01OVERVIEW
Front Matter
SCRIPT · PROFILE
Vai
Syllabary created in 1833 by Momolu Duwalu Bukele in Liberia, reportedly revealed in a dream — one of the oldest modern scripts independently invented in West Africa.
Syllabary created in 1833 by Momolu Duwalu Bukele in Liberia, reportedly revealed in a dream — one of the oldest modern scripts independently invented in West Africa. Composed of ~200 syllabic signs, it is still used in Liberia today. Composed of about 200 syllabic signs; the inventor Momolu Duwalu Bukele is widely believed to have been of slave origin. Added to Unicode in the 21st century, it has regained attention as a marker of the Vai cultural identity in Liberia.
04SPECIMEN
The Letters
Signs · Unicode · TypesSample GlyphsClick to copy
Glyph evolution
Form change over time
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06MECHANICS
Reading Mechanics
Direction · Method↔
Direction
Left to Right (LTR)
Written left to right.
α
System
Syllabary
⌨
Input method
Direct Unicode input
Keyboard layout
Standard IME · input chart
Keyboard layout data not yet available.
07LINEAGE
The Lineage
Family · DescendantsPhylogeny
Ancestors & descendants
Related scripts
Ancestors · Descendants · Family
08REACH