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Ditema tsa Dinoko
isiBheqe soHlamvu
Ditema tsa Dinoko written in the syllabary
Script typeFeatural
Created2014
LanguagesSotho and other Southern Bantu languages
Related scripts
Parent systems
Litema, amaBheqe ideographs (Izimpawu zesiNtu)
  • Ditema tsa Dinoko
 This page contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Ditema tsa Dinoko ([di.tʼɪ.ma t͜sʼa di.nʊː.kʼʊ]), Sesotho for "Ditema syllabary", also known as isiBheqe soHlamvu (Zulu pronunciation: [isibʱɛᵏǃʼɛ sɔɬaːɱb̪̊vʱu])[1] is a constructed, featural syllabary for all siNtu (Southern Bantu) languages, such as Sesotho, Setswana, IsiZulu, IsiXhosa, SiSwati, SiPhuthi, Xitsonga, EMakhuwa, ChiNgoni, SiLozi, ChiShona and Tshivenḓa, among many others. It was developed from the traditional ideographic mural art of the Sotho people known as litema or ditema.[2][3][4] As of 2025, no proposal has been made to encode the script in Unicode, the text encoding standard designed to support all of the world's major writing systems.[5]

The script is designed for the phonological features of the siNtu languages in the Nguni, Sotho-Tswana, Venḓa, Tsonga and Tonga-Inhambane groups, unifying them consistently under one orthography.[1] This includes languages that have no standardised Latin orthography, such as East Sotho languages (SePulana, SeKutswe and HiPai) and several of the Tekela languages. A diacritic that indicates vowel nasality, known as ingungwanyana, is provided specifically for the Tekela languages.

Ditema tsa Dinoko in a stylized script, read left-to-right. The three syllables of first word are clustered, with the third syllable on the bottom

Description

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The script is characterized as a syllabary, as each freestanding symbol represents a syllable, with graphemes for vowels, consonants and other featural elements combined into syllable blocks (amaBheqe), in a similar fashion to Hangeul. When the syllable being represented is not a syllabic nasal, these symbols are formed with a triangular or chevron-shaped grapheme representing the nucleus of the syllable (onkamisa), with the attached consonant graphemes (ongwaqa) representing the onset of the syllable.[6] Syllabic nasals are written as circles that fill the whole iBheqe or syllable block.

The construction of the syllables of three words in different languages: Xilo [ʃiːlɔ] "thing" in Xitsonga, Vhathu [βaːtʰu] "people" in Tshivenḓa, Ho tlêtse [hʊt͜ɬʼɛːt͜sʼɪ] "It is full" in Sesotho.

Vowels

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The vowel graphemes (onkamisa) form the basis of each ibheqe or syllable block, as the nucleus of each syllable, with the ongwaqa or consonant graphemes positioned in and around them.

The direction of each ibheqe indicates the quality of the vowel, with to seven possible phonemes:

  • Intombi, the upward-facing triangle: /i/
  • Isoka, the downward-facing triangle: /a/
  • Umkhonto, the upward-facing chevron: /u/
  • Iphambili, the leftward-facing triangle: /ɛ/
  • Imuva, the rightward-facing triangle: /ɔ/
  • The leftward-facing chevron: /e/
  • The rightward-facing chevron: /o/

Some languages, like Sesotho, can present up to two more vowels, like /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ for example, but these could be considered allophonic and are thus represented with the same grapheme as /e/ and /o/ respectively.

There is an eighth "vowel" represented by the downward-facing chevron, which is the null vowel, transcribed /∅/ in the table below. This is mostly used for foreign words to represent a non-syllabic consonant without a following vowel, often as a syllable coda, which does not occur in siNtu languages.

At the moment, vowel length and tone are not marked into the graphemes, but rather established within the tone of the sentences and words by each language.

/i/ /e/~/ɪ/ /ɛ/ /a/ /ɔ/ /o/~/ʊ/ /u/ /∅/

The apex of the triangle or chevron corresponds to vowel height or frontedness, with high vowels /i/ and /u/ pointing upwards and the low vowel /a/ pointing downwards. Likewise, the front vowels /ɛ/ and /e/ point leftwards and the back vowels /ɔ/ and /o/ point rightwards.

This table showcases how each vowel acquires its shape.

Vowel nasality is indicated with the ingungwanyana, a solid dot placed at the apex of the triangle but separated from it. Here is an example of use, differentiating the how the word for below is said and written in Zunda [with a circle for a nasal consonant] and Tekela [with the ingungwanyana]:

English Zunda Tekela
Down/Below Phantsi
/pʰaː.ntsʼi/ 		Phãsi
/pʰãː.si/

The ingungwanyana diacritic, in its usual and (in grey) alternative position.

