Welcome
My name is David Roberts and I am a researcher interested in grappling with the question of how tone should be written in practical orthographies.
Orthography studies have traditionally had the misfortune of falling between the analytical approach of the linguist and the didactic concerns of the literacy specialist. On the one hand, many linguists are uninterested in practical orthographies because they consider them to be unsci entific. On the other hand, literacy specialists have a tendency to shy away from orthography issues, because they are perceived as requiring technical skills that are beyond their scope.
As I have carried out linguistic fieldwork, I have sought to find the balance between these two extremes, by helping to promote orthography studies as an academic discipline in its own right. I take an interdisciplinary approach, exploring the connections between the study of writing systems, phonology, the psychology of reading and sociolinguistics.
Although my own fieldwork has all been in Africa, I am also interested in dialoguing with researchers on other continents.
In Togo, I cooperate closely with the CLNK (Kabiye National Language Committee), the government authority that is responsible fordeciding how the language should be written.
I have also had opportunities to work with colleagues researching other African languages, including Aja, Akebou, Anii, Byali, Foodo, Fulfulde, Lama, Moba and Tem.
By the way, the name of this website comes from the Kabiye word ñɩnɩyʋ meaning “one who searches”, in other words, a researcher.