Ojibwe Writing Systems

Ojibwe Writing Systems

Ojibwe is an Native American language of the Algonquian family. Ojibwe is one of the largest Native American languages north of Mexico in terms of number of speakers, and is characterized by a series of dialects, some of which differ significantly. The dialects of Ojibwe are spoken in Canada from southwestern Québec, through Ontario, Manitoba and parts of Saskatchewan, with outlying communities in Alberta and British Columbia, and in the United States from Michigan through Wisconsin and Minnesota, with a number of communities in North Dakota and Montana, as well as migrant groups in Kansas and Oklahoma.

The absence of linguistic or political unity among Ojibwe-speaking groups is associated with the relative autonomy of the regional dialects of Ojibwe. There is no single dialect that is considered the most prestigious or most prominent, and no standard writing system used to represent all dialects. Ojibwe dialects have been written in numerous ways over a period of several centuries, with the development of different written traditions reflecting a range of influences from the orthographic practices of other languages.

Writing systems associated with particular dialects have been developed by adapting the Latin script, usually the English or French alphabets. A widely used Roman character-based writing system is the Double Vowel system, attributed to Charles Fiero. The Double Vowel system is quickly gaining popularity among language teachers in the United States and Canada because of its ease of use.

A syllabic writing system not related to English or French writing is used by some Ojibwe speakers in northern Ontario and Manitoba. Development of the original form of Canadian Aboriginal syllabics is credited to missionary James Evans around 1840.

The Great Lakes Algonquian syllabary is based upon the French alphabet, with letters organized into syllables. It was primarily used by speakers of Fox, Potawatomi, and Winnebago, but there is indirect evidence of use by speakers of Southwestern Ojibwe ("Chippewa").