Inuktitut Braille facts for kids

Inuktitut Braille is a special way of writing the Inuktitut language using braille. Braille is a system of raised dots that blind and visually impaired people can read with their fingertips. This braille system is based on the traditional Inuktitut syllabics, which is the writing system used for Inuktitut in print.

Unlike the syllabics, Inuktitut Braille is a true alphabet. This means it has separate letters for each consonant and vowel sound. A unique feature is that vowels are written before the consonants they go with in speech. This braille system was introduced in 2012 by Tamara Kearney. She was a manager at the Commonwealth Braille and Talking Book Cooperative. The book The Orphan and the Polar Bear (ᐃᓕᐊᕐᔪᒃ ᓇᓄᕐᓗ) was the first known work written in Inuktitut Braille.

How Inuktitut Braille Works

In Inuktitut Braille, each letter from the Inuktitut syllabics is shown using two braille cells. Think of a braille cell as a small block with six dots. The first cell tells you the orientation (which way it's facing) of the syllabic letter. The second cell shows its shape.

The orientation of a letter in syllabics usually tells you the vowel sound. The shape tells you the consonant sound. So, if you have the syllable ki, it's written in braille as ik. This means the vowel comes first, then the consonant.

If a vowel is long (like the "ee" sound in "tree"), an extra dot is added to the consonant letter in braille. For example, kī would be written as iķ in braille.

Vowels in Braille

There are four main vowel letters in Inuktitut Braille. They are:

ai

i

u

a

Vowel letters are not used alone. They are always paired with a special "null consonant" braille cell (⠁) to form a syllable that starts with a vowel. For long vowels, an extra dot is added to this null consonant.

Here are some examples of syllables that are just vowels:

• ⠰⠁ for ᐁ (ai)
• ⠘⠁ for ᐃ (i)
• ⠘⠡ for ᐄ (ī) - notice the extra dot for the long vowel
• ⠕⠁ for ᐅ (u)
• ⠕⠡ for ᐆ (ū) - extra dot for long vowel
• ⠪⠁ for ᐊ (a)
• ⠪⠡ for ᐋ (ā) - extra dot for long vowel

Consonants in Inuktitut Braille are similar to those in English Braille. For example, the braille letter for 'k' (⠅) is used for the /k/ sound in Inuktitut Braille. If a /k/ sound is at the end of a syllable, it's just ⠅.

When a syllable starts with a consonant like /k/, the braille letter for 'k' is combined with a vowel cell.

• ⠰⠅ for ᑫ (kai)
• ⠘⠅ for ᑭ (ki)
• ⠕⠅ for ᑯ (ku)
• ⠪⠅ for ᑲ (ka)

For long vowels with consonants, an extra dot is added to the consonant cell:

• ⠘⠥ for ᑮ (kī)
• ⠕⠥ for ᑰ (kū)
• ⠪⠥ for ᑳ (kā)

Consonants in Braille

The consonant choices in Inuktitut Braille are based on how Inuktitut is written using the Roman alphabet (like English letters), not just on the syllabic system. For example, the sound 'q' (ᖅ) is written with the single braille letter ⠟, just like the 'q' in English Braille.

Some consonant assignments are a bit different from English Braille. For instance, the braille letter for 'v' in English (⠧) has a dot that is used for long vowels in Inuktitut Braille. So, for the 'v' sound (ᕝ) in Inuktitut, the braille letter for 'f' (⠋) is used instead.

Also, some Inuktitut sounds like 'ng', 'nng', and 'ł' don't have direct matches in English Braille. For these, braille letters for English 'e', 'd', and 'c' are used.

Here are the consonants:

Final consonant or consonant with a short vowel	ᑉ p	ᑦ t	ᒃ k	ᒡ g	ᒻ m	ᓐ n	ᔅ s	ᓪ l
Consonant with a long vowel	p_:	t_:	k_:	g_:	m_:	n_:	s_:	l_:
(short vowel or final)	ᔾ j	ᕝ v	ᕐ r	ᖅ q	ᖕ ng	ᖖ nng	ᖦ ł	' h
(long vowel)	j_:	v_:	r_:	q_:	ng_:	nng_:	ł_:	h_:

For example, the word ᓄᓇᕗᑦ (Nunavut) is written as ⠕⠝⠪⠝⠕⠋⠞ in braille. This literally spells out "unanuvt" because of the vowel-first rule. Another example, ᓄᓇᕕᒃ (Nunavik), is ⠕⠝⠪⠝⠘⠋⠅.

In the traditional Inuktitut syllabics, some letters like 'ng', 'nng', and 'h' are a bit tricky. But in Inuktitut Braille, they work just like any other consonant. This means all syllables that have a consonant and a vowel (CV syllables) are written with two braille cells. For example, ᙱ (nngi) is simply ⠘⠙, and ᕼᐃ (hi) is just ⠘⠓.

Numbers and Punctuation

Numbers and punctuation in Inuktitut Braille are mostly the same as in Unified English Braille. There are two small differences:

• The braille cell ⠠ is used as a "Grade 1 indicator". This is only used when showing a passage in English or other languages that have different "grades" or levels of braille. Inuktitut Braille doesn't have these grades.
• The braille cell ⠸ is used as a "single indicator". This shows when a single symbol or character is used on its own, or when symbols from other writing systems are included.

See It in Action: Examples

Here is a sample text to show you how Inuktitut Braille looks. First, you'll see the braille, then the Inuktitut syllabics, and finally the Roman alphabet version.

⠕⠁⠪⠟⠘⠇⠪⠭⠘⠗⠞⠀⠕⠁⠪⠟⠕⠁⠘⠎⠪⠟⠟⠕⠞⠘⠝⠅

ᐅᖃᓕᒫᕆᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖃᖅᑐᓂᒃ

uqalimārit uqausiqaqtunit

⠘⠁⠕⠝⠕⠟⠘⠞⠞⠪⠞⠂⠀⠘⠁⠘⠇⠟⠕⠅⠘⠎⠕⠟⠘⠞⠞⠪⠞⠂

ᐃᓄᖁᑎᑦᑕ, ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᖁᑎᑦᑕ,

inuqutitta, iliqkusiqutitta,

⠕⠡⠪⠍⠕⠚⠞⠂⠀⠘⠁⠘⠇⠪⠞⠘⠗⠪⠚⠕⠁⠚⠕⠚⠘⠞⠞⠪⠞⠂

ᐆᒪᔪᑦ, ᐃᓕᑕᕆᔭᐅᔾᔪᑎᑦᑕ,

ūmajut, ilitarijaujjutitta,

⠘⠏⠘⠛⠪⠁⠗⠘⠝⠘⠗⠪⠇⠕⠁⠟⠪⠞⠞⠪⠞⠂

ᐱᒋᐊᕐᓂᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᑦᑕ,

pigiarnirilauqtatta,

⠕⠝⠪⠝⠕⠋⠪⠾⠟⠘⠎⠪⠍⠘⠝⠞⠪⠞⠕⠇

ᓄᓇᕗᑖᖅᓯᒪᓂᑦᑕᓗ

nunavutāqsimanittalu

⠘⠍⠅⠪⠮⠕⠽⠪⠑⠕⠚⠘⠝⠅⠂⠀⠪⠁⠍⠪⠍⠕⠇

ᒥᒃᓵᓅᖓᔪᓂᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ

miksānūngajunik, ammalu

⠪⠁⠘⠍⠕⠎⠅⠪⠅⠝⠘⠝⠗⠘⠝⠅⠲

ᐊᒥᓱᒃᑲᓐᓂᕐᓂᒃ.

amisukkannirnik.

See also

• Iñupiaq Braille