Osage 𐓏𐓘𐓻𐓘𐓻𐓟 𐒻𐓟
Script type	Alphabet
Period	2006–present
Direction	Left-to-right
Languages	Osage
Related scripts
Parent systems	(Proto-writing) Egyptian hieroglyphs Proto-Sinaitic alphabet Phoenician alphabet Greek alphabet Old Italic script Latin alphabet English alphabet Osage
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Osge(219), ​Osage
Unicode
Unicode alias	Osage
Unicode range	U+104B0–U+104FF

TheOsage script is a new script promulgated in 2006 and revised 2012–2014 for theOsage language. BecauseLatin orthographies were subject to interference from English conventions among Osage students who were more familiar with English than with Osage, in 2006 the director of the Osage Language Program, Herman Mongrain Lookout, decided to create a distinct script by modifying or fusing Latin letters. This Osage script has been in regular use on theOsage Nation ever since.^[1]

In 2012, while in the process of submitting the script to Unicode, a more precise representation of the sounds of Osage was formulated, and by the following year had been adequately tested. In February 2014, a conference on standardizing the reforms was held by Lookout and the staff at the Osage Nation Language Department along withUCS expertMichael Everson. The result included the introduction of case, the abolition of two letters, and the creation of several more.^[2]

The Osage script was included in Unicode version 9.0 in June 2016 in theOsage block.^[3] It featured on the 2023 USA quarter dollar commemoratingMaria Tallchief.^[4]

The 2014 vowel letters are as follows:

Long vowels are indicated with a macron, high tone by an acute accent, and a long vowel with high tone by a double acute accent: e.g. oral⟨𐒰̄ 𐓘̄⟩Ā ā,⟨𐒰́ 𐓘́⟩Á á,⟨𐒰̋ 𐓘̋⟩Ā́ ā́, nasal⟨𐒰̄͘ 𐓘̄͘⟩Ą̄ ą̄,⟨𐒰́͘ 𐓘́͘⟩Ą́ ą́,⟨𐒰̋͘ 𐓘̋͘⟩Ą̄́ ą̄́.

All vowel letters can take the nasal dot, but⟨𐒷 𐓟⟩ and⟨𐓎 𐓶⟩ almost never do (although⟨𐒷 𐓟⟩ is nasalised in⟨𐒸 𐓠⟩).^[5] All inflected forms are:

Ə andƏ̨ are not phonemic, but unstressed allophones ofA andĄ.

Thea comes from Latin⟨A⟩ (without the crossbar, as in theNASA insignia "worm" logo),e from Latin cursive⟨Ɑ⟩ (the 'long' sound of the English lettera is rather like Osagee). The source fori is obscure, though Latin⟨I⟩ does appear inside⟨Λ⟩ for the diphthongai.

The 2014 consonant letters and digraphs are as follows. As in Latin orthography, theejective consonants are written with a diacritic, and the strongly aspirated stops with digraphs. The pre-aspirated stops were originally written as digraphs withh, but since they vary by dialect withgeminates, the 2014 revision included new letters for them derived by adding a cross-bar.

Px andpš are allophones, as arekx ~kš andtx ~ch (tsh).Hy andky are sequences rather than single consonants.

The source of𐓄 is Latin⟨P⟩, that oft is Latin⟨D⟩ (an alternative transcription of Osaget),č is from⟨Ch⟩,k from⟨K⟩.C is from⟨T⟩ with the Osages.S andz are the top halves of⟨S⟩ and⟨Z⟩;š andž are derived from adding a tail to the full letters, much like Latin⟨ʒ⟩.Br is a ligatures of the lettersbr.M, n andl appear to be from their cursive Latin forms, andð is a ligature of⟨Th⟩, which is how it is often transcribed.W is a partial⟨w⟩.X is from cursive⟨x⟩; it was originally at a 45-degree (x-like) angle before it was split intox and invertedgh.H is obscure, buthy may be from the⟨s⟩ of⟨sh⟩, andh fromhy.Ligatures forsc (sts) andsk were retired when the alphabet was reformed for Unicode encoding.

Words are separated by a space. Syllables were originally separated by afull stop, but that practice has ceased with increasing literacy.

A meeting to reform the script in 2014 in preparation for Unicode encoding agreed on five changes:

• Casing pairs were introduced.
• DigraphshC (or superscriptʰC) for the pre-aspirate consonants were replaced with dedicated letters,Ꞓ.
• Ligatures forsc (sts) andsk were retired.
• The nasal marks (ˆ following the letter for monophthongs, an underscore for diphthongs) were replaced by a dot (above-right for monophthongs, internally for diphthongs)
• The ambiguous letterx, originally set at a 45-degree angle, was split into two letters, upright 𐓸x and inverted 𐓹gh.

The Osage alphabet was added to theUnicode Standard in June 2016 with the release of version 9.0.

The Unicode block for Osage is U+104B0–U+104FF:

• 2014 Language Presentation at Osage Nation, includes non-native sound files for some letters
• Presentation at Native-languages.org, along with various romanizations
• "Saving a language, a people".College of Design,University of Minnesota. October 30, 2013. Archived fromthe original on February 27, 2014. RetrievedFebruary 21, 2014.
• Interview with Herman Mongrain Lookout on invention of the script onInvisible Nations,KOSU

• Osage language
• Alphabets
• Writing systems of the Americas
• Writing systems introduced in 2006
• Western Siouan languages

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from September 2025
• Articles containing Osage-language text
• Scripts with ISO 15924 four-letter codes
• Pages with plain IPA