?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Strategies+for+Representing+Tone+in+African+Writing+Systems&rft.creator=Bird%2C+Steven&rft.subject=Phonology&rft.description=Tone+languages+provide+some+interesting+challenges+for+the+designers+of+new+orthographies.%0AOne+approach+is+to+omit+tone+marks%2C+just+as+stress+is+not+marked+in+English+(zero+marking).%0AAnother+approach+is+to+do+phonemic+tone+analysis+and+then+make+heavy+use+of+diacritic%0Asymbols+to+distinguish+the+%60tonemes'+(exhaustive+marking).+While+orthographies+based+on%0Aeither+system+have+been+successful%2C+this+may+be+thanks+to+our+ability+to+manage+inadequate%0Aorthographies+rather+than+to+any+intrinsic+advantage+which+is+afforded+by+one+or+the+other%0Aapproach.+In+many+cases%2C+practical+experience+with+both+kinds+of+orthography+in+sub-Saharan%0AAfrica+has+shown+that+people+have+not+been+able+to+attain+the+level+of+reading+and+writing%0Afluency+that+we+know+to+be+possible+for+the+orthographies+of+non-tonal+languages.+In+some%0Acases+this+can+be+attributed+to+a+sociolinguistic+setting+which+does+not+favour+vernacular%0Aliteracy.+In+other+cases%2C+the+orthography+itself+might+be+to+blame.+If+the+orthography+of+a+tone%0Alanguage+is+difficult+to+user+or+to+learn%2C+then+a+good+part+of+the+reason%2C+I+believe%2C+is+that+the%0Adesigner+either+has+not+paid+enough+attention+to+the+function+of+tone+in+the+language%2C+or+has%0Anot+ensured+that+the+information+encoded+in+the+orthography+is+accessible+to+the+ordinary%0A(non-linguist)+user+of+the+language.+If+the+writing+of+tone+is+not+going+to+continue+to+be+a%0Astumbling+block+to+literacy+efforts%2C+then+a+fresh+approach+to+tone+orthography+is+required%2C+one%0Awhich+assigns+high+priority+to+these+two+factors.+%0A%0AThis+article+describes+the+problems+with+orthographies+that+use+too+few+or+too+many+tone%0Amarks%2C+and+critically+evaluates+a+wide+range+of+creative+intermediate+solutions.+I+review+the%0Acontributions+made+by+phonology+and+reading+theory%2C+and+provide+some+broad+methodological%0Aprinciples+to+guide+someone+who+is+seeking+to+represent+tone+in+a+writing+system.+The+tone%0Aorthographies+of+several+languages+from+sub-Saharan+Africa+are+presented+throughout+the%0Aarticle%2C+with+particular+emphasis+on+some+tone+languages+of+Cameroon.+&rft.publisher=John+Benjamins&rft.contributor=Bright%2C+William&rft.date=1999&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpostscript&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F2174%2F1%2Fwll2.ps&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F2174%2F5%2Fwll2.pdf&rft.identifier=++Bird%2C+Steven++(1999)+Strategies+for+Representing+Tone+in+African+Writing+Systems.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F2174%2F