In the case the syllable has a nasal consonant, which occupies the same location, the ingungwanyana can instead be placed on the opposite side of the triangle, at the base.

Consonants

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The shape of the symbol is made to mimic the shape of the mouth.

Consonants (ongwaqa) are composed of one or more graphemes. At least one of these indicates the place and manner of articulation. If more than one such consonant grapheme is superimposed, this represents a co-articulation, e.g. an affricate (formed of superimposed stop and fricative graphemes), or an onset cluster. Other overlaid dots and strokes indicate articulatory mode, whether that be voiced, prenasalised, implosive, ejective, modal voice, or a combination thereof.

The position of the consonant graphemes largely corresponds to the place of articulation:

  • Labials and nasals are positioned outside the triangle, at the apex.
  • Alveolars are across the middle of the triangle from side to side.
  • Dentals are two lines across the triangle from side to side, parallel to each other.
  • Velars and palatals are at the base.
  • Laterals are outside the triangle on one side.

The shape of the consonant grapheme corresponds to the manner of articulation:

  • Fricatives are indicated by curved lines; with the retroflex/whistled and postalveolar fricatives being loops.
  • Plosives are indicated by straight lines in the same position as their fricative counterparts.
  • A plosive is written together with a fricative to write an affricate. The post-alveolar and retroflex affricates are ligatures, with the plosive line integrated into the fricative loops.
  • Approximants and trills are represented with two lines either parallel or at a right angle to each other.
  • Nasals are represented as circles at the apex of the triangle. Lines inside the circles distinguish the nasals from each other, unless a plosive is present, in which case the distinction is not necessary.
  • Clicks are a bottomless hourglass-like shapes.
  • Onset clusters such as tw are similar to affricates: both consonants are placed in the triangle, though some spacial adjustment may be necessary.
  • Syllabic laterals and trills are represented with duplication of the ordinary lateral and trill graphemes.
  • Syllabic nasals, amaQanda, are unique in that they are circles that occupy the entire iBheqe space, rather than triangles. They follow the same principles as their consonantal counterparts.

These graphemes can combine with each other in an order in accordance with the phonotactics of siNtu languages, and they also can combine with the articulatory mode graphemes.

Consonants Bilabial Labio-dental Dental Alveolar Post-alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Pharyngeal Glottal Lateral
(dental or alveolar)
Plosive
/pʰ/
/t̪ʰ/
/tʰ/
/cʰ/
/kʰ/
Fricative
/ɸ/
/f/
/s/
/ʃ/
/ʂ/-/sᶲ/
/x/
/ħ/[a]
/h/
/ɬ/
Affricate[b]
/p͡fʰ/
/t͡sʰ/
/t͡ʃʰ/
/t͡ʂʰ/-/t͡sᶲ/
/k͡xʰ/
/t͡ɬʰ/
Approximant
/w/
/j/
/l̪ / l/
Trill
/r/-/ʀ/[c]
Tap or Flap
/ɽ/
Click
/ʘʰ/
/ǀʰ/
/ǃʰ/
/ǂʰ/
/ǁʰ/
Nasal
/m/
/n̪/
/n/
/ɲ/
/ŋ/
Syllabic Nasal
/m̩/
/n̩/
/ɲ̩/-/ŋ̍/
Syllabic Approximant/
Trill
/r̩/ (r̩.rV)[d]
/l̩/ (l̩.lV)[d]
  1. ^ The symbol for /ħ/ is exclusive for transcription of other languages, as the sound does not occur in Southern Bantu languages.
  2. ^ Notice that most of the affricates are formed by writing its component articulations in a single iBheqe, like /p͡fʰ/ being composed of both /pʰ/ and /f/, with the exception of the post-alveolar and retroflex ones, discussed above.
  3. ^ In Sotho, French influence may have contributed to the introduction of an allophonic /ʀ/, but in reality its articulation varies from individual to individual. The symbol represents these sounds indistinctively.
  4. ^ a b Syllabic /r̩/ and /l̩/ are only present when preceding the same phoneme in a CV syllable.

While normally the voicing line (described in the next section) goes right across the amaBheqe, in the case of the post-alveolar and retroflex sibilants and affricates (that is, /ʃ/, /ʂ/, /sᶲ/, /t͡ʃ/, /t͡ʂ/ and /t͡sᶲ/), the line goes up to the loop, not passing through it, staying on the bottom half for post-alveolars and on the top half for retroflexes. These could be considered ligatures; even so, abbreviation is possible in handwriting, going from the loop part straight to the uphimbo.

