# Cree syllabics

Cree syllabics are the versions of Canadian Aboriginal syllabics used to write Cree dialects, including the original syllabics system created for Cree and Ojibwe. There are two main varieties of syllabics for Cree: Western Cree syllabics and Eastern Cree syllabics. Syllabics were later adapted to several other languages. It is estimated that over 70,000 Algonquian-speaking people use the script, from Saskatchewan in the west to Hudson Bay in the east, the US border to Mackenzie and Kewatin (the Northwest Territories and Nunavut) in the north.

## History

Cree syllabics were developed for Ojibwe by James Evans, a missionary in what is now Manitoba in the 1830s. Evans had originally adapted the Latin script to Ojibwe (see Evans system), but after learning of the success of the Cherokee syllabary, he experimented with invented scripts based on his familiarity with shorthand and Devanagari.
When Evans later worked with the closely related Cree and ran into trouble with the Latin alphabet, he turned to his Ojibwe project and in 1840 adapted it to Cree. The result contained just nine glyph shapes, each of which stood for a syllable with the vowels determined by the shapes' orientation. After the 1841 publication of a syllabics hymn book, the new script spread quickly. The Cree valued it because it could be learned in just a few hours and because it was visually distinctive from the Latin script of the colonial languages. Virtually all Cree became literate in the new syllabary within a few years. Evans taught by writing on birchbark with soot, and he became known as "the man who made birchbark talk."

## Structure

Canadian Aboriginal syllabics are unique among abugida scripts in that the orientation of a symbol, rather than modifications of its shape or diacritic marks, determines the vowel of a syllable. Each basic shape corresponds to a specific consonant sound; this is flipped or rotated to denote the accompanying vowel.
Like the Latin alphabet, syllabics are written from left to right, with each new line of writing directly under the previous one.
Sample text: ᒥᓯᐌ ᐃᓂᓂᐤ ᑎᐯᓂᒥᑎᓱᐎᓂᐠ ᐁᔑ ᓂᑕᐎᑭᐟ ᓀᐢᑕ ᐯᔭᑾᐣ ᑭᒋ ᐃᔑ ᑲᓇᐗᐸᒥᑯᐎᓯᐟ ᑭᐢᑌᓂᒥᑎᓱᐎᓂᐠ ᓀᐢᑕ ᒥᓂᑯᐎᓯᐎᓇ᙮ ᐁ ᐸᑭᑎᓇᒪᒋᐠ ᑲᑫᑕᐌᓂᑕᒧᐎᓂᓂᐤ ᓀᐢᑕ ᒥᑐᓀᓂᒋᑲᓂᓂᐤ ᓀᐢᑕ ᐎᒋᑴᓯᑐᐎᓂᐠ ᑭᒋ ᐃᔑ ᑲᓇᐗᐸᒥᑐᒋᐠ᙮
Transliteration: Misiwe ininiw tipēnimitisowinik ēshi nitawikit nēsta pēyaykan kici ishi kanawapamikowisit kistēnimitisowinik nēsta minikowisiwina. Ē pakitinamacik kakētawenitamowininiw nēsta mitonēnicikaniniw nēsta.
Meaning: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
| VowelCons. | a | e | i | o |
| - | ᐊ | ᐁ | ᐃ | ᐅ |
| p | ᐸ | ᐯ | ᐱ | ᐳ |
| t | ᑕ | ᑌ | ᑎ | ᑐ |
| k | ᑲ | ᑫ | ᑭ | ᑯ |
| ch | ᒐ | ᒉ | ᒋ | ᒍ |
| m | ᒪ | ᒣ | ᒥ | ᒧ |
| n | ᓇ | ᓀ | ᓂ | ᓄ |
| s | ᓴ | ᓭ | ᓯ | ᓱ |
| y | ᔭ | ᔦ | ᔨ | ᔪ |

## Variants

The syllabary continues in use for dialects of Cree west of the Manitoba–Ontario border as Western Cree syllabics. John Horden introduced modifications in the 1850s in the James Bay area. These were standardized in 1865 to form Eastern Cree syllabics, used today for many eastern dialects of Cree, Naskapi, and Ojibwe, though Cree dialects of eastern Quebec use the Latin alphabet. The two versions differ primarily in the way they indicate syllable-final consonants, in how they mark the semi-vowel /w/, and in how they reflect the phonological differences between Cree dialects. There are more minor local differences in orthography, shapes of the characters, writing styles, and punctuation, with some writers using dots or spaces between words, and others not indicating word separation.

## Cree numerals

The syllabics have been recorded to have been used as numerals with individual fixed integer values in certain combinations akin to that of the Roman system:
* a vertical bar represents 1,
* ᐅ o represents 3 (Iᐅ equals 4),
* ᐊ a represents numerals more than 6 (ᐅᐊ equals 6, ᐊ equals 7, ᐊII equals 9),
* ᒥ mi represents 10,
* looped syllables (ᓀᓂᓄᓇᑯᑲᑫᑭ) represent 20-90.
The zero is represented as an eight pointed star.

## Modern usage

Though used for manuscripts, letters, and personal records since the 19th century, the need for special type long restricted printed syllabics to missionary publications. However, with the development of syllabic typewriters and, later, word processors, control of the script passed to native speakers, and it is now used for schoolbooks, periodicals, and official documents.