Cree syllabics
Silabario cree (silabario aborigen canadiense)
- Date
- 1840 · confidence high
- Place
- Norway House, Manitoba, Canada
- Credited to
- James Evans, Methodist missionary
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A syllabary in which each sign is a syllable and the orientation of the triangle or semicircle indicates the vowel. Evans devised it with the help of Cree speakers; it was printed with improvised type.
Some researchers see influence from the Cherokee syllabary, Pitman shorthand and Devanagari; Evans denied it. The ink and type of the first book were improvised.
What it led to
- literacy among the Cree and Ojibwe
- adaptations to Inuktitut, Blackfoot and other languages
- Canada's Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics