This is a proposed alphabet that is meant to be used for writing of Gwich’in. It is now in a very early stage of development, so some changes may occur to it in the future as the creator see fit. For any questions please use the email link below.

Gwič’in/Gwich’in
The Gwich’in alternative orthography

Devised by: Michael Fustumum (michaelpeterfustumum(at)gmail.com)

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Proposed letter

Current letter

IPA

1

A a

A a

[a]

  Aa aa Aa aa [aː]
2 Ą ą Ą ą [ã]
  Ąą ąą Ąą ąą [ãː]
3 B b B b [b]
4

C c

Ts ts

[t͡s]

5 C’ c’ Ts’ ts’ [t͡s’]
6 Č č Ch ch [t͡ʃʰ]
7 Č’ č’ Ch’ ch’ [t͡ʃ’]
8 D d D d [d]
9 Dď dď Ddh ddh [d͡ð]
10 Dł dł Dl dl [d͡ɬ]
11 Dn dn Nd nd [dⁿ]
12 Ď ď Dh dh [ð]
13 Ḍ ḍ Dr dr [ɖ]
14

E e

E e

[e]

 

Ee ee

Ee ee

[eː]

15 Ę ę Ę ę [ẽ]
  Ęę ęę Ęę ęę [ẽː]
16 G g G g [g]
17 Gw gw Gw gw [gʷ]
18 Ǧ ǧ Gh gh [ɣ]
19 Ǧw ǧw Ghw ghw [ɣʷ]
20 H h H h [h~x]
21 I i I i [i]
  Ii ii Ii ii [iː]
22 Į į Į į [ĩ]
  Įį įį Įį įį [ĩː]
23 J j Dz dz [d͡z]
24 J̌ ǰ J j [d͡ʒ]
25 J̌n ǰn Nj nj [d͡ʒᶮ]
26

K k

K k

[k]

27 Kw kw Kw kw [kʷ]
28 K’ k’ Kʼ kʼ [k’]
29 Ǩ ǩ Kh kh [x]
30 L l L l [l]
31 Ł ł Ł ł [ɬ]
32

M m

M m

[m]

33

N n

N n

[n]

34 Ň ň Nh nh [n̥]
35

O o

O o

[o]

  Oo oo Oo oo [oː]
36 Ǫ ǫ Ǫ ǫ [õ]
  Ǫǫ ǫǫ Ǫǫ ǫǫ [õː]
37 R r R r [ɻ]
38 Ř ř Rh rh [ɻ̥]
39

S s

S s

[s]

40 Š š Sh sh [ʃ]
41 Ŝ ŝ Shr shr [ʂ]
42

T t

T t

[t]

43 Tʼ tʼ Tʼ tʼ [tʼ]
44 Tł tł Tl tl [t͡ɬ]
45 Tłʼ tłʼ Tlʼ tlʼ [t͡ɬʼ]
46 Tť tť Tth tth [t͡θ]
47 Tťʼ tťʼ Tthʼ tthʼ [t͡θʼ]
48 Ť ť Th th [θ]
49 Ṭ ṭ Tr tr [ʈ]
50 Ṭʼ ṭʼ Trʼ trʼ [ʈʼ]
51 U u U u

[u]

  Uu uu Uu uu [uː]
52 Ų ų Ų ų [ũ]
  Ųų ųų Ųų ųų [ũː]
53 V v V v

[v]

54 W w W w [w]
55 Y y Y y [j]
56 Z z Z z [z]
57 Ž ž Zh zh [ʒ]
58 Ẑ ẑ Zhr zhr [ʐ]
59 ʔ ʔ ʼ [ʔ]
There would not be letters f, p, q(u), v, x, which would be only used in loanwords or replaced by v, b, k(w), ks, respectively.
Tones
Low level ˩ à
High level ˥ a

Text example
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Žik nànkak North America gwižìt Gwič’in ìidàlii c’at ǩaiǰnii dìʔhaii gwàʔàn ṭ’iinlii, čuuvee c’ìivii dìʔ nàaʔaii gwic’àt gwàʔàn gwìidìč’in. Eneekaii kat gwizrih neǩwindòo haii t’àngiinč’uu ak’oh nànkak gwàʔàn. Žehk’oo gwiinčii gwac’at gwič’in ìidàlìi, aii t’at Athapaskans naǩwiṭ’àhnùu, ǰii gwižìt nilii kat Aačin kat, Aaii Čìk kat, Han Gwič’in kat, c’àt Dačantat Gwič’in Kat, gwàt naǩwigiǰnìk c’àt yeenoo nic’òo ṭ’agwiindaiʔ gwiintaòh ihaak gwizrih gòonlih.

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