77. Fraser alphabet

The Fraser alphabet or Old Lisu Alphabet was invented in about 1915 by Sara Ba Thaw, a Karen preacher from Myanmar, and improved by the missionary James O. Fraser, a missionary who lived and worked with the Lisu people in China from 1910 to 1949. During his time in China, Fraser learnt to speak Chinese and Lisu and produced a Lisu translation of the New Testament using his alphabet. He also devised a system of muscial notation for the Lisu to use.
In 1992 the Chinese government recognised the Fraser alphabet as the official script for the Lisu language and has encouraged its use since then.

Notable features

• Type of writing system: syllabic alphabet / alphasyllabary
• Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines
• The Fraser alphabet consists of uppercase Latin letters, some of which are rotated or inverted.
• Tones are indicated with punctuation marks.
• Each consonant has an inherent a. Other vowels are written with separate letters

Used to write

Lisu (LI-SU) a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by about 657,000 people in Burma, India, Thailand and in the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan.

Sample text in the Fraser alphabet

Translation

So when you pray, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, we pray that your name will always be kept holy. We pray that your kingdom will come, and that the things you want will be done here on earth, the same as in heaven. Give us the food we need for each day. Forgive the sins we have done, the same as we have forgiven the people that did wrong to us. Don't let us be tempted, but save us from the Evil One. Yes, if you forgive other people for the things they do wrong, then your Father in heaven will also forgive you for the things you do wrong.
Source: http://www.language-museum.com/l/lisu.htm
Tower of Babel in Lisu in the Fraser alphabet

Links

Information about the Fraser alphabet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraser_alphabet
Information about the Lisu language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisu_language
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=lis
Information about J. O. Fraser
http://www.watchword.org/smithers/ww50a.htm
http://jacob.biola.edu/~woopy/articles/jofraser.htm