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AI I II U UU A AA
P
T
K
G
M
N
S
L
J
V
R
Q
NG
NNG ᖖᒉ
Ł
AI I II U UU A AA
ᑎᑎᕋᐅᓯᖅ ᓄᑖᖅ (titirausiq nutaaq), the Inuktitut syllabary, is a writing system used by Inuit people in Nunavut and in northern Quebec. It was originally adapted from the Cree syllabary by Edmund Peck, an Anglican missionary, in the 1870's. It is part of a system of syllabic writing schemes which are grouped together in the Unicode standard as Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics.

Syllables are composed of an optional consonant and an optional vowel. The consonant may be G, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, NG, or Ł, and the vowel may be A, I, U, AA, II, or UU.

The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami has recently changed the official version of the syllabary to restore the "ai-pai-tai" row. The common diphthong AI has generally been represented by combining the "A" form with a standalone ᐃ. This fourth vowel variant of the official syllabary was initially removed so that Inuktitut could be typed and printed using IBM Selectric balls in the 1970s. This decision was justified by claiming that modern printing and typesetting equipment no longer suffers the restrictions of earlier typewriting machinery.

The Inuktitut language is written in different ways in different places. In Greenland, Alaska, Labrador, the Mackenzie River delta in the Northwest Territories and in part of Nunavut, it is written with the Latin alphabet. In most of Nunavut and in northern Quebec, Inuktitut is written using the Inuktitut syllabary. At present, Inuktitut syllabics enjoy official status in Nunavut alongside the Latin alphabet. They are also used officially in Quebec. In Greenland, the traditional Latin script is official and is widely used in public life.

Because the Inuktitut 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.

The first efforts to write Inuktitut came from Moravian missionaries in Greenland and Labrador in the mid-18th century. In the 1870's, Edmund Peck, an Anglican missionary adapted the Cree syllabary 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.

See also


External links


Inuktitut syllabics | Silabario inuktitut

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "ᑎᑎᕋᐅᓯᖅ ᓄᑖᖅ".

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