Editing Delaware languages (section)

==Writing systems==
There is no standard writing system for either Munsee or Unami. However, the people who are enrolled in the Delaware Tribe of Indians have developed a spelling system that is the most recent standard for writing in the Unami dialect. Out of respect to this intellectual property of The Delaware Tribe of Indians their standard for writing in the Unami dialect should be used. As well, the Muncy at the Six Nations Reserve in what is now called Canada have done the same standardization for the Munsee dialect. In Aboriginal teaching materials used by provincial governments this newest standard for Munsee is used in order to teach Muncy to children in the school system.

Linguists have tended to use common phonetic transcription symbols of the type found in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] or similar [[Americanist phonetic notation|Americanist]] symbols in order to represent sounds that are not consistently represented in conventional standard writing systems.<ref>See e.g. Goddard, Ives, 1979</ref>

Europeans writing down Delaware words and sentences have tended to use adaptations of European alphabets and associated conventions. The quality of such renditions have varied widely, as Europeans attempted to record sounds and sound combinations they were not familiar with.<ref>Brinton, Daniel, and Albert Anthony, 1888; Zeisberger, David, 1887</ref>

Practical orthographies for both Munsee and Unami have been created in the context of various language preservation and documentation projects. A recent bilingual dictionary of Munsee uses a practical orthography derived from a linguistic transcription system for Munsee.<ref>O'Meara, John, 1996; see Goddard, Ives, 1979 for the underlying transcription system</ref> The same system is also used in a recent word book produced locally at Moraviantown.<ref>Delaware Nation Council, 1992, pp. 57-63</ref>

The online Unami ''Lenape Talking Dictionary'' uses a practical system distinct from that for Munsee. However, other practically oriented Unami materials use a writing system with conventional phonetic symbols.<ref>Blalock, Lucy, et al., 1994</ref>

===Writing system samples===
The table below presents a sample of Unami words, written first in a linguistically oriented transcription, followed by the same words written in a practical system.<ref>Words in linguistically oriented transcription taken from Goddard, Ives, 1997, pp. 45-47, 51</ref><ref>Lenape Talking Dictionary. [http://www.talk-lenape.org/ Lenape Talking Dictionary]. Delaware Tribe of Indians. Retrieved on April 19, 2009</ref> The linguistic system uses the acute accent to indicate predictable stress and a raised dot (·) to indicate vowel and consonant length. The practical system interprets the contrast between long and corresponding short vowels as one of quality, using acute and grave accents to indicate vowel quality. Stress, which as noted is predictable, and consonant length are not indicated in the practical system.

{| class="wikitable" align="center"
|+ Comparison of linguistic and practical orthographies for Unami
|-
! Linguistic
! Practical
! English
! width="10"|
! Linguistic
! Practical
! English
! width="10"|
! Linguistic
! Practical
! English
! width="10"|
! Linguistic
! Practical
! English
|-
|{{lang|unm|kwə́t·i}}
|{{lang|unm|kwëti}}
|one
|
|{{lang|unm|kwə́t·a·š}}
|{{lang|unm|kwëtash}}
|six
|
|{{lang|unm|wčé·t}}
|{{lang|unm|wchèt}}
|sinew, muscle
|
|{{lang|unm|tə́me}}
|{{lang|unm|tëme}}
|coyote, wolf
|-
|{{lang|unm|ní·š·a}}
|{{lang|unm|nìshi}}
|two
|
|{{lang|unm|ní·š·a·š}}
|{{lang|unm|nishash}}
|seven
|
|{{lang|unm|ɔ́·k}}
|{{lang|unm|òk}}
|and
|
|{{lang|unm|tá·x·an}}
|{{lang|unm|taxàn}}
|piece of firewood
|-
|{{lang|unm|naxá}}
|{{lang|unm|naxa}}
|three
|
|{{lang|unm|xá·š}}
|{{lang|unm|xash}}
|eiɡht
|
|{{lang|unm|xkó·k}}
|{{lang|unm|xkuk}}
|snake
|
|{{lang|unm|ahsə́n}}
|{{lang|unm|ahsën}}
|stone
|-
|{{lang|unm|né·wa}}
|{{lang|unm|newa}}
|four
|
|{{lang|unm|pé·škunk}}
|{{lang|unm|pèshkunk}}
|nine
|
|{{lang|unm|skɔ́ntay}}
|{{lang|unm|skòntay}}
|door
|
|{{lang|unm|hiló·səs}}
|{{lang|unm|hilusës}}
|old man
|-
|{{lang|unm|palé·naxk}}
|{{lang|unm|palènàxk}}
|five
|
|{{lang|unm|télən}}
|{{lang|unm|tèlën}}
|ten
|
|{{lang|unm|kší·k·an}}
|{{lang|unm|kshikàn}}
|knife
|
|{{lang|unm|lə́nu}}
|{{lang|unm|lënu}}
|man
|}

