Read and write Mandinka To write Mandinka is relatively easy, because it is a phonetic language. This means that the letters sound the same in any position. However, this is true for individual words, but in word fusions certain changes take place: Example 1.       "Say it to him" = "A fo a ye" it sounds "A faa ye" It is essential to put the stress on right syllables when speaking, although it is not normally marked in written language. However, the meaning is normally clear because of the context: Example 2. Wuloo te wuloo kono = The dog is not in the bush. wuloo = dog: wuloo = bush:   the stress is on the second syllable,    the stress is on the first syllable However, the stress is marked in order to make a distinction between I/we and you(singular)/they. The low stress mark ( ` ) is put on the word to indicate the plural. Example 3. They won’t come to your place =  Ì te naa la i yaa. The special characters of Mandinka are shown in the picture below. You can read some further instructions in English from a PDF-file, open here.