Graphical representation of the NKo Unicode block

NKo is a Unicode block containing characters for the Manding languages of West Africa, including Bamanan, Jula, Maninka, Mandinka, and a common literary language, Kangbe, also called NKo.

NKo became part of Unicode with version 5.0 in July 2006. With Unicode 11.0 in June 2018, three additional characters were added: a combining mark for abbreviated units of measure and two currency symbols.

NKo[1][2] (PDF)
0123456789ABCDEF
U+07Cx߀‎߁‎߂‎߃‎߄‎߅‎߆‎߇‎߈‎߉‎ߊ‎ߋ‎ߌ‎ߍ‎ߎ‎ߏ‎
U+07Dxߐ‎ߑ‎ߒ‎ߓ‎ߔ‎ߕ‎ߖ‎ߗ‎ߘ‎ߙ‎ߚ‎ߛ‎ߜ‎ߝ‎ߞ‎ߟ‎
U+07Exߠ‎ߡ‎ߢ‎ߣ‎ߤ‎ߥ‎ߦ‎ߧ‎ߨ‎ߩ‎ߪ‎߫‎߬‎߭‎߮‎߯‎
U+07Fx߰‎߱‎߲‎߳‎ߴ‎ߵ‎߶‎߷‎߸‎߹‎ߺ‎߽‎߾‎߿‎
Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 17.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

The punctuation marks ⟨⸜⟩ and ⟨⸝⟩ were placed in the Supplemental Punctuation block.

History

The following Unicode-related documents record the purpose and process of defining specific characters in the NKo block:

VersionFinal code pointsCountL2 IDWG2 IDDocument
5.0U+07C0..07FA59Anderson, Deborah (2003-08-17), Letters in support of encoding N'Ko
Three letters in support of N'ko encoding, 2003-11-01
Everson, Michael; Doumbouya, Mamady; Diané, Baba Mamadi; Jammeh, Karamo Kaba (2004-06-08), Proposal to add the N'Ko script to the BMP of the UCS
Everson, Michael (2004-06-23), Revisions to the N'Ko script for the PDAM code chart
Doumbouya, Mamady (2005-01-11), Re: N'Ko Proposal in Amendment 2
Yergeau, François; Andries, Patrick (2005-01-20), Re: N'Ko Proposal in Amendment 2
Doumbouya, Mamady (2005-01-21), Documents showing old and new N'Ko letters
, )Doumbouya, Mamady (2005-03-12), Encoding of N'Ko in ISO/IEC 10646
Moore, Lisa (2005-05-16), "Consensus 102-C1", UTC #102 Minutes, Use the block and long script name "NKo" (without apostrophe) as the name for N'Ko.
Yergeau, François; Andries, Patrick (2005-07-12), For a Correct Encoding of N'ko
Yergeau, François; Andries, Patrick (2005-09-04), Comments on 2977 (Alleged parallel between 3 N'Ko Glyphs & Latin Long S)
Whistler, Ken (2005-09-21), "E. N'Ko Name Changes", WG2 Consent Docket (Sophia Antipolis)
Moore, Lisa (2005-11-10), "Consensus 105-C29", UTC #105 Minutes
, )Umamaheswaran, V. S. (2006-02-16), "7.2.2", Unconfirmed minutes of WG 2 meeting 47, Sophia Antipolis, France; 2005-09-12/15
Everson, Michael; Doumbouya, Mamady; Diané, Baba Mamadi; Jammeh, Karamo Kaba (2008-08-26), Clarification on the identity and use of three N'Ko letters
11.0U+07FD..07FF3Everson, Michael (2015-12-19), Proposal to encode four N'Ko characters in the BMP of the UCS
Anderson, Deborah; Whistler, Ken; McGowan, Rick; Pournader, Roozbeh; Glass, Andrew; Iancu, Laurențiu (2016-01-22), "11", Recommendations to UTC #146 January 2016 on Script Proposals
Moore, Lisa (2016-02-01), "C.8", UTC #146 Minutes