Apart from their Siberian cousins, Inuit across the circumpolar world use two types of orthography to write their language. Roman orthography (or the Latin alphabet) is the only writing system used in Alaska, the Northwest Territories, Labrador and in Greenland. This is also the case in Nunavut’s Inuinnaqtun speaking communities. Everywhere else in Nunavut and in Nunavik, a unique and easily recognized writing system, known as syllabics is predominant although roman letters are often used as well.
Both systems were originally developed by missionaries to translate religious texts as Inuit had no prior written tradition. In the 1700s, Moravian missionaries in Greenland developed a writing system in Kalaallisut, an orthography they later brought with them to Inuit communities in Labrador. Beginning in the 1850s, Anglican missionaries introduced syllabics to Canada's eastern Arctic, adapting a system originally created for Ojibwe and Cree to fit the sounds of Inuktut.
In Alaska and Canada’s western Arctic, missionaries introduced roman orthography, but the Inuit language was banned from schools, which hindered literacy development. Missionaries also wrote the language as it sounded to their European ears, creating inconsistencies that made communication difficult.
By the 20th century, many Inuit wanted to encourage communication in Inuktut throughout Inuit Nunangat. Working independently, language leaders in Alaska, Canada and Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) collaborated with linguists to develop standardized writing systems. One of the first was created for North Slope Inupiaq in 1946, becoming the school standard by the 1970s. In 1973, Greenland established a language commission that developed a new standardized system still used in government, education, and media.
In Canada, at least five orthographies are currently in use. A standardized orthography developed by the Inuit Cultural Institute (ICI) is recognized as the standard in Nunavut. It has two forms, one in syllabics and one in roman orthography that mirror one another. Some regional variations persist: Nattilingmiutut speakers have created special syllabic characters for unique sounds in their dialect. The Nunavik communities of northern Quebec, meanwhile, continue to use a series of syllabic characters that were eliminated in Nunavut. In the Nunatsiavut region, the Moravian roman writing system continues to be used, although changes have been made to make it more compatible with standardized systems elsewhere.
On the Nunatsiavummiutut version of Tusâllanga, we use this updated writing system.