Osage alphabet

Osage
Type	Alphabet
Languages	Osage
Time period	2006–
Parent systems	Phoenician Greek Latin English Osage
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols.

In 2006, a distinctive script was promulgated for the Osage language. Unlike previous means of transcribing Osage, which were based on the letter forms of the Latin script, the new Osage script has distinct letter shapes, though its derivation from the Latin script is apparent. Osage is a defective alphabet; it does not distinguish the stop series, which were central to Osage phonology.

The Osage alphabet is undergoing revisions by its creator, Herman Mongrain Lookout, and the staff at the Osage Nation Language Department, to provide a more detailed representation of the sounds in Osage as well as to account for and document changes in the Osage language.

Letters

For the pronunciation of the letters of the alphabet, see Osage language#Phonology or the links below.

The vowels are as follows:

It is not clear which vowel the "ə" is, as it is not phonemic in Osage, but it may appear nasalized (not shown). The a comes from Roman ⟨A⟩ (without the crossbar, as in the NΛSΛ logo), e from Roman ⟨a⟩ (cursive; the English letter a is pronounced rather like Osage e). The source for i is obscure, though Roman ⟨I⟩ does appear in the diphthong ai.

The consonants are as follows:

The alphabet does not distinguish the ejective, fortis, and lenis series of obstruents. The aspirate series are written as sequences such as tx and kš. The use of ky and hy is unclear.

The source of p is Roman ⟨p⟩ or ⟨P⟩, that of t is Roman ⟨D⟩ (an alternative transcription of Osage t), č is from ⟨Ch⟩, k from ⟨K⟩. C is from ⟨T⟩ and the Osage s. S and z are the top halves of ⟨S⟩, ⟨Z⟩; š and ž are derived from adding a tail to the full letters, much like Roman ⟨ʒ⟩. Br, st, sk are ligatures of those letters, m, n, and l appear to be from cursive, and ð is a ligature of ⟨Th⟩, which is how it is often transcribed. W is a partial ⟨w⟩. X might be from cursive ⟨x⟩; h is obscure.

Punctuation

Words are separated by a space, syllables by a full stop.

External links

• Presentation at Osage Nation, with non-native sound files for some letters
• Presentation at Native-languages.org, along with various romanizations
• Osage font download