An Algonquin Syllabary
Press of
The New Era Printing Company
Lancaster, Pa.
AN ALGONQUIN SYLLABARY.
BY WILLIAM JONES.
A CURSIVE style of writing by means of syllabic symbols is employed by the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo for purposes of record and communication. Most of the Sauk are in eastern Oklahoma; nearly all the Fox are in central Iowa; and the Kickapoo are to be found in central Oklahoma, in eastern Kansas, and over the Texas border in Mexico. All three are Algonquin; and their dialects are so intimately akin, that it is little or no difficulty for them to understand one another; and back and forth with one another they correspond by means of letters written in the phonetic signs of the syllabary.
The general appearance of the symbols of the syllabary is not very unlike cursive, Roman characters. The symbols represent four vowels and eleven consonants. The value of each symbol is collective; that is to say, the sign of a vowel represents a group of related vowel-sounds, and it stands for either a short or a long quantity, and the sign of a consonant may include more than one variation of a certain place of articulation. These points will come out plainly in the description of the symbols. The first to come are the vowels, and they are given with approximate English correspondences
There is no sign to indicate a diphthong. When the double sound is encountered, the sign of the first vowel is used.
In the description of the signs of the consonants, it may prove simpler to give the signs with approximate English equivalents, and afterwards to point out some of the various articulations which a part of them represent. The signs of the consonants areβ
π, | like p in pen. |
π, | likeβ t in ten. |
, | likeβ s in see. |
πΉ, | likeβ sh in she. |
ππ, | likeβ ch in church. |
π, | likeβ y in you. |
π, | likeβ w in we. |
π, | likeβ m in me. |
π, | likeβ n in no. |
π¦, | likeβ k in kill. |
π, | likeβ q in quit. |
There are at least three slightly different articulations with each of the consonants π, π, and π¦; π may be almost like the sonant b in bun; or most often it may be like p in pit; and it may be a bilabial stop preceded by a whispered continuant before articulation. In the same way, π may be nearly like d in day, or like the voiceless t in ten; it may also represent a dental stop preceded by a gentle puff of breath. And so with π¦, the sign can be for a stop nearly like the sonant g in gun, or like the k in kill; as in the case of the other two consonants, it may represent a stop preceded by a hiss of breath.
There is no sign for the very common aspirate h.
It will thus be observed that the syllabary lacks in two very important features: it is weak in its range of expression, and it wants in delicate gradation of sound.
It is common to associate the consonants in combination with vowels; and in learning the syllabary, the vowels are told off first, and afterwards the consonants in combination with the vowels. The order followed is not vowel and then each consonant one after the other with that vowel, but first all the vowels and then one consonant at a time in connection with all the four vowels. The order of the symbols is usually as follows.
πΆπ | π | πΎ | π |
ππΆ | ππ | ππΎ | ππ |
ππΆ | ππ | ππΎ | ππ |
ππΆ | ππ | ππΎ | ππ |
πΉπΆ | πΉπ | πΉπΎ | πΉπ |
πππΆ | πππ | πππΎ | πππ |
ππΆ | ππ | ππΎ | ππ |
ππΆ | ππ | ππΎ | ππ |
ππΆ | ππ | ππΎ | ππ |
ππΆ | ππ | ππΎ | ππ |
π¦πΆ | π¦π | π¦πΎ | π¦π |
ππΆ | ππ | ππΎ | ππ |
The symbols are sometimes modiο¬ed for hidden motives. A simple form of the modiο¬cation occurs with change of vowel only: in this change there is no sign for πΆ or π; a low dot (.) represents π, a raised dot (Λ) stands for πΎ; and two low dots (..) are for π. In this slightly altered form, the syllabary then appears as follows:β
. | Λ | .. | |
π | π. | πΛ | π.. |
π | π. | πΛ | π.. |
π | π. | πΛ | π.. |
πΉ | πΉ. | πΉΛ | πΉ.. |
ππ | ππ. | ππΛ | ππ.. |
π | π. | πΛ | π.. |
π | π. | πΛ | π.. |
π | π. | πΛ | π.. |
π | π. | πΛ | π.. |
π¦ | π¦. | π¦Λ | π¦.. |
π | π. | πΛ | π.. |
A much wider modiο¬cation occurs with complete alteration of both vowel and consonant. In the vowels, πΆ and π become Γ, π becomes ii, πΎ becomes iii, π becomes iiii. In the consonants, π becomes +, π becomes C, π becomes Q, πΉ becomes πΎ, ππ becomes π
π, π becomes β, π becomes Ζ§Ζ§, π becomes β, π becomes β, π¦ becomes Cβ², and π becomes Ζ§C. The syllabary then takes on this form:β
Γ | |||
+Γ | + |
+ |
+ |
CΓ | C |
C |
C |
QΓ | Q |
Q |
Q |
πΎΓ | πΎ |
πΎ |
πΎ |
π πΓ |
π π |
π π |
π π |
βΓ | β |
β |
β |
Ζ§Ζ§Γ | Ζ§Ζ§ |
Ζ§Ζ§ |
Ζ§Ζ§ |
βΓ | β |
β |
β |
βΓ | β |
β |
β |
Cβ²Γ | Cβ² |
Cβ² |
Cβ² |
Ζ§CΓ | Ζ§C |
Ζ§C |
Ζ§C |
This is a rather brief description of the phonetics of the syllabary, but perhaps ample enough for a clear understanding of its general character. The working of the syllabary can rapidly be shown in the same brief manner; and it can best be exemplified by means of a text. It will there be observed that there are no marks indicating accent, and that there are only four signs for punctuation: the period ( . ), the short dash ( – ), the multiplication-sign ( Γ ), or the plus-sign ( + ). The period or the dash separates words and word-sentences, and the multiplication-sign or the plus-sign marks the end of sentences.
