ‘spoon’
W   w      wana             ‘mouth’
Y    y       iyóbi              ‘hook’
Ch  ch     chóó              ‘very dark’

The following consonant combinations are not in English, but the individual parts are:

Mb mb    mboëi           ‘goat’

Nd  nd     ndóndi           ‘fish’
Nj  nj      njanga           ‘crayfish’
Ny  ny     nyaka            ‘cow’  [nà in old Duala]
Ng  ng     ngóndá          ‘moon’


The remaining sounds have a unique Oroko pronunciation. Sometimes the pronunciation varies between Oroko dialects. Say the key word for each letter to see how it should be pronounced in your dialect. Then, no matter how you pronounce the sound, use these symbols when you write.





Ɛ ɛ       Ɛnɛ!     ‘See!’
      Pronounce like the <e> in ‘bed’.
      [Written as <e> in old Duala.]


Ɔ ɔ       kɔ         ‘snail’
      Pronounce like the <aw> in ‘hawk’.
      [Written as <o> in old Duala.]


F f        fiko       ‘kidney’
      Pronounce /f/ or /p/.
            Some dialects pronounce this letter as /f/ just like in English. Other dialects pronounce this sound by incompletely closing the lips as if one is about to say /p/.

B b       bana     ‘children’

      Pronounce /b/ or /B/.
            This letter is usually said the same as an English /b/ at the beginning of words. In the middle of words it is usually pronounced with the lips incompletely closed.  This “soft” /b/ is not the same as /w/ and should still be written<b>.

Kp  kp  ikpa      ‘salt’

      Pronounce /kw/ or /kp/.
            The sound of this letter varies by both word and speaker. Sometimes it is said as /kw/ and sometimes as /kp/. No matter how it is said, it should be spelled <kp>.

Ŋ ŋ       ŋana     ‘child’

      Pronounce like the <ng> in “sing”, or like the <ng> in “sing” plus <w>, or <m>.
      [Written  as<n.> in old Duala.]
            In some dialects, this letter sounds like /ng/ in the English word ‘sing’ and in other dialects a /w/ sound also follows behind. For the Ekombe clan, this letter is usually pronounced /m/.

Ngb ngb ngba ‘dog’

      Pronounce /ñmgb/, /nv/, /nf/ or /ñgw/
            The sound represented by this symbol varies considerably across the dialects. Each dialect will keep their unique pronunciation but everyone should use the same spelling.

Ɗ ɗ       ɗisɔ      ‘eye’

      Pronunciation is similar to /l/, /r/ and /d/, depending on the dialect and word.
            The small tail on the top of this special letter has been added to show that this is not an English <d>. Instead, it is a unique Oroko sound that includes the sounds of the English letters /l/, /r/, and /d/. This symbol has been designed to look like the combination of all three. Say “stream” or "water" in your dialect to hear how this letter sounds in the middle of a word.

J j        eja(ni)  ‘leaf’

      Pronunce /ch/, /y/, or /j/.
            For some dialects, this symbol will sound exactly like <y>. For other dialects, it will be pronounced /ch/ or /j/.

Practice Reading Oroko:

Bunya wɔkɔ ngia emonangaka iyɔ. Fonda ngia enange iyɔ, ama yenyoɛ ɗitokoa, em‘ɛnɛ etoɗo ebiaka. Ngia emoboka fiɗi. Em’aka ɗibanda etoɗo.

     Etoɗo emokeka ama “Nga osaɗeɗi mba, nga osaboɗo mba, bunya ma mbok’ongoɛnɛ.”
     Ngia em’ɔyɔ ɗɔɗɔ. Emomata etoɗo. Em’aka.
     Basɔngɔ bamobanda ngia. Bam’anja mekoɗi, bamokata na ngia o tina ja weɗe. Ngia ekakekaka.     Etoɗo emoboka mokekako ŋa ngia. Etoɗo emofɔ. Em’ɛnɛ ɗinaɗama ngia emakataba o tina ja weɗe.
     Emoboteá ɗiɗena na mesinga masonga ime. Emisá ɗiɗena mesinga bi.
     Emoboteɛ ɗitubɛɗɛ ngia ama, “Bunya wa omobande mba, nam’ɔmeɛ owa ɗinaɗama nga osaɗeɗi mba, ma mbok’ongoɛnɛ bunya, waboteɛ ɗin’ɔyeɛ ɗɔɗɔ.” “Yɔboni osam’ijoa ɗinaɗama etoɗo ma ek’ongoɛnɛ oma ngia?”

Punctuation Rules

Punctuation should be the same as in English. Two special rules should be noted:

 

1. The near past verb prefix <moà> should be marked with an accent above the <o>. This is to make it different from the far past verb prefix <mo> which will be unmarked.

 

   Practice Reading:

      Jana, ko emoɗa besumbu.

      ‘Yesterday, a rat-mole ate grass.’

 

      Ko emóɗa besumbu.

      ‘A rat-mole ate grass.’ (Recent past)

 

2. When a letter has been deleted, an apostrophe will be used just as in English. For example, <a> + <mo> + <ɛnɛ> ‘He saw’ should be written as <am’ɛnɛ.> Note: If the <o> of <mó> is deleted, there will no longer be an accent mark to indicate near past.

 

Spelling Rules

 

Long Vowels:

o For adverbs where the vowel sound is longer than normal, a double vowel will be written.  For example, <chɔɔ> ‘dark’.

