Editing Mandinka language (section)

==Orthography==
The [[Latin alphabet]] and the [[Arabic alphabet]] are widely used for Mandinka; the former is official, but the latter is more widely used and older. In addition, the pan-[[Manding languages|Manding]] writing system, the [[N'Ko script]], invented in 1949, is often used in Guinea-Bissau, north east Guinea, and in bordering communities in Ivory Coast and Mali. Additionally, the [[Garay alphabet]], originally developed for Wolof, has seen some limited use.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2012/12139-n4261-garay.pdf |title=Preliminary proposal for encoding the Garay script in the SMP of the UCS |last1=Everson |first1=Michael |date=26 April 2012 |publisher=UC Berkeley Script Encoding Initiative (Universal Scripts Project)/International Organization for Standardization |access-date=5 July 2015}}</ref>

In the Latin script, c represents {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}}, ŋ {{IPA|/ŋ/}}, and ñ {{IPA|/ɲ/}}; the letters v, x, z, and q are not used. Vowels are as in Spanish or Italian and are doubled to indicate length or distinguish words that are otherwise homophones.

In most places, the Ajami script uses a subset of Arabic characters for Mandinka phonemes (apart from, at times, an extra vowel mark for ''e''). 

The Latin and Arabic consonants correspond as follows:

{|class="wikitable"
!Arabic
|ا
|ع
|ب
|ت
|ط
|ض
|ج
|ه
|ح
|خ
|د
|ر
|س
|ش
|ص
|ث
|ظ
|ڢ
|ل
|م
|ن
|و
|ي
|ك
|لا
|-
!Latin
|('), aa, ee
|(', with ''madda'' ŋ)
|b, p
|t
|''t''
|''t''
|c, j
|h
|h
|
|d
|r
|s
|s (sh)
|''s''
|''s''
|''s''
|f
|l
|m
|n, ñ, ŋ
|w
|y
|k, g
|la
|}

Letters in italics are not normally used in native Mandinka words. ه (h) may also be used to indicate a final glottal stop, which is not noted in the Latin script. The letter ŋ of the Latin script is often indicated with vowel signs in the Arabic script; see below.

The vowels correspond as follows (diacritics are placed over or under the consonant in Arabic):

{|class="wikitable"
!Arabic
|ـَ
|ـِ
|ـُ
|ـْ
|ـִ
|ـً
|ـٍ
|ـٌ
|ـَا
|ـِي
|ـُو
|-
! Latin
|a, e
|i, e, ee
| o, u
| (no following vowel)
| ''e''
| aŋ, eŋ
| iŋ, eeŋ, eŋ
| oŋ, uŋ
| aa
| ii
| oo, uu
|-
! Mandinka names of Arabic marks:
| sira tilidiŋo;
| sira tilidiŋo duuma;
| ŋoo biriŋo;
| sira murumuruliŋo;
| tambi baa duuma;
| sira tilindiŋo fula;
| sira tilindiŋo duuma fula;
| ŋoo biriŋo fula.
| 
| 
| 
|}

In addition, a small Arabic 2 (۲) may be used to indicate [[reduplication]], and the ''hamza'' may be used as in Arabic to indicate glottal stops more precisely.