Inuktitut syllabics
Encyclopedia
Inuktitut syllabics is a writing system
(specifically an abugida
) used by the Inuit
in Nunavut
and in Nunavik
, Quebec
. In 1976, the Language Commission of the Inuit Cultural Institute made it the co-official script for the Inuit language
s, along with the Latin alphabet
.
in Greenland
and Labrador
in the mid-18th century. In the 1870s, Edmund Peck
, an Anglican
missionary adapted the Cree script
to Inuktitut. Other missionaries, and later linguists in the employ of the Canadian
and American
governments, adapted the Latin alphabet to the dialects of the Mackenzie River
delta, the western Arctic islands
and Alaska
.
Inuktitut is one variation on Canadian Aboriginal syllabics
, and can be digitally encoded using the Unicode
standard. The Unicode block for Inuktitut characters is called Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics.
The consonant in the syllable can be g, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, ng, ł, or absent, and the vowel can be a, i, u, ai (now only in Nunavik), or absent.
has recently expanded the official version of the script to restore the ai-pai-tai column. The common diphthong
ai has generally been represented by combining the a form with a stand-alone letter ᐃ i. This fourth-vowel variant had been removed so that Inuktitut could be typed and printed using IBM
Selectric balls
in the 1970s. The reinstatement was justified on the grounds that modern printing and typesetting equipment no longer suffers the restrictions of earlier typewriting machinery. The ai-pai-tai column is used only in Nunavik.
and in part of Nunavut, it is written with the Latin alphabet (also known as Roman orthography in some regions). In most of Nunavut and in Nunavik, Quebec, Inuktitut is written using the Inuktitut script. At present, Inuktitut syllabics enjoys official status in Nunavut, alongside the Latin alphabet, and is used by the Kativik Regional Government
of Nunavik. In Greenland, the traditional Latin script is official and is widely used in public life.
Because the Inuit language is a continuum of only partially intercomprehensible dialects, the language varies a great deal across the Arctic
. Split up into different political divisions and different churches reflecting the arrival of various missionary groups, Inuktitut writing systems can vary a great deal.
Writing system
A writing system is a symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in language.-General properties:Writing systems are distinguished from other possible symbolic communication systems in that the reader must usually understand something of the associated spoken language to...
(specifically an abugida
Abugida
An abugida , also called an alphasyllabary, is a segmental writing system in which consonant–vowel sequences are written as a unit: each unit is based on a consonant letter, and vowel notation is obligatory but secondary...
) used by the Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
in Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
and in Nunavik
Nunavik
Nunavik comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada. Covering a land area of 443,684.71 km² north of the 55th parallel, it is the homeland of the Inuit of Quebec...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. In 1976, the Language Commission of the Inuit Cultural Institute made it the co-official script for the Inuit language
Inuit language
The Inuit language is traditionally spoken across the North American Arctic and to some extent in the subarctic in Labrador. The related Yupik languages are spoken in western and southern Alaska and Russian Far East, particularly the Diomede Islands, but is severely endangered in Russia today and...
s, along with the Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
.
History
The first efforts to write Inuktitut came from Moravian missionariesMissionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
in Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
and Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
in the mid-18th century. In the 1870s, Edmund Peck
Edmund Peck
Edmund James Peck , known in as Inuktitut as Uqammaq , was an Anglican missionary in Canada...
, an Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
missionary adapted the Cree script
Cree syllabics
Cree syllabics, found in two primary variants, are the versions of Canadian Aboriginal syllabics used to write Cree dialects, including the original syllabics system created for Cree and Ojibwe. Syllabics were later adapted to several other languages...
to Inuktitut. Other missionaries, and later linguists in the employ of the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
governments, adapted the Latin alphabet to the dialects of the Mackenzie River
Mackenzie River
The Mackenzie River is the largest river system in Canada. It flows through a vast, isolated region of forest and tundra entirely within the country's Northwest Territories, although its many tributaries reach into four other Canadian provinces and territories...
delta, the western Arctic islands
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
The Canadian Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Arctic Archipelago, is a Canadian archipelago north of the Canadian mainland in the Arctic...
and Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
.
Inuktitut is one variation on Canadian Aboriginal syllabics
Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics
Canadian Aboriginal syllabic writing, or simply syllabics, is a family of abugidas used to write a number of Aboriginal Canadian languages of the Algonquian, Inuit, and Athabaskan language families....
, and can be digitally encoded using the Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
standard. The Unicode block for Inuktitut characters is called Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics.
