EKLUND SYSTEM OF CHIPPEWA PRONUNCIATION AND WRITING

page iv of Coy Eklund's Chippewa Language Book

MY CONTRIBUTION

My principal contribution is in the formulation of rules for spelling to represent the oral sounds, which fortunately, are congenial to the English-speaking tongue and ear.

I found it necessary to use only 19 letters of our alphabet, and I have rigidly assigned only one pronunciation to each letter used. And with one exception, I have avoided double vowels; with no exceptions, I have avoided triple-lettered consonants.

Chippewa is an equisite, mellifluous language! An awsome miracle! It has been a highly rewarding undertaking for me. A true joy!

A) Vowels:

• A as in AGO
• E as in PREY
• I as in TRIO
• O as in GO
• OO as in MOON (We do not use U)
• Y as in BY (But only when Y appears at the end of a word; otherwise it's a consonant. See below.)

Except for OO, consecutive vowels are always pronounced as seperate syllables! There are no other double vowels!

B)Consonants:

• B as in BABY
• D as in DAD
• G as in GIRL (Never as in George)
• J as in "JAJA" (Gabor)
• K as in KID
• M as in MOM
• N as in NET
• P as in PET
• S as in SISTER
• T as in TOM
• W as in WOMAN
• Y as in YOU
• Z as in ZERO

C)Double Consonants:

• SS as in MESSY
• SH as in SHOWER
• NG as in RING
• CH as in CHILD

Letters Not Used:

No Chippewa Language sounds require F,L,Q,R,U,V, or X; nor C OR H as single lettes.

We get along nicely with only 19 letters of the alphabet.

Remember! Always use the one pronunciation shown on this page! Practice reading Chippewa until word pronunciation becomes easy.

Now try some sample words and sentences! At.. sample sentences.

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