Solomana Kante
Illustration — Map of the life of Sulemaana Kante, inventor of the N'ko alphabet • Illustration — Grave of Solomana Kanté Solomana Kanté (also written as Sùlemáana Kántε, Souleymane Kanté or Sulemaana Kantè, 1922 – November 23, 1987) was a Guinean writer, neographer, and educator, best known as the inventor of the N'Ko alphabet for the Manding language varieties of Africa. Kanté created N'Ko, a modern script for, as he saw it, the Manding language in 1949 after five years of experimentation with various writing systems. The script first came into use in Kankan, Guinea and was disseminated from there into other Manding-speaking parts of West Africa.
Also recorded as Solomana Kanté · Sùlemáana Kántε · Souleymane Kanté · Sulemaana Kantè
Solomana Kante

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- Name
- Solomana Kanté
- Born
- 1922
- Birthplace
- Kankan, French Guinea (now Guinea)
- Died
- 23 November 1987
- Place of death
- Conakry, Guinea
- Nationality
- Guinea
- Occupation
- translator · writer
- Languages
- Mande
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Documentary summary
Illustration — Map of the life of Sulemaana Kante, inventor of the N'ko alphabet • Illustration — Grave of Solomana Kanté Solomana Kanté (also written as Sùlemáana Kántε, Souleymane Kanté or Sulemaana Kantè, 1922 – November 23, 1987) was a Guinean writer, neographer, and educator, best known as the inventor of the N'Ko alphabet for the Manding language varieties of Africa. Kanté created N'Ko, a modern script for, as he saw it, the Manding language in 1949 after five years of experimentation with various writing systems. The script first came into use in Kankan, Guinea and was disseminated from there into other Manding-speaking parts of West Africa.
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Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Solomana Kanté • Native Name — ߛߎ߬ߟߋ߬ߡߊ߬ߣߊ߬ ߞߊ߲ߕߍ߫ • Born — 1922 • Birthplace — Kankan, French Guinea (now Guinea) • Died — 23 November 1987 • Place of death — Conakry, Guinea
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1922
Solomana Kante was born on 1 January 1922.
1987
Solomana Kante died on 23 November 1987.
Primary material
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reference work
- “Solomana Kante”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
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authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2996980: Solomana Kante
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Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Vydrin, Valentin. Manding-English Dictionary : (Maninka, Bamana). 8. 1999. 9780993996931.
- 2.Donaldson, Coleman. Orthography, Standardization, and Register: The Case of Manding. In P. Lane, J. Costa, & H. De Korne (Eds.), Standardizing Minority Languages: Competing Ideologies of Authority and Authenticity in the Global Periphery (Pp. 175–199). New York, NY: Routledge. 2. 2017-01-01.
- 3.Donaldson, Coleman. The Role of Islam, Ajami writings, and educational reform in Sulemaana Kantè's N'ko. African Studies Review. 63. 3. 462–486. 2020. 0002-0206.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 5
- Conrad, David C. (2001). "Reconstructing Oral Tradition: Souleymane Kanté’s Approach to Writing Mande History". Mande Studies 3, 147–200.
- Kaba, Diaka Laye (1992). "Souleymane Kanté: l’inventeur de l’alphabet N’ko". L’Éducateur: Trimestriel Pédagogique des Enseignants de Guinée 11–12, 33
- Kanté, Bourama (1996). "Souvenir de Kanté Souleymane". Somoya Sila: Journal Culturel de l'Association ICRA-N'KO 19.
- Kanté, Souleymane (1961). "Alphabet de la langue N’ko: ‘N’ko sebesun’." In Méthode pratique d’écriture N’ko. Kankan, reprinted by Mamady Keita (1995), Siguiri.
- Vydrine, Valentin, ed. (2001). "Lettres de Souleymane Kanté et Maurice Houis". Mande Studies 3, 133–146.
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