Voiceless Consonant Voiced Consonant Handwritten version
Post-alveolar Fricative
/ʃ/
/ʒ/
/ʒ/
Retroflex Fricative
/ʂ/-/sᶲ/
/ʐ/-/z̤ᵝ/
/ʐ/-/z̤ᵝ/
Post-alveolar Affricate
/t͡ʃ/
/d͡ʒ/
/d͡ʒ/
Retroflex Affricate
/t͡ʂ/-/t͡sᶲ/
/d͡ʐ/-/d͡z̤ᵝ/
/d͡ʐ/-/d͡z̤ᵝ/

Articulatory mode

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There are three graphemic markers of articulatory mode:

  • Uphimbo, the voicing line, is a vertical line that runs from the apex of the triangle to the base (or inline with the ends of the chevron). This symbol modifies the phonation of the consonant.
  • Lerothodi, the glottal action dot, is a dot that floats just above the base of the triangle, inside it. When an uphimbo is present, the dot can be moved sligthly to a side, and if a consonant shape is in the way, even further, for visibility. This symbol modifies the airstream mechanism of the consonant.
  • Ingungwana, the nasalization marker, is a circle that sits at the top of the triangle, touching its apex. This is distinct from the bilabial nasal /m/ (ingungu) that appears on its own, as this one occurs with other consonant graphemes. In this case, no additional lines need to be added to the ingungwana, as the place of articulation is given by them instead.

The table below displays how consonants are modified by these:

Articulation Modifier Without graphemic marker With graphemic marker Rule

Uphimbo 		/∅V/ /ɦV/
  • If the diacritic is the only symbol along the vowel, it represents a Voiced glottal fricative /ɦ/.
  • When applied to a nasal or a rhotic consonant, its shifts their phonation from modal to breathy voiced.
  • When applied to any other consonant, it becomes voiced.
/N/, /R/ /N̤/, /R̤/
/p/, /t/, /k/ /b/, /d/, /g/

Lerothodi. In grey, alternative placements to avoid consonants. 		/∅V/ /ʔV/
  • If the diacritic is the only mark on the iBheqe, it can denote a glottal stop, though more often than not that sound is non phonemic.
  • For unvoiced and aspirated consonants, the diacritic indicates a glottalized ejection. If the language doesn't have ejectives, then it turns into its plain modal form.
  • For breathy voiced consonants, it indicates an implosive release. If the language doesn't have implosives, then it turns into its plain modal form.
/pʰ/, /tʰ/, /ᵏǃʰ/ /pʼ/, /tʼ/, /ᵏǃʼ/
/p/, /t/, /ᵏǃ/
/b̤/, /d̤ /, /g̤/ /ɓ/, /ɗ /, /ɠ/
/b/, /d/, /g/

Ingungwana 		/b/, /k/ /ᵐb/, /ᵑk/
  • This diacritic marks prenasalized consonants.
  • When its used on an ejective click consonant (marked with the lerothodi), the ingungu denotes prenasalization.[6] If it's a plain click, then it becomes nasal.
/ᵏǃʼ/, /ᵏǁʼ/ /ŋᵏǃʼ/, /ŋᵏǁʼ/
/ᵏǃʰ/, /ᶢǀʰ/ /ᵑǃ/, /ᵑǀʱ/

References

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  1. ^ a b "⍚ DITEMA TSA DINOKO ⍚". isibheqe.org.za. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  2. ^ Writing Systems Archived 2018-06-27 at the Wayback Machine (12 May 2017) "Perhaps the most contemporary and creative African script is known as Ditema Tsa Dinoko (Isibheqe Sohlamvu in Zulu). This script can be used to write any Southern Bantu language, such as Sesotho, Zulu, and Tswana. The Southern Bantu languages are found in South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Created within the past three years by linguists, programmers, and designers, this special writing system is inspired by traditional litema art of Lesotho." See also e.g.: "Isibheqe cabinets". Design Miami. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
  3. ^ van Niekerk, Garreth (2016-02-08). "Indigenous alphabet on the cards for SA". City Press (South Africa). Archived from the original on 2021-07-14.
  4. ^ Land, Sandra (2015). "Reading and the orthography of isiZulu" (PDF). South African Journal of African Languages. 35 (2): 163–175. doi:10.1080/02572117.2015.1113000. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-08-03.
  5. ^ "Update on Usage and Implementation Status of African Scripts." Unicode, Inc. 8 September 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023. p. 6.
  6. ^ a b "Incazo Yohlelo" (PDF). isibheqe.org.za. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
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