Canadian syllabary

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
the list of syllables for Inuktitut
Place names in the Inuit script derived from the Cree script

The Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics is a writing system that is used in different variants for a larger part of the indigenous languages ​​of Canada . They were developed from the 19th century Cree script .

history

The Cree script was developed between 1840 and 1846 in collaboration between the Methodist missionary James Evans and indigenous peoples of the Cree and Ojibwe in Norway House on Hudson Bay for the Cree language , Ojibwe language and other Algonquin languages ​​of Canada. Today it is used - depending on the language in a modified form - for Cree , Inuktitut , Blackfoot and Anishinabe .

properties

As in the Latin alphabet, words are written from left to right.

A special feature of the Cree script is that most dialects can be written with only twelve basic characters. These are rotated in four directions depending on the vowel of the syllable (see also: Abugida ).

The font is included in Unicode under the name Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics in the range U + 1400 to U + 167F .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Example on giftoflanguageandculture.ca ( Memento from September 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

literature

  • F. Luis Barber: James Evans and the Cree Syllabic. In: Victoria Library Bulletin. (Toronto). Vol. 2, No. 2, July 1940, unpag.
  • Nathaniel Burwash: The Gift to a Nation of Written Language. In: Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada. Ser. 3, Vol. 5, Sect. 2, 1912, ZDB -ID 208097-7 , pp. 3-21.
  • James Evans: Cree Syllabic Hymn Book (= Bibliographical Society of Canada. Publication. 8 = Bibliographical Society of Canada. Facsimile Series. 4, ZDB -ID 1391184-3 ). Facsimile of the Norway House edition, 1841. (Introduction by Margaret V. Ray. English translation by Raymond B. Horsefield). Bibliographical Society of Canada, Toronto 1954.
  • Lea-Katharina Steller (née Virághalmy): Alkalmazkodni és újat adni avagy accomodatio a paleográfiában.
  • Margaret Ray: The James Evans Collection. In: Victoria Library Bulletin. (Toronto). Vol. 2, No. 2, July 1940, unpag.

Web links

Commons : Cree font  - collection of images, videos and audio files