SafekipediaALUPEC
Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience
ALUPEC stands for the Alfabeto Unificado para a Escrita do Caboverdiano, which means the Unified Alphabet for Cape Verdean Writing. It is a special set of letters and symbols created to help people write the Cape Verdean Creole language. Cape Verdean Creole is spoken by many people in Cape Verde, an island country near Africa.
In the past, different groups used various ways to write this language, which made it hard for everyone to understand each other. ALUPEC was created to solve this problem by providing one unified way to write Cape Verdean Creole. This helped bring people together and made it easier to share books, news, and other writings with everyone.
The Cape Verdean government officially recognized ALUPEC, making it the standard way to write the language. This decision was important because it helped protect the culture and identity of the Cape Verdean people. Today, ALUPEC is used in schools, newspapers, and many other places to make sure everyone can read and write in their own language.
Description
The ALUPEC is a special way to write Cape Verdean Creole using letters from the Latin alphabet. It tells us which letters to use for each sound but does not give rules about how to spell words. Because of this, people can write the same word in different ways depending on their own style.
ALUPEC uses 23 letters and four special pairs of letters called digraphs. It almost always uses one letter for one sound and one sound for one letter. Vowels can have marks above them, but these marks are not counted as separate letters. There are some special rules for certain letters and sounds in different types of Cape Verdean Creole.
| Letter | IPA | Description |
| a | /a/ or /ɐ/ | like a in Portuguese pá or like a in (European) Portuguese para |
| á | /a/ | like a in Portuguese pá |
| â | /ɐ/ | like a in (European) Portuguese para |
| b | /b/ | like b in English but |
| d | /d/ | like d in Portuguese dedo |
| dj | /dʒ/ | like j in English just |
| e | /e/ * | like e in Portuguese dedo, never like i in Portuguese filho * see notes on Barlavento usage |
| é | /ɛ/ | like e in Portuguese ferro |
| ê | /e/ | like e in Portuguese dedo |
| f | /f/ | like f in English for |
| g | /ɡ/ | always like g in English go, never like s in English pleasure |
| h | used only in the digraphs lh and nh | |
| i | /i/ or /j/ | like i in Portuguese vi or like y in English yes |
| í | /i/ | like i in Portuguese vi |
| j | /ʒ/ | like s in English measure |
| k | /k/ | like c in Portuguese caco |
| l | /l/ | like l in French elle |
| lh | /ʎ/ | like lh in Portuguese filho |
| m | /m/ | like m in English me |
| n | /n/ | like n in Portuguese não |
| nh | /ɲ/ | like nh in Portuguese ninho |
| n̈ (n with diaeresis) | /ŋ/ | like ng in English king |
| o | /o/ | like o in Portuguese amor never like u in Portuguese tu |
| ó | /ɔ/ | like o in Portuguese porta |
| ô | /o/ | like o in Portuguese amor |
| p | /p/ | like p in Portuguese para |
| r | /ɾ/ or /ʀ/ | like r in Portuguese porta or like r in Portuguese rato |
| rr | /ʀ/ | like rr in Portuguese ferro |
| s | /s/ * | like s in Portuguese sim, never like z in Portuguese zero * see notes on Barlavento usage |
| t | /t/ | like t in Portuguese tu |
| tx | /tʃ/ | like ch in English chair |
| u | /u/ or /w/ | like u in Portuguese tu or like w in English wet |
| ú | /u/ | like u in Portuguese tu |
| v | /v/ | like v in English vain |
| x | /ʃ/ | like sh in English ship, never like the Portuguese words sexo, próximo or exame |
| z | /z/ | like z in Portuguese zero |
| word with the phoneme /e/ indeed | translation into English | Word with the phoneme elided | comparison with the same word in Sotavento Creoles | translation into English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| bejon /beˈʒõ/ | big kiss | bejon /bʒõ/ | bujon /buˈʒõ/ | imaginary bird that haunts children (Pt: abujão) |
| kemâ /keˈmɐ/ | to burn | kemâ /kmɐ/ | kumâ /kuˈmɐ/ | that (subordinating conjunction) |
| pelâ /peˈlɐ/ | to peel | pelâ /plɐ/ | pilâ /piˈlɐ/ | to pound |
| petâ /peˈtɐ/ | to defy someone with the chest | petâ /ptɐ/ | botâ /boˈtɐ/ | to throw |
| pezâ /peˈzɐ/ | to weigh | pezâ /pzɐ/ | pizâ /piˈzɐ/ | to step on |
| remâ /ʀeˈmɐ/ | to row | remâ /ʀmɐ/ | rumâ /ʀuˈmɐ/ | to put in place, to arrange |
| se /se/ | his / her | se /s/ | si /si/ | if |
History
The ALUPEC was created in 1994, based on an idea from a meeting in 1979. On July 20, 1998, it was approved for a five-year test by the government of Cape Verde. During this time, it was meant to consider how the language is spoken on all the islands before being used in schools.
In 2005, the government recognized ALUPEC as a good way to write Cape Verdean Creole, making it the first alphabet to receive this status. Even so, people can still use other writing systems if they follow certain rules. In 2009, a law officially made ALUPEC the standard way to write the language, but it is not the only way that must be used.
Related articles
This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on ALUPEC, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.