▁languages . ▁There ▁was ▁at ▁least ▁one ▁IBM ▁Select ric ▁type writer ▁" type ball " ▁developed ▁for ▁some ▁African ▁languages ▁( including ▁F ula ). ▁ ▁Ar ound ▁ 1 9 3 0 , ▁the ▁English ▁type writer ▁was ▁modified ▁by ▁Ay ana ▁Bir ru ▁of ▁Eth iop ia ▁to ▁type ▁an ▁incomplete ▁and ▁lig ated ▁version ▁of ▁the ▁Am har ic ▁alphabet . ▁ ▁The ▁ 1 9 8 2 ▁proposal ▁for ▁a ▁un ic ase ▁version ▁of ▁the ▁African ▁reference ▁alphabet ▁made ▁by ▁Michael ▁Mann ▁and ▁David ▁Dal by ▁included ▁a ▁suggested ▁type writer ▁adaptation . ▁ ▁Early ▁computing ▁and ▁fonts ▁With ▁early ▁desktop ▁computers ▁it ▁was ▁possible ▁to ▁modify ▁existing ▁ 8 - bit ▁Latin ▁fonts ▁to ▁accommod ate ▁special ized ▁character ▁needs . ▁This ▁was ▁done ▁without ▁any ▁kind ▁of ▁system ▁or ▁standard ization , ▁meaning ▁in compat ibility ▁of ▁enc od ings . ▁ ▁Similarly , ▁there ▁were ▁diverse ▁efforts ▁( success ful , ▁but ▁not ▁standard ized ) ▁to ▁enable ▁use ▁of ▁Eth iop ic / Ge ' ez ▁on ▁computers . ▁ ▁Current ▁standards ▁There ▁was ▁never ▁any ▁ISO ▁ 8 8 5 9 ▁standard ▁for ▁any ▁African ▁languages ▁apart ▁from ▁ISO ▁ 8 8 5 9 - 6 ▁for ▁( standard ) ▁Arab ic . ▁One ▁standard   – ▁ISO ▁ 6 4 3 8 ▁for ▁bibli ographic ▁purposes   – ▁was ▁adopted ▁but ▁apparently ▁little ▁used ▁( cur iously , ▁although ▁this ▁was ▁adopted ▁at ▁about ▁the ▁same ▁time ▁as ▁the ▁African ▁reference