The table below presents a sample of Munsee words, written first in a linguistically oriented transcription, followed by the same words written in a practical system.<ref>Goddard, Ives, 1982; O'Meara, John, 1996</ref> The linguistic system uses a raised dot {{angbr|·}} to indicate vowel length. Although stress is mostly predictable, the linguistic system uses the acute accent to indicate predictable main stress. As well, predictable voiceless or murmured {{IPA|/ă/}} is indicated with the breve accent {{angbr|˘}}. Similarly, the breve accent is used to indicate an ultra-short {{IPA|[ə]}} that typically occurs before a single voiced consonant followed by a vowel.<ref>See Goddard, Ives, 1982, p. 19 for further detail</ref> The practical system indicates vowel length by doubling the vowel letter, and maintains the linɡuistic system's practices for marking stress and voiceless/ultra-short vowels. The practical system uses orthographic {{angbr|sh}} for the phonetic symbol {{IPA|/š/}}, and {{angbr|ch}} for the phonetic symbol {{IPA|/č/}}.<ref>O'Meara, John, 1996</ref>

{| class="wikitable" align="center"
|+ Comparison of linguistic and practical orthographies for Munsee
|-
! Linguistic
! Practical
! English
! width="12"|
! Linguistic
! Practical
! English
! width="12"|
! Linguistic
! Practical
! English
! width="10"|
! Linguistic
! Practical
! English
|-
|{{lang|umu|ampi·lamé·kwa·n}}
|{{lang|umu|ambiilaméekwaan}}
|needle
|
|{{lang|umu|nkwə́ta·š}}
|{{lang|umu|ngwútaash}}
|six
|
|{{lang|umu|wčéht}}
|{{lang|umu|wchéht}}
|sinew, muscle
|
|{{lang|umu|ăpánšəy}}
|{{lang|umu|ăpánzhuy}}
|log, timber
|-
|{{lang|umu|nə̆wánsi·n}}
|{{lang|umu|nŭwánsiin}}
|I forgot it
|
|{{lang|umu|ní·ša·š}}
|{{lang|umu|níishaash}}
|seven
|
|{{lang|umu|xwánsal}}
|{{lang|umu|xwánzal}}
|his older brother
|
|{{lang|umu|ntəší·nsi}}
|{{lang|umu|ndushíinzi}}
|I am named so and so
|-
|{{lang|umu|máske·kw}}
|{{lang|umu|máskeekw}}
|swamp, pond
|
|{{lang|umu|xá·š}}
|{{lang|umu|xáash}}
|eight
|
|{{lang|umu|ăpwá·n}}
|{{lang|umu|ăpwáan}}
|bread
|
|{{lang|umu|óhpwe·w}}
|{{lang|umu|óhpweew}}
|he smokes
|-
|{{lang|umu|wə́sksəw}}
|{{lang|umu|wúsksuw}}
|he is young
|
|{{lang|umu|ătíhte·w}}
|{{lang|umu|ătíhteew}}
|it is ripe
|
|{{lang|umu|kíhkay}}
|{{lang|umu|kíhkay}}
|chief
|
|{{lang|umu|máxkw}}
|{{lang|umu|máxkw}}
|bear
|-
|{{lang|umu|kwi·škwtó·nhe·w}}
|{{lang|umu|kwiishkwtóonheew}}
|he whispers
|
|{{lang|umu|áhpăpo·n}}
|{{lang|umu|áhpăpoon}}
|chair
|
|{{lang|umu|xwáškwšəš}}
|{{lang|umu|xwáshkwshush}}
|muskrat
|
|{{lang|umu|pé·nkwan}}
|{{lang|umu|péenɡwan}}
|it is dry
|}