354 



BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE 



Meeker (J.) — Continued. 



write in Delaware, Shawanoe, &c., without in- 

 troducing others to represent sounds peculiar 

 to these languages respectively. 



"Our Methodist brethren were not disposed 

 to show it any public countenance. This was 

 indeed the more surprising to us, because they 

 had adopted it themselves. This, however, 

 they had not done so much from inclination, 

 as from the necessity of gratifying a popular 

 desire of the Shawanoes. Hymns, and some 

 other prints, prepared by the Baptist missiona- 

 ries, were used advantageously by Shawanoes, 

 Delawares, Peorias, and Weas, in the Metho- 

 dist connection. 



"But if we have reason to grieve on account 

 of the little favor which has been shown to the 

 new system by the Presbyterians and Metho- 

 dists, we have still greater cause of grief on ac- 

 count of the indifference of our own (Baptist) 

 denomination to this important matter." 



The four principal alphabets according to this 

 system are as follows : 



Key to the Delaware Alphabet. 



[From Blanchard's Delaware primer (Linapi'e 

 Irkvekun), 1834.] 



Yowels. 



r as a 



in 



fate 



& 



' a 



" 



far 



e 



' e 



" 



me 



c 



' e 



(( 



met 



y 



1 



" 



pine 



i 



i 



" 



pin 







' 



" 



note 



w 



" o 



" 



move 



u 



" u 



" 



tub 



b 



' u 



" 



tuhQ 





Consonants. 





h a 



9 ch 



in 



church 



J 



sh 



" 



she 



k 



' ' k 



" 



kite 



1 



1 



" 



lame 



m ' 



' m 



" 



mow 



n ' 



' n 



" 



now 



P 



P 



" 



pay 



q 



q 



" 



^ua 





' s 



" 



gay 





t 



" 



«ay 







" 



* 





ng 



" 



liwflrer 





h 



" 



he 



"The Vowels always have the same sound 

 in all cases. 



"It will be found difficult to give the Conso- 

 nant its proper sound when by itself; as the 

 sounds that are given (when learning them) are 

 the same as when pronounced in connection 

 with a vowel, in a syllable or word. This diflS. 

 culty will be obviated by connecting the sound 

 with that of a vowel. 



" * This letter denotes a gutteral sound pecu- 

 liar to the Delaware, and is quite indescriba- 

 ble." 



Meeker (J.) — Continued. 



Key to the Shawannoe Characters. 



[From Lykins's Shawanoe primer {Siwinowe 



eawekitake), 1834.] 



a pronounced as] a in mane a 



i " "a " far ah 



e " " e " me ee 



" 



" " 



no 



o 



w " 



.: Q u 



move 



oo 



b 



" th ' 



thin 



th 



c " 



" ch ' 



cheese 



ch 



h 



u 1^ 



hand 



h-and 



k 



" k ' 



kite 



k-ite 



1 



" 1 



Zame 



1-ame 



m " 



" m ' 



man 



m-an 



n " 



" n 



no 



n-o 



P 



" p ' 



part 



part 



t 



" t 



take 



take 



s 



" s 



say 



s-ay 



' ' The Consonants are not pronounced aloud ; 

 but have precisely the same sound as in read- 

 ing English. 



"Example.— Be, pronounced the, (th hard). 

 —Here the character b has just the position of 

 the organs of speech, and sound, as occur before 

 the voice opens on e, in saying theory. 



" Ce, pronounced che. — here the character c 

 has the same position of the organs, and sound, 

 as occur before the voice opens on ee, in saying 

 cheese. And so with all the consonants." 



Explanation of the Putawatomie Characters. 



[From Simerwell's Putawatomie primer (Wlkr 



Potrwatome Msina'kin), 1834.] 



"In this system the common types are used 

 for the purpose of avoiding the inconvenience 

 of procuring type of a peculiar form, but read- 

 ing is performed by an application of the letters 

 different from their uses in other languages, 



" Some of the characters indicate sounds, 

 others merely show the positions of the organs 

 of speech. They are therefore not (properly 

 speaking) letters, but characters. 



" Those which are denominated Vowels 

 denote sounds as follows : 

 a as a in 



far 



me 



pin 



note 



tu'o 



pine 



move 



r denotes a sound like e short, partaking 

 somewhat of a long. 



" B indicates the position of the lips as they 

 are placed when about to express the name of 

 the letter b; or, as the organs are left on pro- 

 nouncing a word ending in b, 



" D, K, M, N", P, and T, in like manner indicate 

 the position of the organs as they are placed 

 when about to express words in English begin- 

 ning with those letters severally; or, as the 

 organs are left when words ending in those 

 letters severally have been proueuueed. 



