Ojibwe writing systems

This article contains Canadian Aboriginal syllabic characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of syllabics.
A sign in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, with Ojibwe syllabics. The partially pointed syllabics text says ᑳᐃᔑᐊᓉᐱᓈᓂᐗᐣᐠ (Gaa-izhi-anwebinaaniwang, "the place where people repose"; unpointed as ᑲᐃᔑᐊᓉᐱᓇᓂᐧᐊᐠ), but with the ⟨ᐧ⟩ w missing from the last syllable.
This pictographic 1849 petition was presented to the President of the United States by Chief Oshkaabewis and other Ojibwe leaders from the headwaters of the Wisconsin River and complains of broken promises in the 1837 and 1842 treaties. The tribes are represented by their totems, martens, bear, man and catfish, led by the crane. Lines running from the heart and eye of each animal to the heart and eye of the crane denote that they are all of one mind; and a line runs from the eye of the crane to the lakes, shown in the «map» in the lower left-hand corner.

Ojibwe is an indigenous language of North America from the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is one of the largest Native American languages north of Mexico in terms of number of speakers and is characterized by a series of dialects, some of which differ significantly. The dialects of Ojibwe are spoken in Canada from southwestern Quebec, through Ontario, Manitoba and parts of Saskatchewan, with outlying communities in Alberta and British Columbia,[1][2] and in the United States from Michigan through Wisconsin and Minnesota, with a number of communities in North Dakota and Montana, as well as migrant groups in Kansas and Oklahoma.[2][3]

The absence of linguistic or political unity among Ojibwe-speaking groups is associated with the relative autonomy of the regional dialects of Ojibwe.[4] There is no single dialect that is considered the most prestigious or most prominent, and no standard writing system used to represent all dialects.[5] Ojibwe dialects have been written in numerous ways over a period of several centuries, with the development of different written traditions reflecting a range of influences from the orthographic practices of other languages.

Writing systems associated with particular dialects have been developed by adapting the Latin script, usually the English or French orthographies.[6] A widely used Roman character-based writing system is the double vowel system, attributed to Charles Fiero. The double vowel system is quickly gaining popularity among language teachers in the United States and Canada because of its ease of use.

A syllabic writing system not related to English or French writing is used by some Ojibwe speakers in northern Ontario and Manitoba. Development of the original form of Canadian Aboriginal syllabics is credited to missionary James Evans around 1840.[7]

The Great Lakes Algonquian syllabics are based on French orthography with letters organized into syllables. It was primarily used by speakers of Fox, Potawatomi, and Winnebago, but there is indirect evidence of use by speakers of Chippewa ("Southwestern Ojibwe").

  1. ^ Valentine, J. Randolph, 1994, p. 6
  2. ^ a b Nichols, John, 1980, pp. 1-2
  3. ^ Rhodes, Richard, and Evelyn Todd, 1981
  4. ^ Pentland, David, 1996, p. 262
  5. ^ Ningewance, Patricia, 1999
  6. ^ Walker, Willard, 1996
  7. ^ Nichols, John, 1996