| Great Lakes Algonquian syllabics | |
|---|---|
| Script type | |
Time period | Mid-1800s–present |
| Languages | Fox, Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, Ojibwe |
Great Lakes Algonquian syllabics (or Great Lakes Aboriginal syllabics,[1] also referred to as "Western Great Lakes Syllabary" by Campbell[2]) is a writing system for several Algonquian languages that emerged during the nineteenth century and whose existence was first noted in 1880.[3] It was originally used near the Great Lakes: Fox (also known as Meskwaki or Mesquakie), Sac (the latter also spelled Sauk), and Kickapoo (these three constituting closely related but politically distinct dialects of a single language for which there is no common term), in addition to Potawatomi. Use of the script was subsequently extended to the Siouan language Ho-Chunk (also known as Winnebago).[4] Use of the Great Lakes script has also been attributed to speakers of the Ottawa dialect of the Ojibwe language, but supporting evidence is weak.[1]
Consonant and vowel letters that comprise a syllable are grouped into units that are separated by spaces.[5] The system is of interest to students of writing systems because it is a case of an alphabetic system acquiring aspects of a syllabary.[6]
The Great Lakes script is unrelated to Cree syllabics, which was invented by James Evans to write Cree and extended to a number of other Canadian indigenous languages.[7]
- ^ a b Walker, Willard, 1996; Goddard, Ives, 1996
- ^ Campbell, Lyle. 1997. p. 9 American Indian Languages. New York: Oxford University Press
- ^ Goddard, Ives, 1996, p. 123
- ^ Walker, Willard, 1996, pp. 168-173
- ^ Walker, Willard, 1996, p. 169
- ^ Justeson, John and Laurence Stevens, 1991-1993
- ^ Goddard, Ives, 1996, p. 116