THE CHIPEWYANS 155 



ing, which takes even a bright child two or three years 

 to learn! 



Now, I already knew something of the Cree syllabic 

 invented by the Rev. James Evans, Methodist mis- 

 sionary on Lake Winnipeg in the '40s, but Cree is a 



< a V e A i > O 



^ x an x/ 1 " en A % ^ ^* " * * **"* 



<baVbeAbi>bo S'r 



C da U de O di 3 do 



b ka q ke p ki d ko 



d la TJ te Jl U b lo c c bV 



L ma "| me f~~ mi J mo a L.'r-' 



Q. na ~U ne (J ni _Q no * Wd 



t, ra <> re ^ ri vh ro 



S sa S se r- si ^ so 



*JT ya ^ ye ^ yi ^ yo 



^ za ^9 ze Q4 z > G> z 



cha UJ che m chi 3 cho 



^ dha O dhe p dhi *J dho 



/l^tha /O the /p thi /O tho 



C' tta U' tte O' ttj D' tto 



G ttha U tthe Q tthi D ttho 



G f=a U 1*6 Q t 6 ! D t c o 



Chipewyan syllabic alphabet 



much less complex language; only 36 characters are 

 needed, and these are so simple that an intelligent Cree 

 can learn to write his own language in one day. 



In support of this astounding statement I give, first, 

 the 36 characters which cover every fundamental sound 

 in their language and then a sample of application. 

 While crude and inconcise, it was so logical and simple 