The consonant in the syllable can be g, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, ng, ł, or absent, and the vowel can be a, i, u, ai (now only in Nunavik), or absent.
Table
The Inuktitut script (titirausiq nutaaq) is commonly presented as a syllabary. The dots on the letters in the table mark long vowels; in the Latin transcription, the vowel is doubled.- Note: An image of the chart is also available.
Short Long Trans. TransliterationTransliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
Short Long Trans. Short Long Trans Final Trans ᐃ ᐄ i ᐅ ᐆ u ᐊ ᐋ a ᐦ h ᐱ ᐲ pi ᐳ ᐴ pu ᐸ ᐹ pa ᑉ p ᑎ ᑏ ti ᑐ ᑑ tu ᑕ ᑖ ta ᑦ t ᑭ ᑮ ki ᑯ ᑰ ku ᑲ ᑳ ka ᒃ k ᒋ ᒌ gi ᒍ ᒎ gu ᒐ ᒑ ga ᒡ g ᒥ ᒦ mi ᒧ ᒨ mu ᒪ ᒫ ma ᒻ m ᓂ ᓃ ni ᓄ ᓅ nu ᓇ ᓈ na ᓐ n ᓯ ᓰ si ᓱ ᓲ su ᓴ ᓵ sa ᔅ s ᓕ ᓖ li ᓗ ᓘ lu ᓚ ᓛ la ᓪ l ᔨ ᔩ ji ᔪ ᔫ ju ᔭ ᔮ ja ᔾ j ᕕ ᕖ vi ᕗ ᕘ vu ᕙ ᕚ va ᕝ v ᕆ ᕇ ri ᕈ ᕉ ru ᕋ ᕌ ra ᕐ r ᕿ ᖀ qi ᖁ ᖂ qu ᖃ ᖄ qa ᖅ q ᖏ ᖐ ngi ᖑ ᖒ ngu ᖓ ᖔ nga ᖕ ng ᙱ ᙲ nngi ᙳ ᙴ nngu ᙵ ᙶ nnga ᖖ nng ᖠ ᖡ łi ᖢ ᖣ łu ᖤ ᖥ ła ᖦ ł
Modifications
The Makivik CorporationMakivik Corporation
The Makivik Corporation is the legal representative of Quebec's Inuit people, established in 1978 under the terms of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, the agreement that established the institutions of Nunavik...
has recently expanded the official version of the script to restore the ai-pai-tai column. The common diphthong
Diphthong
A diphthong , also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel...
ai has generally been represented by combining the a form with a stand-alone letter ᐃ i. This fourth-vowel variant had been removed so that Inuktitut could be typed and printed using IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
Selectric balls
IBM Selectric typewriter
The IBM Selectric typewriter was a highly successful model line of electric typewriters introduced by IBM on July 31, 1961.Instead of the "basket" of individual typebars that swung up to strike the ribbon and page in a traditional typewriter, the Selectric had a type element that rotated and...
in the 1970s. The reinstatement was justified on the grounds that modern printing and typesetting equipment no longer suffers the restrictions of earlier typewriting machinery. The ai-pai-tai column is used only in Nunavik.
Variations
The Inuit language is written in different ways in different places. In Greenland, Alaska, Labrador, the Mackenzie River delta in the Northwest TerritoriesNorthwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
and in part of Nunavut, it is written with the Latin alphabet (also known as Roman orthography in some regions). In most of Nunavut and in Nunavik, Quebec, Inuktitut is written using the Inuktitut script. At present, Inuktitut syllabics enjoys official status in Nunavut, alongside the Latin alphabet, and is used by the Kativik Regional Government
Kativik Regional Government
Kativik redirects here. For the statistical area, see Kativik .The Kativik Regional Government encompasses most of the Nunavik region of Quebec. Nunavik is the northern half of the Nord-du-Québec administrative region and includes all the territory north of the 55th parallel...
of Nunavik. In Greenland, the traditional Latin script is official and is widely used in public life.
Because the Inuit language is a continuum of only partially intercomprehensible dialects, the language varies a great deal across the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
. Split up into different political divisions and different churches reflecting the arrival of various missionary groups, Inuktitut writing systems can vary a great deal.
External links
- Government of Nunavut font page (download the font named Pigiarniq)
- Inuktitut script at Omniglot
- Publishing Inuktitut on the Web
- Inuktitut syllabics at Languagegeek