Bété

The Bété language belongs to the Kru group of Niger-Congo languages spoken in central and western Côte dIvoire. Although some 600,000 Bétés live in the Côte dIvoire the language has no official status and all education is conducted in French. A syllabic Bété script consisting of over 400 signs was invented in 1956 by Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, a well-educated, literate Bété. Bouabré is an artist by trade and explains that his aim was to \\\form a specific African writing from scenes of human life” (from Bruly Bouabrés Alphabet