 

o For the infinitives of verbs which begin with a vowel (like <ɗ‘aka> ‘to go’), an apostrophe will be written to show that the <i> of the infinitive prefix <ɗi-> has been deleted.

 

o For verbs conjugated in the 3^rd person whose root begins with a vowel, such as <ɛɛnɛkɛ> ‘he is seeing’, the first vowel of the root will be preceded by an apostrophe. This will avoid confusion between statements (e.g. 'Ɛnɛkɛ inɔ. ‘He sees a bird.’) and commands (e.g. Ɛnɛkɛ inɔ! ‘See the bird!’)

 

Word breaks

Write prepositions separately if the noun that follows is a valid word, as in <o boso> ‘in front of’. If what follows is not a valid word by itself, write it together, as in <ose> ‘down’.

 

The endings <tɛ> and <fɛ> are found after many different words or phrases. Write these as separate words (e.g. Moto tɛ aɗingi ŋana. ‘Everyone likes a child.’)

 

Words of the same grammatical category should not be broken up.  For example, a noun will be one word, and a verb will be one word, even if each has many prefixes and suffixes.

 

Practice writing Oroko: 

‘He wants to eat fish.’ 

Asakaka ɗiɗa ndóndi.

 

‘He looked for snails.’ (far past)

 Amosaka kɔ.

 

‘Every child likes to play.’                        

Ŋana tɛ aɗingi ɗisa/ɗitonda etondi.

 

Written by the OLDC Literacy Sub-Committee

and published by the Oroko Language Development Committee (OLDC), Nov 2004.

Q&A about Reading & Writing Oroko

This post is the text from a brochure written by OLDA (previously called OLDC) to be distributed with copies of the ABC Chart.

 

1. Why should I learn to read and write Oroko?

• It facilitates communication.
• Reading for entertainment.
• Selling our cultural values worldwide
• For the improvement and preservation of our cultural heritage for posterity.
• For eloquence – language is power.
• Help researchers to investigate peculiarities of the language.
• Read a translation of the Bible and other books.
• To minimize performance and competence errors.
• To understand the mind and thoughts of the Oroko person through their own language.

 2. How personally do I benefit in learning to read and write the Oroko languages?

• You will conveniently identify yourself and be identified in your ethnic group by the language
• You will have easy access in your communication with all the clans in the Oroko tribe.
• You will be able to lay a first language foundation of your dialect for your children in writing.
• You will be able to discuss freely and privately with your family in the original language of your clan.
• It will help you learn and preserve your original culture.
• You personally enrich your vocabulary.

 3. How do we get learning materials?

• By being self-committed and self-supporting.
• Through donations from social groups and the cultural associations of your clan.
• From the work of OLDA (Oroko Language Development Association) and its Literacy Sub-committee. 

 4. Why do we choose sounds that are not found in English or have different pronunciations in English?

• This is not an English alphabet, it is an Oroko alphabet. Oroko is not spoken like English is, it has different sounds and different dialects. Please accept that the Oroko alphabet will need to be unique from the letters also used in English.
• We have decided to use <ë> in the place of d/l/r in order to have a unique and clear letter that will represent the sounds of these letters.
• The sound<j> is used to represent the consistent switching of the sounds /y/, /ch/ and/j/ across different dialects.
• We use<ñ> in the deep sounds of letter /n/ as in ñana "child"
• These sounds are used in order that we could read, write and understand each other in our Oroko dialects. In time it will be very normal.

 5. Do we all have to speak or write as one?

• We would not have to speak the same way.
• We are writing a common alphabet which can be used to represent words that may have different pronunciation in different dialects.
• Everyone will pick up words that are found in his dialect and others from other dialects to enrich his vocabulary.
• In writing, the symbols that have been accepted to be a standard representation of sounds will be used by everyone, but the pronunciation will be done as the dialect pronounces it in its own way. 

 6. Will my children be able to meet up?

• The children who learn Oroko language will be able to meet up academically because if they have a mastery and think in their first language, they will be able to understand more easily in their second language.
• The Oroko language is going to be part of the school curriculum as stated by the government policy on the promotion of National languages, as passed by parliament.
• Trained teachers in the Oroko dialect should be able to train the children including their parents at home.
• Teaching aids and materials should be made available to enhance the teaching and learning process to be made available by OLDC and Cultural Associations. 

 7. How, when, and where will children learn?

• Formal and informal settings including workshops with target groups.
• Primary school class 1 and 2 in various Oroko villages and towns.
• Teaching in mixed schools can have special classes arranged. 

 8. Am I too old to learn how to read and write Oroko?

• Knowledge is never old.
• Old people teach even better because they are patient.
• Experience is the best teacher
• When you are old, learning a new thing or new things makes you to become excited.
• If old even learn the language, this will help children to overcome their mistakes.
• If old people are willing to learn, this would be a good example to the youths to learn.

Boteɛ Ɗiɗanga Oroko! (Begin to Read Oroko)

Osakaka ɗ'okoa ɗiɗanga na ɗitiɗa motɔkɔ ŋa Oroko? Boteɛ ɗiɗanga wani!

 

Want to learn to read and write Oroko? Begin reading here!

 

This blog is being set up to help Oroko people...

• learn to read Oroko
• learn to write Oroko
• find resources available in Oroko
• type Oroko on the computer or Android phone
• encourage the use of Oroko in speech and writing
• teach Oroko to others

Since the intent of this blog is to be helpful, feedback is welcome! Let us know how we can help more people learn to read and write Oroko!