About Bamum Project
A linguistic passion to support the script created by King Njoya of the Bamum Kingdom in 1896
The Bamum Project website was created by hobby linguist Tramel Woodard as an effort to assist in the restoration
of the regular usage of the Bamum script. Tramel Woodard, a web developer of over 20 years, took interest in the Bamum
script after studying the Chinese language for 7 years in mainland China.
Tramel Woodard, hobby linguist
"After studying mandarin Chinese for several years, I became curious about whether or not there were also African scripts that I
could study," said Woodard. "There were a lot to choose from. However, I chose the Bamum script after learning the history
behind its creation."
"When I learned that King Njoya developed a script for his people, starting with hundreds of pictographs and ending with a complete set of syllabic script, I was completely convinced this was the script I was meant to learn," said Woodard. "This process lasted from 1896 to 1910. That's a full systemic form of writing generated and implemented within a society in only 14 years. Who else has done that?"
Tramel Woodard is currently working on building a comprehensive library of Bamum vocabulary by reverse engineering Bibel, the Bamum language version of the Bible. His ultimate goal is to develop a fully-functional keyboard entry system for the Bamum language using the Bamum Script for iOS, Windows, Windows Mobile, Mac and Android.
Tramel Woodard is currently an individual member of the Unicode Consortium.
Tramel Woodard, hobby linguist
"When I learned that King Njoya developed a script for his people, starting with hundreds of pictographs and ending with a complete set of syllabic script, I was completely convinced this was the script I was meant to learn," said Woodard. "This process lasted from 1896 to 1910. That's a full systemic form of writing generated and implemented within a society in only 14 years. Who else has done that?"
Tramel Woodard is currently working on building a comprehensive library of Bamum vocabulary by reverse engineering Bibel, the Bamum language version of the Bible. His ultimate goal is to develop a fully-functional keyboard entry system for the Bamum language using the Bamum Script for iOS, Windows, Windows Mobile, Mac and Android.
Tramel Woodard is currently an individual member of the Unicode Consortium.
Bamum Projects
The Bible Project
Our premiere project, The Bible Project, digs deep into the grammar and vocabulary used for the Christian Bible and the translation produced. (read more)
The Learn Bamum Site
In conjunction with the Bible Project, a website is being prepared to teach eager students the basics of Bamum language in an easy to learn format. (read more)
Bamum Mobile Project
After completion of the Bible Project and website, work on cross-platform smartphone applications will be the major focus of the Bamum Project. (read more)