Writing System
A syllabics script, ᑯᖾᖹ ᖿᐟᖻ ᓱᖽᐧᖿ pikoni kayna siksika, was created by Anglican missionary John William Tims around 1888. Although conceptually nearly identical to Western Cree syllabics, the letter forms are innovative. Two series (s, y) were taken from Cree but given different vowel values; three more (p, t, m) were changed in consonant values as well, according to the Latin letter they resembled; and the others (k, n, w) were created from asymmetrical parts of Latin and Greek letters; or in the case of the zero consonant, possibly from the musical notation for quarter note. The Latin orientation of the letters is used for the e series, after the names of the Latin letters, pe, te, etc.
| Blackfoot | Latin source |
|---|---|
| ᑭ pe | P |
| ᒥ te | T |
| ᖼ ke | K |
| ᒋ me | m |
| ᖸ ne | N |
| ᖴ we | digamma Ϝ |
The direction for each vowel is different than in Cree, reflecting Latin alphabetic order. The e orientation is used for the diphthong /ai/. Symbols for consonants are taken from the consonant symbol minus the stem, except for diphthongs (Ca plus ⟨ᐠ⟩ for Cau, and Ca plus ⟨ᐟ⟩ for Coi, though there are also cases of writing subphonemic with these finals).
| C | -a | -e | -i | -o | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (none) | ᖳ | ᖰ | ᖱ | ᖲ | |
| p- | ᑫ | ᑭ | ᑯ | ᑲ | ᐤ |
| t- | ᒣ | ᒥ | ᒧ | ᒪ | ᐨ |
| k- | ᖿ | ᖼ | ᖽ | ᖾ | ᘁ |
| m- | ᒉ | ᒋ | ᒍ | ᒐ | ᐢ |
| n- | ᖻ | ᖸ | ᖹ | ᖺ | ᐡ |
| s- | ᓭ | ᓯ | ᓱ | ᓴ | ᔈ |
| y- | ᔦ | ᔨ | ᔪ | ᔭ | ᐟ |
| w- | ᖷ | ᖴ | ᖵ | ᖶ | ᐠ |
There are additional finals: allophones ⟨ᑊ⟩ and ⟨ᐦ⟩, and three medials: ⟨ᖿᐧ⟩ ksa, ⟨ᒣᐧ⟩ tsa, ⟨ᖿᑉ⟩ kya, ⟨ᖿ=⟩ kwa.
⟨᙮⟩ is used for a period.
Read more about this topic: Blackfoot Language
Famous quotes containing the words writing and/or system:
“The human head is bigger than the globe. It conceives itself as containing more. It can think and rethink itself and ourselves from any desired point outside the gravitational pull of the earth. It starts by writing one thing and later reads itself as something else. The human head is monstrous.”
—Günther Grass (b.1927)
“Justice in the hands of the powerful is merely a governing system like any other. Why call it justice? Let us rather call it injustice, but of a sly effective order, based entirely on cruel knowledge of the resistance of the weak, their capacity for pain, humiliation and misery. Injustice sustained at the exact degree of necessary tension to turn the cogs of the huge machine-for- the-making-of-rich-men, without bursting the boiler.”
—Georges Bernanos (1888–1948)