The text is a short historical fragment. It ο¬ts into a familiar legend known to most southern Algonquin,βa legend that refers to a time when it was believed that all the Algonquin were one people and together. The incident here recited is given with the symbols of the regular form of the syllabary and in the dialect of the Fox; and an interlinear translation follows with it.
ππ π¦π ππ π ππΎ ππΎ.
It was once on a time they sayπ πΉπΆ ππΆ ππ.
long agoππ πΉππΆ π¦πΎ πΆ π¦πΎ
Red-Earth (people)π πΉπ¦πΎ ππΆ ππ πΆ π¦πΎ.
they that were young
in growthπ πΉπΎ πΉπΆ ππΆ πππΎ.
they went to
hunt for gameπ ππΆ ππΎ ππ ππΆ ππΆ πππΎ Γ
to a place where they
went to pass the night out.ππΆ ππΆ ππ ππ ππΆ ππΆ πππΎ Γ
A bear there they killed.πΎ ππΎ ππΎ.
The story is
told thatπ ππ ππΆ.
part of themπ ππΆ π¦πΆ ππ ππΆ πππΎ
they boiled itππΆ π¦π ππΎ ππΆ ππΎ Γ
the bear foot;π¦πΎ πΉπ ππΆ ππ ππΆ πππΎ.
after they had finished
cooking it,π πππΆ π¦πΆ ππΆ ππ ππΆ πππΎ Γ
they then ate it all up.πΎ ππΎ π¦π πΉπ ππ πππΎ π¦πΆ.
They that were absentπππ ππΆ ππΆ πππΎ.
when they came back,π πππΎ πΉπΎ πππΎ ππ ππ π¦π πππΆ π¦πΆ ππΆ ππΎ ππΎ ππ π.
was by that time lo they must have eaten it all upππΆ π¦π ππΎ ππΆ ππΎ Γ
the bear foot.πΎ ππ ππ ππΆ ππ ππΆ πππΎ.
Thereupon they sulked,π ππΆ π¦π ππΆ πππΎ Γ
then they separated.πΎ ππΎ π¦πΎ πππΆ.
They trulyπΎ ππΎ π¦πΎ.
theyππΆ π¦π ππΎ ππΆ ππΎ.
bear footππ ππΆ ππΆ πππΎ π¦πΎ.
they that sulkedπ ππ πππΎ π¦πΎ
such are they called.π ππΆ ππΆ πππΎ ππ πππΎ.
Stories are told of them;πΎ ππΎ.
It is said thatπ πΆ ππΎ ππΆ πππΎ.
where they areπ πΆ ππΆ ππΆ π¦πΎ ππ π¦πΎ.
at the end of the place whereππ πΉπ ππΎ ππ ππΎ.
the big river.π πΉπ ππΆ π¦πΎ ππ Γ
Over the high land.πΎ ππΎ π¦πΎ πππΆ πΎ.
they areππΆ π¦π ππΎ ππΆ ππΎ.
bear footππ ππΆ ππΆ πππΎ π¦πΎ Γ
they that sulked.
A rather free rendering of the tale reads as follows:β
Thereupon they (who came late) sulked, and so parted company (from the others). They truly are the ones that are called They-who-sulked-on-Account-of-the-Bear-Foot. Stories are told of them; it is said that they now are on the other side of the height of land where the source of the Mississippi River is. They are the Bear-Foot Sulkers.
A syllabary was in use among some Algonquin at a very early period. One was used by Eliot at Natick in his missionary labors with that Massachusetts dialect; another was used by LaCombe and other Jesuit missionaries in their work among the Ojibwa and the Cree of Canada. The syllabary employed by Eliot was in Roman letters, and the one used by LaCombe and others was and still is in what are called "Cree characters."
The adoption of the syllabary by the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo is of very recent date. It is not certain at present which of these dialects was the first to take it up; but the one that was the ο¬rst to learn it no doubt quickly taught it to the other two. It seems pretty certain, also, that the system was deliberately borrowed from an outside source, most likely from an Algonquin people that had had experience with the writings of Christian missionaries. It shows no trace of development from the old figurative representations, realistic or conventional, to the phonetic scale. The old form of writing is rarely practised these days, and the jump from the old to the new must have been sudden. The syllabary is in general use among the younger people and by a limited number of the more elderly. Boys and girls handle it with more ease and speed than the older folk.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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