ᓴᑋᕲᑯᑨᓀ Example Text

This Sahtúgot’ine example was taken from a text by George Blondin. This story has been transcribed into both a traditional North Slavey Syllabic orthography (on the left), and my attempt at an accurate modern version of syllabics (the right column).

As the traditional orthography was designed for the Hare dialect of North Slavey, I have had to make some small changes here. Following the pattern of sound changes between the North Slavey Dialects would result in ᒐ, ᕮ, and ᒐ sounding like /gwa/, both /kwa/ and /kw’a/, and /wha/. These sounds could also easily have been written ᑲᐧ, ᒼᑲᐧ, and ᑋᐧᐊ, but as the Hare syllabics reanalysed the ᕮ and ᒐ series, so I will do the same for Bear Lake Slavey. I am also being very generous with my use of ᑋ for /h/. The Hare syllabics used this final only quite rarely, where I am writing it wherever present in the modern Roman text.

In the Practical transcription, tone and nasal vowels and tone have not been marked, compare this to the fully pointed version. The text in Roman orthography is shown at the bottom. Note that your browser may wrap in such a way that a word is cut off at the end of a line, and continued on the next – my version of Explorer wraps oddly, my Netscape does not.

Unicode places all finals at the top-line, where Dene requires some finals to be top-line, some mid-line, and some baseline. The location of the final is vital to correct pronunciation. Please note that your browser may not be able to accomodate the mid-line and baseline finals.

ᔭᒧᑎᐊ

ᑌᓀ ᒼᕄ ᓯᐠ ᓱᑌ ᐯᐥᐃᐠᒼᑯᐠ ᓇᐟᓭᐠ ᒼᐊᑋᐁᐧ ᐁᐧᑕ ᒅᐠ ᐳᑌᕳ ᔭᒧᑎᐊ ᑋᐁᑌᑎ. ᐁᔨ ᓯᐠ ᐊᑌᔪᐠᓀ ᑌᓀ ᓇᑋᕭᐁᐧ ᐯᐥᐃᐠᒼᑯᐠ ᓇᐟᓭ ᕍᓂ ᒅᐠ ᐯᖌᐠ ᑯᐟᓭᑌ.

ᒼᕍ ᒼᕊᐁ ᕲᐁᐸ ᓇᒼᑫᑌ ᑌᓀ ᐯᐟᓭᕫ ᑯᑋᒼᕄᐠ ᑋᐁ ᐯᕲᐁᐧ ᓀᗴ ᒼᑲ ᐟᓭᒼᑯᐁᐧ ᑌᑕᒼᕃ. ᑪ ᒼᕊᐁ ᕲᐁ ᖍ ᒥᐠ ᑕᒼᑭᐟᕊ ᑪ ᐟᘛᐠᓀ ᕳᐅᓀᑋᑧ ᒥᐠ ᖍᒼᑫᔦᑕ. ᑯᐟᓭᐠ ᑌ ᑎ ᑧᑌ ᓯᐠ ᑲᑋ ᑯᒼᐅᐁ ᑕᑋᐫᐟᕄᐠ ᑪ ᐟᘛᐠᓀ ᕳᐅᓀᑋᑧ ᑲᑋ ᑯᒼᐅᐁ ᖍᔦᑕ.

ᑋᐊᔨᐠᕃ ᑲᑋ ᑯᒼᐅᐁ ᐟᓭ ᑧᑌ ᓇᑌᒼᕍ. ᓂᑋᐟᓯᐠ ᑋᐅᕃ ᑌᑋᔦ ᒼᑫᑪ ᓇᔦᑕ ᔨᕃ, ᓂᑋᐟᓯᐠ ᑋᐅᕃ ᑪ ᐟᓱ ᓇᔦᑕᕃ, ᑋᐊᔨᕃ ᒐᑫᒅ ᐟᓱ ᒼᕍᑌᑧ ᓯᐠ ᓇᔦᑕ, ᐯᖍ ᓱᑎ ᑪ ᔦᐟᓭᑌᑋᒼᕍ ᔦᖍᔦᑕ, ᑕᑋᓱ ᐊᑨᐠ ᔦᓂᐁᐧᐠ ᒐ ᔦᖍᔨᑕ ᐟᕍᐠ ᑌᒼᑯᐠᐫ ᐟᓭᓀᑌᑋᒼᕍ.

