Ojibwe writing systems facts for kids
The Ojibwe language is a special language spoken by Native American and First Nations people in North America. It belongs to the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is one of the biggest Native American languages north of Mexico when you count how many people speak it.
This language has many different ways of speaking, called dialects, and some of them are quite different from each other. Ojibwe dialects are spoken across Canada in places like Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and parts of Saskatchewan. You can also find speakers in Alberta and British Columbia. In the United States, Ojibwe is spoken in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. Some groups have also moved to Kansas and Oklahoma.
Because there are so many different groups speaking Ojibwe, there isn't one "main" way to speak or write it that everyone agrees is the best. Over hundreds of years, people have written Ojibwe in many ways. These different writing styles have been influenced by other languages, like English and French.
Many writing systems for Ojibwe use the Latin alphabet, which is the same alphabet English and French use. One popular system is called the "double vowel system." It's becoming very popular with language teachers in the United States and Canada because it's easy to learn and use.
Some Ojibwe speakers in northern Ontario and Manitoba use a different kind of writing system called syllabics. This system isn't based on English or French letters. A missionary named James Evans is often given credit for creating the first form of Canadian Aboriginal syllabics around 1840.
There's also a system called Great Lakes Algonquian syllabics. It's based on French spelling and organizes letters into syllables. It was mostly used by speakers of Fox, Potawatomi, and Winnebago, but there's some evidence that Chippewa (Southwestern Ojibwe) speakers also used it.
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Anishinaabewibii'iganan: Ancient Ojibwe Writings
The term Anishinaabewibii'iganan refers to old Ojibwe writings. You can find these writings as carvings on rocks (called petroglyphs), on special animal hides used for stories, and on Midewiwin wiigwaasabakoon, which are birch bark scrolls. These are similar to the Mi'kmaw Suckerfish script.
We don't know a lot about these "hieroglyphics" or symbols in schools and universities. However, it's said that some Ojibwe elders still understand what many of these symbols mean. Since the information in these writings is considered very sacred and private, not much has been shared about them.
In the past, when Ojibwe chiefs signed agreements with the British, they would often draw an "X" for their signature. Then, they would add the Wiigwaasabak symbol that represented their family's animal symbol. Today, Ojibwe artists often use these Wiigwaasabak designs in their art to show "Native Pride."
The word "Anishinaabewibii'iganan" simply means "Ojibwe" or "Indian" writings. It can mean much more than just the old picture-based writing. In fact, Anishinaabewibii'iganan might be a better way to describe the picture writing because it has connections with other Native nations, not just Ojibwe.
Romanized Ojibwe Systems: Using Our Alphabet
Modern Latin Alphabets
The different ways of writing Ojibwe using the Latin alphabet usually show how they handle special sounds in the Ojibwe language. These differences include how they show:
- Long and short vowels (like the difference between "bit" and "beat" in English).
- Nasal vowels (vowels made with air coming out of your nose, like in some French words).
- Strong and soft consonants.
- Consonants that need a special symbol from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) because they don't have a simple English letter.
The Double Vowel System
The double vowel system is a popular way to write Ojibwe. It got its name because it uses two of the same vowel letters (like aa or ii) to show a long vowel sound. For example, a short "i" sound might be written as i, but a long "i" sound would be written as ii. This system was created by Charles Fiero.
At a meeting about creating a common way to write Ojibwe, teachers agreed that the double vowel system was a good choice because it's easy to use. It's now widely used by Ojibwe language teachers in both the United States and Canada.
This system helps make Ojibwe writing more consistent, so it's easier for students to read and write. Other older ways of writing, sometimes called "folk spelling," were less organized and could be different from person to person.
In the double vowel system, letters from the English alphabet are used, but they have Ojibwe sounds. The system focuses on the basic sounds (phonemes) of the language. This means you can't learn the exact pronunciation just from reading; you need to hear a fluent speaker.
Here's how the vowels work:
- Short vowels are written with one letter: i, o, a.
- Long vowels are written with two of the same letter: ii, oo, aa.
- There's also a long e sound, written as e, which doesn't have a short partner.
For example:
- i in inini means "man."
- ii in niin means "I, me."
- o in ozid means "someone's foot."
- oo in oodena means "town."
- a in agim means "count someone!"
- aa in aagim means "snowshoe."
- e in emikwaan means "spoon."
Nasal vowels (vowels with a nasal sound) are usually found at the end of words that mean something small or cute. If a nasal vowel is at the end of a word, it's often followed by nh. For example, kiwenziinh means "old man." If it's in the middle of a word, it might be written with ny, like mindimooyenyag for "old women."
Some sounds that are like "ch" and "j" in English are written as ch and j. Sounds like "sh" and "zh" are written as sh and zh. The "y" and "w" sounds are written as y and w.
Ojibwe also has soft (lenis) and strong (fortis) consonant sounds.
- Soft consonants are written with letters like b, d, g, j, z, zh. For example, b in bakade means "is hungry."
- Strong consonants are written with letters like p, t, k, ch, s, sh. For example, p in opin means "potato."
Other consonants are m, n, w, y, h. There's also a sound like the break in "uh-oh," called a glottal stop, which is written with an apostrophe (').
The alphabet order for the double vowel system is a bit different from English: a aa b (ch) d e g h ' i ii j k m n o oo p s t w y z
Ottawa-Eastern Ojibwe Double Vowel System
There's a slightly different version of the double vowel system used in Michigan and southwestern Ontario for the Ottawa and Eastern Ojibwe dialects.
In these dialects, some short vowels are often dropped, which creates more consonant clusters (groups of consonants).
- In this system, the letter h is used for the glottal stop, instead of the apostrophe. The apostrophe is used for something else: to show the difference between original consonant clusters and new ones that appear when vowels are dropped.
- Sometimes, consonants have a "w" sound added to them, like in g̣taaji for "he is afraid." This is usually not written down, but some dictionaries might use a small dot under the letter to show it.
The alphabet order for this system is: a b c d e g (g̣) h (ḥ) i j k (ḳ) m n o p s t w y z
Cree-Saulteaux Roman System
This system is used in northern Ontario and parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It's based on the Canadian Aboriginal syllabics. In this system, long vowels (including e) are shown with a line above them (macron) or a hat-like mark (circumflex). Vowels that are sometimes dropped are shown with an apostrophe ('). Nasal vowels are usually not marked.
Northern Ojibwe System
While many speakers in northern Ontario use syllabics, they also use an alphabet system. It's similar to the Cree-Saulteaux system, but it uses sh instead of š and uses double vowels for long sounds. This system is used for teaching the Severn Ojibwe dialect and in translations of the New Testament.
The short vowels are i, o, a. The long vowels are ii, oo, aa, e. The consonants are p, c, h, k, m, n, s, sh, t, y, w. The letter c is used for the "ch" sound, and sh is used for the "sh" sound.
Algonquin Roman System
Unlike other Roman systems for Ojibwe that are based on English, the Algonquin Roman system is based on French. It uses a hat-like mark (circumflex) or a slanted mark (grave accent) over long vowels. The "ch" sound is written as tc and the "j" sound as dj. The "sh" sound is c and the "zh" sound is j. However, in the Maniwaki dialect of Algonquin, "ch" is written as ch and "sh" as sh.
Historical Roman Orthographies: Old Ways of Writing
Over time, different people tried to create ways to write Ojibwe using the Latin alphabet.
Evans System
James Evans, a missionary, created an Ojibwe writing system around 1837. He found it hard to write long Ojibwe words with Latin letters. His system showed short and long vowels by doubling the short vowel (like aa for a long "a"). He also used special marks above letters to show nasal sounds or glottal stops. Evans eventually stopped using this system and created the Canadian Aboriginal syllabics instead.
Baraga System
Bishop Frederic Baraga was a very important writer of Ojibwe in the late 1800s. His dictionary, A Dictionary of the Otchipwe Language, explained in English, is still a great resource for Ojibwe words from Michigan and Wisconsin. In his books, he showed how Ojibwe sounds were written. There's some debate about how he showed nasal sounds; in earlier books, he used a circumflex mark, but later it seemed to show long or stressed vowels.
Algonquin Systems
Jean-André Cuoq, another missionary, wrote grammar books and a dictionary for the Algonquin language in 1886. He focused on the Ojibwe spoken by southern Algonquins. His system didn't show vowel lengths, but it did show the difference between strong and soft consonants. He also broke words down to their basic parts, which was helpful. Later versions of his system used a circumflex for long vowels and a diaeresis (two dots) for unstressed short vowels.
Ojibwe Syllabics: A Unique Way to Write
The Ojibwe language is also written using a non-alphabet system called syllabics. James Evans, the same missionary mentioned earlier, developed this syllabary between 1840 and 1841. He was working with Swampy Cree speakers in Manitoba. Evans was inspired by his earlier work on Ojibwe alphabets, the Cherokee syllabary, and even Pitman shorthand.
This syllabary quickly became popular among Cree and Ojibwe speakers. Today, many Ojibwe speakers in northern Ontario and Manitoba use it, while most other Ojibwe groups use alphabet-based writing.
The syllabary uses special characters:
- Characters for vowels alone (like e, i, o, a). These look like triangles rotated in different directions.
- Characters for a consonant plus a vowel (like pe, pi, po, pa). These characters also rotate to show the different vowel sounds.
- Characters called finals that represent consonants at the end of a syllable or word.
- Special marks for h and w sounds.
The characters for consonant-vowel combinations are rotated in four ways, each showing one of the four main vowels.
The finals (syllable-closing characters) are usually written smaller and above the line. There are two main types: Western finals and Eastern finals. The Western finals look like accents, while the Eastern finals are smaller versions of the regular syllabic characters.
Sometimes, the length of a vowel (whether it's long or short) is not shown in syllabics. For example, aakim (snowshoe) and akim (count him!) might be written the same way. If vowel length is shown, it's called 'pointed syllabics', and a dot is placed above the character. So, 'snowshoe' would be written with a dot.
Strong and soft consonants are usually not distinguished in common syllabics. However, some writers put an h before a consonant to show it's a strong sound.
The h character and final are also used for the glottal stop in most communities.
There are also ways to write sounds not originally in Ojibwe, like f, th, l, r, but these vary a lot between communities.
Different communities use syllabics in slightly different ways, especially concerning:
- Finals: Which set of final characters they use (Eastern A-position, Eastern I-position, etc.).
- W-dot: Where the special mark for the w sound is placed (before or after the character).
- L/R representation: How the l and r sounds are written.
Great Lakes Algonquian Syllabary
The Great Lakes Algonquian syllabary is another system that organizes letters into syllables, but it's based on the French alphabet. It was mainly used by speakers of Fox, Potawatomi, and Winnebago. There's some evidence that Southwestern Ojibwe speakers also used it.
It's been suggested that Ottawa speakers might have used this syllabary too, but there isn't strong proof.
Images for kids
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A sign in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, with Ojibwe syllabics. The partially pointed syllabics text says ᑳᐃᔑᐊᓉᐱᓈᓂᐗᐣᐠ (Gaa-izhi-anwebinaaniwang, "the place where people repose"; unpointed as ᑲᐃᔑᐊᓉᐱᓇᓂᐧᐊᐠ), but with the ⟨ᐧ⟩ w missing from the last syllable.
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This pictographic 1849 petition was presented to the President of the United States by Chief Oshkaabewis and other Ojibwe leaders from the headwaters of the Wisconsin River and complains of broken promises in the 1837 and 1842 treaties. The tribes are represented by their totems, martens, bear, man and catfish, led by the crane. Lines running from the heart and eye of each animal to the heart and eye of the crane denote that they are all of one mind; and a line runs from the eye of the crane to the lakes, shown in the «map» in the lower left-hand corner.
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Example of a Birch bark scroll piece
