Bassa language

The Bassa Language

Bassa is a tonal language belonging to the linguistic family. Notable features: Tones are marked using a system of dots and dashes which appear inside the vowel letters.
There are three reginal dialets which differ from each other slightly in culture. The principal characteristic the people use is differentiating the groups are linguistic. The three groups include the Mabahn (principally spoken in Margibi County), the Gi Gban or Gibi (spoken throughout most of Grand Bassa County and Bong County) and the Nebue Kli (spoken in Rivercess County). During the 1920's an alphabetic script known as the "Vah" evolved into a type of writing called "Vaa Ceedeh" or signal writing which script was perfected and taught by Bassa physician, Dr. Thomas Narvin Flo Lewis who earned a doctorate degree from Syracuse University in 1910. Dr. Lewis had a typesetting machine manufactured in Dresden, Germany between 1915 and 1920 to produce Bassa primers, first and second grade textbooks for "Vah" schools in Buchanan.
Originally the Bassa alphabet was written on slates with charcoal, and the writing could be easily erased with a leaf known as yan. People began to write with pencils in the early 1940s. The original writing direction was boustrophedon (alternating between right to left and left to right, but the alphabet has been written from left to right since the 1960s.
Dr. Lewis died early September, 1935. Below is the widely used script:

The below table shows how to say the Bassa alphabet (Vah script) - the consonants and vowels. Also, how to use the tonal marks in composition:

ENGLISH VERSION OF THE VAH SCRIPT

THE 23 CONSONANTS

N

K

S

F

M

Y

G

D

Q

J

X

W

Z

;

L

C

]

T

B

V

H

P

R

The 7 vowels with 5 tones
producing 35 vowel sounds

Aj

'j

Oj

Uj

Ej

[j

lj

Ak

'k

Ok

Uk

Ek

[k

lk

Af

'f

Of

Uf

Ef

[f

lf

Ag

'g

Og

Ug

Eg

[g

lg

Ah

'h

Oh

Uh

Eh

[h

lh

Some Bassa Vah Association members with President W. V. S. Tubman (Chief Patron)

Acknowledgment
I would like to thank Mr. Varnie N'jola Karmo and the "Bassa Vah Association" for the table of the "Vah" script which was adapted by permission. I also extend many thanks and appreciation to Mr. Simon Ager of Omniglot.com and Gwillim Law of RLAW@nc.rr.com. Other reference: L. Vanderaa --- 1991.