THE SHONA WRITING SYSTEM: AN ANALYSIS OF ITS PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

This article critically examines the Shona writing system, starting with an evaluation of the early efforts by the missionaries, Doke and the Shona Language Committee to establish a common writing system. The article seeks to identify weaknesses in Shona orthography and suggests ways of improving it. It concludes that the present writing system needs to be revised in order for it to be a tool for national development and that language experts need to work to improve the current alphabet, word division, and spelling so that the Shona language becomes a national asset in the new millennium.