Punctuation

The only punctuation in most is cases is spacing between words and ᕁ for a full stop. Punctuation from the Latin alphabet, other than the period (.), may also be used.

“Syllables” (Full-Sized)

The full-sized characters, whether standing for consonant-vowel combinations or vowels alone, are usually called "syllables". They may be phonemic rather than morphophonemic syllables. That is, when one morpheme (word element) ends in a consonant and the next begins with a vowel, the intermediate consonant is written as a syllable with the following vowel.

In other cases, a "syllable" may in fact represent only a consonant, again due to the underlying structure of the language.

Syllabication is important to determining stress in Algonquian languages, and vice-versa, so this ambiguity in syllabics is relatively important in Algonquian languages.

Series

The word "series" is used for either a set of syllables with the same vowel, or a set with the same initial consonant. Thus the n-series is the set of syllables that begin with n, and the o-series is the set of syllables that have o as their vowel regardless of their initial consonant.

“Finals” (Reduced Letters)

A series of small raised letters are called "finals". They are placed after a syllable to indicate a final consonant, as the ᕽ -hk in ᔨᕽ yihk above. The ᕽ would be the consonant usually in “A” form.

Consonants (all in “A” form)

Vowels

Diphthongs

Diacritics

• the “W” sound preceding a vowel

• the final aspirated “H” sound

• the “elongated” vowel sound

Diacritics & Diphthongs (more...)

Diphthongs are represented by diacritics on the vowel. Much like the reduced consonants. They are represented as followed:

Vowels (more...)

Vowels are divided into two groups, symmetrical & asymmetrical. Symmetrical vowels (e.g. p-, t-, sp-) are rotated 90 degrees (a quarter turn) counter-clockwise, while those which are asymmetrical top-to-bottom, c-, k-, m-, n-, s-, y-, are rotated 180 degrees (a half turn).

The symmetrical letter forms can be illustrated by arranging them into a diamond:

        ᐃ       i         ᐱ pi                ᑎ ti

     ᐊ    ᐅ a   o   ᐸ    ᐳ pa po     ᑕ  ᑐ ta to

        ᐁ       e        ᐯ pe                ᑌ te

And the asymmetrical letter forms can be illustrated by arranging them into a square:

ᑭᑫ     ki ke             ᒋᒉ     chi che              ᒥᒣ  mi me

ᑲᑯ  ka ko     ᒐᒍ  cha cho      ᒪᒧ     ma mo

ᓂᓀ  ni ne              ᓯᓭ  si se               ᔨᔦ yi ye

ᓇᓄ     na no     ᓴᓱ     sa so      ᔭᔪ ya yo

Symmetrical (x7)

Exceptions (x6)

Asymmetrical (x13)

Examples: