Recommendations for writing Shua

Recommendations for writing Shua
Background
Six writing workshops were held in the Nata
Primary School from May through to July
2011, and attended by a committee of Shua
speakers (see list of participants at end). The
purpose of the workshops was to make an
informed set of proposals for the letters to
be used in writing Shua. The workshops
discussed the sounds of Shua, and some of
the main ways of representing these sounds
in writing. This took 5 of the 6 workshops.
In the final workshop decisions were made
as to a trial system of spelling.
Main considerations taken into account in
making the decisions were:
The letters proposed for writing
Shua
Vowels
Ordinary vowels (short): i (philo ‘kidney’),
e (kʼaneˉ ‘bird’), a (kʼaneˉ ‘bird’), o (kaaro
‘stone’), u (kuriˉ ‘year’)
Long vowels: i: (tiˉ:ˉ ‘my’), e: (be: ‘cattle’),
a: (paˉ:ˉ ‘bite’), o: (k’o: ‘eat meat’), u: (ǀhu:
‘spider’)
Nasal vowels: ĩ (tʼũˉĩˉ ‘good’), ẽ (ẽnẽˉ
‘other’), ã (dõã ‘grass’), õ (dõã ‘grass’), ũ
(tʼũˉĩˉ ‘good’)
Consonants
1 The same sound should always be written in the same way;
2 Different sounds should always be written differently;
3 As far as possible, use the letters used in
English and/or Setswana to represent the
same sounds in Shua.
p (piˉ:ˉ ‘suck’), b (baˍ:ˍ ‘father’), ph (philo
‘kidney’), p’ (p’uˉ:ˍ ‘watery faeces’)
Important qualifications
ty (tya: ‘you’), dj (dji: ‘tree’), tyh (tyhaˉriˉ
‘slippery’), ty’ (ty’oˉmm ‘locust’)
The committee’s proposals are understood
to be tentative, and are suggestions that need
to be tested out over time. The committee
realises that there is no perfect way of
writing any language, and it is a matter of
choosing what look like the best options,
trying them out, and modifying them if and
where necessary. Compromises have to be
made, and were made by members of the
committee.
The reasons for the committee’s decisions
are not indicated specifically here, for
reasons of space.
The spellings of illustrative words given in
this document reflect our best guess; there
may well be errors, especially in the
representation of tones.
t (tiˉ:ˉ ‘my’), d (daˍoˉ ‘burn (something)’),
th (ma:tha ‘how’), t’ (t’ũˉĩˉ ‘good’)
ts (hatsa: ‘four’), dz (rare, dze: ‘stay’ – also
ze:), tsh (tsha: ‘water’), ts’ (ts’a: ‘squeeze’)
k (kaaro ‘stone’), g (gaiˉ ‘puff adder’), kh
(khoe ‘person’), k’ (k’aaro ‘boy’), qx’ (rare,
but in some pronunciations of qx’ohuˉ
‘meat’ – also pronounced k’ohuˉ), ʔ (a:ʔẽ
‘no’)
m (ma: ‘head’), n (nãˉõˉ ‘what’), ny (nyaˉ:ˉ
‘wind’), ng (ngona: ‘three’); mb (mbaiˉ
‘egg’), nd (ndaiˉ ‘worm’), nydj (nydjuˉ:ˉ
‘black’), ngg (nggurube ‘warthog’)
f (mainly in borrowed words; possibly in a
few Shua words, e.g. one pronunciation of
fiˉriˉkiˉdji ‘tampan’ – also pronounced with
an initial s), s (siˉriˉ ‘mother’), sh (shoˉroˍ
‘rock monitor’), x (xaiˉ:ˉ ‘cold’)
v (only in borrowed words?), z (zela
‘cloth’), h (hatsa: ‘four’)
w (probably not needed, but heard in many
words, e.g. (w)oˉraˉa ‘scratch’), l (zela
‘cloth’), r (kaaro ‘stone’), y (probably not
needed, but heard in a number of words, e.g.
iˉ:ˉ(y)eˍ ‘all’)
Clicks (ǃone:na)
ǀ (ǀa: ‘intestines’), gǀ (gǀuiˉ ‘thatch’), ǀh (ǀhu:
‘spider’), ǀ’ (ǀ’u:ˍ ‘surprise’), nǀ (nǀammeˉ
‘hit by throwing’), ngǀ (ngǀoˉboˉ ‘noise’)
ǁ (ǁabo ‘shoe’), gǁ (gǁe: ‘female’), ǁh (ǁhara:
‘many’), ǁ’ (ǁ’a: ‘wash’), nǁ (nǁa: ‘keep an
eye on someone’), ngǁ (ngǁoˉeˉ ‘moon’)
ǃ (ǃe: ‘to be stuck’), gǃ (gǃoǃoˉ ‘food pipe’),
ǃh (ǃhobe ‘frog’), ǃ’ (ǃ’araa ‘open
forcefully’), nǃ (no examples available), ngǃ
(ngǃobe ‘hang’)
ǂ (rare, but occurs in some pronunciations of
ǂa: ‘stalk an animal’ – also pronounced ǃa:)
Tones
High tone: iˉ (piˉriˉ:ˉ ‘goat’), eˉ (ngǁoˉeˉ
‘moon’), aˉ (paˉ:ˉ ‘bite’), oˉ (bakoˉ:ˉ
‘snuff’), uˉ (k’ohuˉ ‘meat’)
Mid tone: i (philo ‘kidney’), e (gǁe:
‘female’), a (ǀam ‘two’), o (ǀora: ‘few’), u
(ǀhu: ‘spider’)
Low tone: iˍ (guˍiˍ ‘provoke’), eˍ (ǀ’eˍ:ˍ
‘fire’), aˍ (daˍoˉ ‘burn (something)’), oˍ
(shoˉroˍ ‘rock monitor’), uˍ (ǀhu:ˍ ‘come
closer’)
Tones on long vowels are to be indicated
separately on both the vowel and the colon.
For example, eˉ:ˍ indicates a long e sound
with tone falling from high to low
throughout it.
Shua Writing Committee
Orefile Aloto, Oaitse Andries, Tiny Bophie,
Kagisaijo
Dilo,
Mogolo
Bevan
Gabantshenke, Molatedi Gabantshenke,
Kedumebe Galebuisitse, Golebaone James,
Galenkutwe Power Leakwa, Obusitswe
Madiafosa,
Elder
Masoko,
Lesego
Odumetse,
Kegakologetswe
Reggie,
Megakologetse Reggie, David Robson,
Pono Zuka, Tshwelelo Zuka
Teachers in the workshops
Blesswell Kure & Bill McGregor