Towards a Canadian Eskimo orthography and literature (II)

Extract

On establishing a Standard Literary Language (SLL). Having once designed a SO to serve all the Canadian Eskimo dialects, the question of selecting a standard literary language remains. It is important to repeat that the existence of the former does not presuppose the use of the latter. The best proof of this is the existence of the syllabary which most Canadian dialects have used as a SO although not one of them is as yet recognized as representing a SLL.

Most languages of long literary tradition developed, at least in the early stages, without any organized central control. The fact that the Canadian government and other groups such as religious bodies can benefit themselves and the Eskimos by publishing their texts in a SLL written phonemically makes it necessary to decide on the criteria that will govern the official choice of the dialect that will form the basis of the SLL. To wait for the natural process of history for the creation of a SLL among a population of some 10,000 Eskimos would involve too long a period of time and might even endanger the survival of their language under the increasing influence of the white man’s language.