Osage Small Letter E

𐓟 is the lowercase Osage vowel letter e.

Osage pairs it with uppercase 𐒷; the Osage sound guide compares their vowel with the short e in English “egg.” Osage is written left to right, so 𐓟 normally contributes to a word.

An early written source of Osage, from circa 1851, used Latin transcription. The current Osage alphabet belongs to a later community orthography.

Why was the Osage alphabet developed?

It was designed to write Osage without English spelling rules.

Before it, Osage writing relied on several Latin-based systems used for Bible translation, documentation, and study. In 2004, when the Osage Nation began a language program without a shared standard spelling, students were asked to write words as they heard them. English reading values attached to Latin letters could mislead learners, so Herman Mongrain Lookout worked with advanced students on a practical alphabet in 2006. Its letterforms adapted or fused Latin shapes, but the Osage community treated it as a distinct script.

After linguists and speakers raised repertoire issues in 2012, a community seminar refined the letters and typography in 2014. The Osage Nation adopted the orthography by resolution in 2015.

How do I type 𐓟?

Use an Osage keyboard layout and a font with Osage coverage.

Install or select a font such as Noto Sans Osage, then choose an Osage keyboard layout on your computer or phone. A standard Latin keyboard does not offer dependable direct input for this letter.

Display depends on font support: without an Osage-capable font, the glyph may appear incorrectly or as a missing-glyph box. Osage can use combining marks after vowel letters to show length or accent; those marks modify the base letter.