In Defence of a Standard Phonemic Spelling in Roman Letters for the Canadian Eskimo Language

Abstract

Discusses the syllabic system adapted from Rev. James Evans' Cree syllabics to Eskimo use by Rev. E.J. Peck about 1885, and still used by the majority of Canadian Eskimos. The alphabet of the dominant culture however, has advantages for rendering aboriginal speech to writing; Soviet experiments with Asiatic Eskimos are cited. A gradual change from the syllabary to the roman alphabet adapted to Eskimo phonology is advocated. Benefits of a writing system in common with Greenlanders are cited. Several Eskimo alphabetic systems already established among Eskimos in Canada are discussed, each has certain inadequacies. Development of a new standard orthography is required; over- or under-differentiation of Eskimo phonemes, now current, should be eliminated.