Dene
Keyboards are available here
Dene
Keyboards are available hereClick the table heading to see a .pdf version of the syllabary. This will show the forms of the syllabics and finals not available in a standard Unicode font, plus accurate accent placement. |
Much of the literature covering Dene Syllabics notes how the Syllabics model does not fit well with Dene languages. As noted elsewhere on this site, this is not an entirely accurate statement. The Algonquian languages which use exclusively Syllabics have more complex syllable structures than the Dene languages of the North West Territories. For example, the Cree word ᑿᔭᐢᐠ – /kwayask/ (it is straight) has consonant clusters at both sides of the word. As far as I know, Slavey or Chipewyan do not permit such complex clusters. In the end, the Syllabics model seems indeed well suited for Dene.
Cree has seven distinct vowels positions, while Chipewyan has six. I have heard the argument that Dene cannot be written in Syllabics because that orthography is suited to four vowels. Diacritics would be necessary to indicate the extra one or two vowels. The Latin script has five vowel glyphs, consequently, diacritics are needed in this system also! Cook (2004:13) notes that “the syllabic orthography, which recognizes only four vowel qualities has created no serious problems for fluent speakers”.
There are some references to a Tudukh (Gwich’in) syllabary used by a missionary named McDonald in the 1800s. It turns out that this syllabary was simply Roman letters organised in a chart by syllable.
This practical Syllabary is not an attempt at adding yet another orthography to the already complex milieu of aboriginal writing systems, but is instead a demonstration that indeed Syllabics can work perfectly well in Dene languages. If the speaking community in any way takes interest in this system, then I am most grateful for their time and enthusiasm. Please note that high/low tone is not to be marked in the Practical Syllabics Orthography, unless the writer specifically wishes to point out the tone of a vowel for special grammatical or dictionary purposes. Squares coloured in pink indicate that this sound or syllabic may be different among the languages. When the same syllabic series is used for different sounds, this is showing that a consistent sound change has occurred: e.g. /tth/ in South Slavey tends to match up with /kw/ in Dogrib words. |
These practical versions are not today’s standard, nor have they been (to my knowledge) adopted by any speakers. It is a demonstration on how a syllabics system can accurately reflect the modern language.
To see contemporary texts in the practical orthography, and to make comparisons with the traditional orthographies, see individual language text examples.
I have designed this Practical Syllabics orthography for several NWT languages only (North Slavey, South Slavey, Chipewyan, and Dogrib). According to the sources I have read, these are the only languages which have historically used this type of Syllabary; I have no record of Tahltan or Gwich’in using syllabics for example. Sekani and Dene (Carrier) Syllabics are a different orthography altogether, and are not included here.
This page has been made using only Unicode approved characters, except in the case of the finals: , , . Unicode places all finals at the top-line, where Dene requires some finals to be top-line, some mid-line, and some baseline. The location of the final is vital to correct pronunciation. Below, all finals with a superscript ² should be mid-line, and all finals with a superscript ³ should be baseline. If you can view this page with OpenType features, the finals will be placed properly. |
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