# Is the Navajo language written in the Roman alphabet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 15, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-navajo-language-written-in-the-roman-alphabet/303899 "2005-05-15T02:39:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-navajo-language-written-in-the-roman-alphabet/303899/1 "2005-05-15T02:39:22Z")
Is Navajo and other Native American languages commonly written in the Roman alphabet? Is this because they were spoken languages without a written tradition? Are the other alphabets lost? ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-navajo-language-written-in-the-roman-alphabet/303899/2 "2005-05-15T04:27:37Z")
Navajo is written in the Latin alphabet [with some special diacritics](http://www.omniglot.com/writing/navajo.htm). And as you can see from [Omniglot](http://www.omniglot.com), there are several syllabaries used for various Native American languages. [ol][li][Blackfoot](http://www.omniglot.com/writing/blackfoot.htm), though this is usually written with Latin.[/li][li][Carrier](http://www.omniglot.com/writing/carrier.htm), which is still used widely.[/li][li][Cherokee](http://www.omniglot.com/writing/cherokee.htm), which is barely used, but in a process of revival.[/li][li][Cree](http://www.omniglot.com/writing/cree.htm), widely used.[/li][li][Inuktitut](http://www.omniglot.com/writing/inuktitut.htm), which is used to write Inuit in Canada. In Alaska and Greenland, they use Latin, and in Siberia they use Cyrillic.[/li][li][Ojibwe](http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ojibwa.htm), widely used.[/ol][/li] BTW, I highly recommend poking around on Omniglot. The variety in writing systems worldwide is astounding, and some of them look really cool. I especially like [Tibetan](http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tibetan.htm), [Javanese](http://www.omniglot.com/writing/javanese.htm), and [Gujarati](http://www.omniglot.com/writing/gujarati.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-navajo-language-written-in-the-roman-alphabet/303899/3 "2005-05-15T04:37:41Z")
Oh, and to answer the second part of your question – AFAIK, Native Americans had no writing systems whatsoever until the 1800s, when they were introduced. I don’t believe they had the concept of written language until European settlers brought them, and the only NA writing system developed by a Native American was that of Cherokee, created by Sequoiah. BTW, this and my previous post refer only to North American natives. I am fairly unfamiliar with Central America ('cept I know the Mayans had a writing system) and _completely_ ignorant of South America. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-navajo-language-written-in-the-roman-alphabet/303899/4 "2005-05-15T11:30:02Z")
I see someone already beat me to Cherokee - which technically isn’t an alphabet, it’s a syllabary, but most folks wouldn’t know the difference. He was inspired by seeing whites use their written language. The other languages from NA were largley written down by missionaries and various other interested Euro-descended folks who were already accustomed to the Latin alphabet. The Aztecs and Mayans both had their own heiroglyphic languages pre-European contact. Not sure about the Incans. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-navajo-language-written-in-the-roman-alphabet/303899/5 "2005-05-15T12:46:31Z")
The Incans are an example of a civilization that got by without writing. They encoded messages and recorded accounts with _quipu_ knots. “Isthmian,” mentioned by **Bibliophage** in his SDSA report on Indus script as an example of undeciphered writing, is another indigenous American writing. **Bambi** , I totally agree with you about Javanese. I’ve examined (and tried to teach myself) dozens of alphabets and writing systems from around the world, and Javanese gets my vote for the most elegant and beautiful design ever. When my sister went to Indonesia, I had her bring me back books in Javanese. Some of which teach how to read and write it. There has been some controversy over the origin of the Cherokee and Cree scripts. Some Cherokee have asserted that Sequoyah’s syllabary had already been in use for centuries, and that Sequoyah just revised it and popularized it. The British missionary credited with inventing Cree script has also been accused of taking existing indigenous writing and passing it off as his own work.