Ebook: Papers on Kriol: The Writing System and a Resource Guide

Publisher: SIL Asutralian Aborigines Branch (Darwin)
Publication date: 1984
ISBN: N.A.
Number of pages: 154Three articles on the orthography of Australian Aboriginal Kriol include: "Aspects of Developing a Writing System with Particular Reference to the Revision of the Kriol Orthography"; "A Guide to the Kriol Writing System"; and "A Resource Guide to Kriol." In the first two papers, issues of dealing with orthography in a language such as Kriol are discussed, the basis on which orthographic decisions have been made is explained, and questions still to be dealt with are
presented. Issues include accommodating the continuum between light and heavy Kriol and the fact that it is an English-based creole spoken in an Aboriginal culture. The third paper describes available materials in and about Kriol. (MSE)Developing an orthography and writing system for a particular language is perhaps the most difficult and sensitive task a linguist may encounter. Not only must he deal with the interpretation of raw data, but he must also take into consideration the emotional and psychological aspects of writing a person's language. People feel very strongly about the way their language is written. When working in a language such as Kriol, the problems are magnified due, in part, to the continuum between 'light' and 'heavy' Kriol and the fact that it is an English-based creole spoken in an Aboriginal culture. In the first two articles of this work paper, the author discusses some of these issues, explains the basis on which decisions have been made, and presents some of the questions still to be dealt with.
The last article is a resource guide giving a description of materials available in and about Kriol. Also included are references dealing with various aspects of Kriol as well as a bibliography of books published in Kriol.