iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

The little dictionary I made for the Chhé’ee Fókaa is now up on the Tribe’s website: www.saltpomo.org/our-mission-1

Our Language — Chhé'ee Fókaa Band of Northeastern Pomo

Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

An example of the work that must be done to repair Tasmanian language data: the Northeastern language(s) (my current focus) were largely recorded by an Englishman (G. A. Robinson) who couldn’t hear initial /ŋ/. Here are examples of NE forms for ‘spear’ from Plomley (1976):

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Got to attend my first Tasmanian NAIDOC celebrations at an Aboriginal centre. There was dancing, and I got to try native-plant-infused treats!

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

I'm still amazed that we have these in Unicode! Definitely my favorite writing system in the Old World. 𔓢𔓭𔓬𔔓𔒒𔓚𔓣𔐁 What will it take to get Mayan glyphs on Unicode? sei.berkeley.edu/wp-content/u...

sei.berkeley.edu

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

I've had a few days to get back to my ongoing effort to go through Sally McLendon's Chhé'ee Fókaa (Northeastern Pomo) 1950s field notes, which only came to light last year. I found some nice examples of question formation when asking someone whether they would like acorn mush:

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Please join us this December! bsky.app/profile/wiel...

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

#ថៃជាអ្នកផ្ដេីមសង្គ្រាម /tʰaj ciə nĕək pɗaəm sɒŋkriəm/ [t̪ʰaj t͡ɕiə̯ n̪ĕə̯ʔ b̊ɗaə̯̃m sɒ̃ŋˈɡ̊ɾiə̯̃m]

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Example of the Khmer love of alliteration in an injunction to slow to 40 when emergency lights are flashing on the side of the road: ឃើញពន្លឺភ្លើងភ្លឹបភ្លែតនៅជាយផ្លូវទេ [kʰɤ̃ːɲ b̥ŭə̯̃n̪.ˈlɯː pʰlɤ̃ːŋ pʰlɯp̚ pʰlɛ̝ːt̪̚ nɯʊ̯ t͡ɕiə̯j pʰlɤʊ̯ t̪eː]

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

Arms of Launceston, Tasmania Blazon: Arms: Or, on a Pall reversed Azure a Bezant in centre point and an Ingot of Tin proper on each of the lower limbs, on a Chief indented Vert three Waratah Flowers stalked and leaved also proper. (See picture I took in town today of the painted arms)

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

#australiancoins Found a Norfolk Island centenary coin (one of only a few I’ve ever seen). This is one of my favorite designs.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

𐐐𐐈𐐑𐐀 𐐀𐐝𐐓𐐊𐐡! /ˈhæpi ˈistɚ/ Happy Easter! www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/genera...

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

#langsky Can anyone help me figure out to how to get Unicode Anatolian hieroglyphs to display on my iPhone?

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet Final Deseret Alphabet post: The digraphs. In the 1869 Book of Mormon, the letters 𐐦 /ɔɪ/ and 𐐧 /ɪu/ are replaced by the digraphs 𐐉𐐆 <ɒɪ> and 𐐆𐐅 <ɪu> respectively. It uses the digraphs 𐐊𐐡 <ʌɹ> and 𐐇𐐡 <ɛɹ> for /ɜ(ɹ)/ and /ə(ɹ)/. The digraph 𐐐𐐎 <hw> stands for /ʍ/.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

The 40th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐧 /ɪu/. It's an optional diphthong. Like the 39th letter, it's problematic. It has 2 different shapes: one is a ligature of 𐐆 /ɪ/ + 𐐅 /u/ (as seen in the attached image, which is almost identical to the 𐐃 /ɔ/ + 𐐆 /ɪ/ ligature that is a variant for /ɔɪ/.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 39th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐦 /ɔɪ/. This is 1 of 2 optional letters for diphthongs. It's hugely problematic. There're 2 completely different forms of the letter: 1, as in the example image, is a ligature of 𐐉 /ɒ/ + 𐐆/ɪ/. The 2nd, which I see in my Firefox...

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 38th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐥 /ŋ/. Its name is /ɛŋ/. This is the final letter of the standard DA used in the 1869 Book of Mormon, though there are two additional (optional) letters.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 37th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐤 /n/. Its name is /ɛn/. It is coincidentally similar to Ethiopic ነ <nä>.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 36th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐣 /m/. Its name is /ɛm/.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 35th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐢 /l/. Its name is /ɛl/. 𐐢 /l/ together with the DA letters 𐐄 /oʊ/ and 𐐎 /w/ form the group of DA letters that are nearly identical in shape to the corresponding Latin letters that share the same values in English.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 34th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐡 /ɹ/. Its name is /ɜɹ/. Its name continues to cause problems for modern users, who mistakenly believe it may always be used for the syllables /ɜɹ/ & /əɹ/.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 33rd letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐠 /ʒ/. Its name is /ʒi/. This is the last obstruent letter and the end of the fricative subclass.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 31st letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐟 /ʃ/. Its name is /ɛʃ/.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 30th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐞 /z/. Its name is /zi/.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 29th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐝 /s/. Its name is /ɛs/. In the final DA standard, it does not have a syllabic value, but the famous 1860 Mormon gold coin uses it to abbreviate the /ɛs/ in 'holiness' as 𐐐𐐄𐐢𐐆𐐤𐐝 h-o͡ʊ-l-ɪ-n-ɛ‿s.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 28th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐜 /ð/. Its name is /ði/. English spelling does not distinguish this sound, the sound of <TH> in <THEN>, from /θ/, the sound of <TH> in <THIN>. The DA keeps these sounds separate.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 28th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐛 /θ/. Its name is /ɛθ/. English does not distinguish this sound, the sound of <TH> in <THIN> from /ð/, the sound of <TH> in <THEN>. The DA keeps these sounds separate.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 27th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐚 /v/. Its name is /vi/. It is derived from its voiceless counterpart, 𐐙 /f/, by an additional loop.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 26th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐙 /f/. Its name is /ɛf/. It's the 1st letter of the fricative subclass, which goes from labio-dental to palato-alveolar, with -voice before +voice in each pair. Fricative letter names are strict: /ɛC/ for -voice; /Ci/ for +voice.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 25th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐘 /g/. Its name is /geɪ/. In isolation, it represents the word ‘gay’.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 24th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐗 /k/. Its name is /keɪ/.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

The 23rd letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐖 /dʒ/. Its name is /dʒi/.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 22nd letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐕 /tʃ/. Its name is /tʃi/.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 21st letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐔 /d/. Its name is /di/.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

#langskly #desretalphabet The 20th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐓 /t/. Its name is /ti/.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 19th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐒 /b/. Its name is /bi/. When this letter stands alone, it is read as its name and can represent 'be' or 'bee'.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 18th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐑 /p/. Its name is /pi/. This is the first letter of the subclass of obstruents, which are divided into stops & fricatives, labial-velar, in pairs of -voice & +voice.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 17th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐐 /h/. Its original name is unknown & is given as "h," which likely didn't mean /eɪtʃ/ because all other DA letter names include the sound they represent. In my 2005 book, I named it /hɑ/, which I use when teaching it.

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Dr Neil Alexander Walker (𐐝𐐰𐑌𐐼𐐲𐑉) @nawalker.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

#langsky #deseretalphabet The 16th letter of the Deseret Alphabet is 𐐏 /j/. Its name is /ji/, and in isolation as 𐐏, it stands for the word YE.

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