Orthography
Krio uses the Latin script as used in English but without Qq and Xx and with three additional letters from the African reference alphabet, Ɛɛ (open E), Ŋŋ (eng), and Ɔɔ (open O). Three tones can be distinguished in Krio and are sometimes marked with grave (à), acute (á), and circumflex (â) accents over the vowels for low, high, and falling tones respectively but these accents are not employed in normal usage. An alternative orthography with Latin letters only has been devised by Thomas Decker.
The complete alphabet with digraphs follows with Decker's orthography in parentheses:
| Krio letter or digraph | Example word | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| A,a | wata | water |
| Aw, aw | naw (nau) | now |
| Ay, ay | nayn (nain) | that's him |
| B, b | bɔku (bohku) | many, very much (< French beaucoup) |
| Ch, ch | cham | chew |
| D, d | dia(dya) | expensive (< dear) |
| E, e | let (leyt) | late |
| Ɛ, ɛ | ɛp (ep) | help |
| F, f | fɔs (fohs) | first |
| G, g | got(goat) | goat |
| Gb, gb | gbana/tranga | difficult (from |
| H, h | argyu/argyument (agyu/agyument) | argument |
| I, i | titi | girl |
| J, j | jomp | jump |
| K, k | kɔntri (kohntri) | country |
| Kp, kp | kpatakpata | completely |
| L, l | liv | live |
| M, m | muv/muf | move |
| N, n | nak | knock |
| Ny, ny | nyu | new |
| Ŋ, ŋ | siŋ (sing) | sing |
| O, o | wok | work |
| Ɔ, ɔ | bɔn (bohn) | born, give birth, conceive |
| Ɔy, ɔy | ɔyl (ohyl) | oil |
| P, p | padi | friend |
| R, r | ren (reyn) | rain |
| S, s | saf | soft |
| Sh, sh | shap | sharp |
| T, t | tif | steal (< thief) |
| U, u | uman | woman |
| V, v | vot | vote |
| W, w | waka | walk |
| Y, y | yala | yellow |
| Z, z | ziro | zero |
| Zh, zh | plɛzhɔ (plehzhoh) | pleasure |
Read more about this topic: Krio Language
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