CONCEPT OF AFRICAN SCRIPT: PRE-COLONIAL, COLONIAL AND MODERN PERIODS

Language expresses thought, preserves thought, and also suggests or creates thought. But language in its unwritten or oral form cannot perfectly carry out these functions. At a very early stage of man’s history, attempts were made to present in some visible way, the thought which spoken language conveyed to the ear. By so doing, man came about the concept, script. Looking at the concept of African script, the purpose of this paper is to see the general ideas derived or inferred from specific instances about it. The paper x-rays thoughts or notions formed by people about the script. Constraints of African scripts are pointed out. The effect of colonialism on African script is also discussed and recommendations made. The paper concludes that the provision of proper script for African languages will help the languages to develop more effectively along line with African way of thought and world view.