ᑌᒼᑯᐠᐫ ᓂᓂᒼᕍ, ᑌᕳ ᑌᓄ ᑋᐁ ᐁᒼᑲ ᐊᑯᑋᑎ ᐁᔨ ᐟᓱ ᐁᒈᐥᐊᑨ ᒐ ᐯᖍᔨᑕ ᑋᐊᑎ. ᐁᑯᑋᓂ ᔭᑋᓂ ᐊᐅᑋᑧ ᑪ ᐃᐠᒇ ᑪ ᑌᓀ ᑋᐬᒼᕊᐠ ᐯᓇᗯ. ᐟᗴ ᐊᑯᑨᐠ ᐁᒼᑯᑋᔦ ᑯᐥᐅᐠ ᐊᑯᑋᑧ ᑪ ᑪᑋᓯᐠ ᐁᒼᑲ ᐊᑯᐠᑋᑧ ᐁᒼᑯᒼᑲᑎ ᐊᑨᕃ ᐁᔨ ᑪ ᐯᕳ ᓯᐠ ᒼᐊᑕᑋᒼᐭ ᐯᓇᗯ ᑪ ᐊᑨᐠ ᓱᓂ. ᐯᕳ ᐁᒼᑲᐥᐊᔦᑋᑎ, ᓴᐟᗱ ᒼᐅᐁ ᐟᓭ ᓇᓂᒼᕍ ᑯᐟᓭᐠ ᒅᑪ ᓇᔨᐠᒼᕃ ᑯᐟᓭᐠ ᐁᔨ ᐟᓱᑋ ᐁᑋᒼᕍᑌᑧ ᐊᑨᐠ ᓂᑌ ᐯᐟᓭᑎᒼᕍ ᐯᑐ ᓀᑯᓀᑋᓯᐠ ᐁᔨ ᖍᑌ ᒼᑲᓂᑎ, ᑋᐊᑎ, ᐊᑋᓯ ᑐᑋᓯᐠ ᔦᓂᓀᐁᐧ ᓂᑌ ᐁᒼᑲ ᑋᐁᐟᗱᐠ ᓀᑐᐃᐧᑕ ᓭᑕ ᑯᖌᐠ ᑯᑌ ᓂᑌ ᓀᘕᐠ ᖍ ᓂᑎ, ᑋᐊᓂᑌ ᐁᐟᕍ ᐊᑯᑌ ᖍ ᓱᓂ ᐯᕳ ᔦᑋᑎ.

ᐁᒼᑲ ᐊᐟᗴ ᑋᐊᔨᐠᕃ ᐟᓱᑋᔭ ᑪᑌᓀᑋᐁᐧ. ᐁᒼᑲᖍᐃ ᓯᐠ ᐊᖊᔪᐠᓀ ᓀᑋᒼᑲᔨᐠᑋᐟᕍ. ᐁᔨ ᐟᓱᑋ ᓇᔨᐠᐥᐊ ᓯᐠ ᐯᐟᕍ ᓯᐠ ᐯᐱᔭ ᓇᒼᑫ ᒉᕍ, ᒼᑫᑋᐟᓭ ᑐᔦ ᐁᔨ ᑪ ᑧᑌ ᑎᑋᐟᘚ ᑕᒼᕍ ᕍᐃ ᐊᑋᐁᑧ ᑪ ᐯᐱ ᓯ ᓀᑎᒐ, ᑌᐥᐁ ᑪ ᔦᔨᒐ, ᔦᑋᐁ ᓇᐟᗰᓀᑋᒼᕍ.