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 « > o " TKA 



<'an V**" A''" >'oa > Ed' 



<baVbeAW>bo - S'l-' 



C da U d« n di 3 do a UUd* 

 b ka q ke p ki d ko ' "DS' 



d la "U le J1 li b lo ' ''bV 



|_ ma ~| me r mi _| mo t L.'i-' 



Q. na "0 ne 0" o' Jl DO • WQ.* 



■t,ra'Vfe^^riJ>ro <• 'V-nQ. 



■-tsaV.i,sei-'si/-'so • [r>»'r' 



«r ya -^ ye ?». yi -.J yo . >-<«<Q 



S za ^ ze 04 zi ^ zo • l-,^™^ 



E cha UJ che fTl chi 3 cho h >U'I» 



O dha <"! dhe p dhi ^ dho e <i<,<e 



/Ijtha /O the »P thi /vj tho o VQo 



C* tU U" "e n' "' D' "o • 'V'V'UJ' 



G ttha U tthe Q tthi 3 ttho • •<C* 

 G t5a CJ t«e Q « D 1=0 



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 



