SAS 1.0 · Digital standard

Swifin Akoose Orthography Standard

If you can type English on your device, you can type Akoose.

Positioning: Swifin Edition is a simplified digital orthography for Akoose designed for universal typing, digital communication and AI interoperability. It complements the established Akoose orthography (General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages — including ŋ, ɔ and tonal notation) and preserves mappings to traditional forms. It does not declare the historical writing system obsolete.

Five rules

  1. One simple spelling system — predictable Latin representations; one mapping per traditional symbol where possible.
  2. No mandatory diacritics — tone/pronunciation live in the linguistic layer underneath.
  3. Deterministic conversion — POST /api/public/akoose/transliterate (not an LLM). Reverse returns candidates when ambiguous.
  4. Never change grammar to resemble English — orthography only; morphology and culture intact.
  5. Formally specified — SAS 1.0 defines digraphs, punctuation, and mappings.

Layered forms

Users see Swifin Edition; researchers can reveal scholarly form + pronunciation:

Swifin Edition:  ng…
Scholarly form:  ŋ…
Pronunciation:   /…/
Verification:    native_verified

Core mappings

Traditional Swifin Notes
ŋngvelar nasal
ɲnypalatal nasal
ɛeeopen-mid front
ɔooopen-mid back
əeschwa (lossy)
ʃshpostalveolar
tone marks(omitted)linguistic layer

Machine-readable: GET /api/public/akoose/orthography · Transliterate: POST /api/public/akoose/transliterate