Osage script

{{selfref|For the pronunciation of the letters of the alphabet, see {{slink|Osage language|Phonology}} or the links below.}}

The 2014 vowel letters are as follows:

Long vowels are indicated with a macron, high tone by an acute accent, and a long vowel with high tone by a double acute accent: e.g. oral {{angle bracket|𐒰̄ 𐓘̄}} Ā ā, {{angle bracket|𐒰́ 𐓘́}} Á á, {{angle bracket|𐒰̋ 𐓘̋}} Ā́ ā́, nasal {{angle bracket|𐒰̄͘ 𐓘̄͘}} Ą̄ ą̄, {{angle bracket|𐒰́͘ 𐓘́͘}} Ą́ ą́, {{angle bracket|𐒰̋͘ 𐓘̋͘}} Ą̄́ ą̄́.

Ə and Ə̨ are not phonemic, but unstressed allophones of A and Ą.

The a comes from Latin {{angle bracket|A}} (without the crossbar, as in the NASA insignia "worm" logo), e from Latin cursive {{angle bracket|Ɑ}} (the 'long' sound of the English letter a is rather like Osage e). The source for i is obscure, though Latin {{angle bracket|I}} does appear inside {{angle bracket|Λ}} for the diphthong ai.

The 2014 consonant letters and digraphs are as follows. As in Latin orthography, the ejective consonants are written with a diacritic, and the strongly aspirated stops with digraphs. The pre-aspirated stops were originally written as digraphs with h, but since they vary by dialect with geminates, the 2014 revision included new letters for them derived by adding a cross-bar.

Px and pš are allophones, as are kx ~ kš and tx ~ ch (tsh). Hy and ky are sequences rather than single consonants.

The source of 𐓄 is Latin {{angle bracket|P}}, that of t is Latin {{angle bracket|D}} (an alternative transcription of Osage t), č is from {{angle bracket|Ch}}, k from {{angle bracket|K}}. C is from {{angle bracket|T}} with the Osage s. S and z are the top halves of {{angle bracket|S}} and {{angle bracket|Z}}; š and ž are derived from adding a tail to the full letters, much like Latin {{angle bracket|ʒ}}. Br is a ligatures of the letters br. M, n and l appear to be from their cursive Latin forms, and ð is a ligature of {{angle bracket|Th}}, which is how it is often transcribed. W is a partial {{angle bracket|w}}. X is from cursive {{angle bracket|x}}; it was originally at a 45-degree (x-like) angle before it was split into x and inverted gh. H is obscure, but hy may be from the {{angle bracket|s}} of {{angle bracket|sh}}, and h from hy.

Ligatures for sc (sts) and sk were retired when the alphabet was reformed for Unicode encoding.

Words are separated by a space. Syllables were originally separated by a full stop, but that practice has ceased with increasing literacy.

A meeting to reform the script in 2014 in preparation for Unicode encoding agreed on five changes:

• Casing pairs were introduced.
• Digraphs hC (or superscript ʰC) for the pre-aspirate consonants were replaced with dedicated letters, Ꞓ.
• Ligatures for sc (sts) and sk were retired.
• The nasal marks (ˆ following the letter for monophthongs, an underscore for diphthongs) were replaced by a dot (above-right for monophthongs, internally for diphthongs)
• The letter x, originally set at a 45-degree angle, was made two letters, upright x and inverted gh.

{{Main|Osage (Unicode block)}}

The Osage alphabet was added to the Unicode Standard in June, 2016 with the release of version 9.0.

The Unicode block for Osage is U+104B0–U+104FF:

{{Unicode chart Osage}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110929062416/http://www.osagetribe.com/language/info_sub_page.aspx?subpage_id=8 2014 Language Presentation at Osage Nation], includes non-native sound files for some letters
• [http://www.native-languages.org/osage_guide.htm Presentation at Native-languages.org], along with various romanizations
• {{cite web|url= http://discover.umn.edu/news/design-architecture/typeface-adapts-osage-language-unicode|title= Saving a language, a people|author= |date= October 30, 2013|publisher= College of Design, University of Minnesota|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140227210539/http://discover.umn.edu/news/design-architecture/typeface-adapts-osage-language-unicode|archive-date= February 27, 2014|url-status= dead|access-date= February 21, 2014}}
• [https://www.kosu.org/post/watch-herman-lookout-revitalizing-osage-language Interview with Herman Mongrain Lookout on invention of the script] on Invisible Nations, KOSU

{{Writings systems of the Americas}}

{{list of writing systems}}

Category:Osage language

Category:Alphabets

Category:Writing systems of the Americas

Category:Writing systems introduced in 2006

Category:Western Siouan languages