Roman Orthography
Although it is true to a certain extent that not many Dene can read and write in their own language, a lot more people are now learning to use the new writing system, called "Roman orthography." This alphabet looks like English, but there are a few different symbols, and a lot of the sounds that go with the symbols are different from English.

One of the most important things to note is how to pronounce the vowels - a, e, i, o, and u. Here are some Slavey words to show you how to say the vowels: a as in beya (his son), e as in necha (big), i as in dih (chicken), o as on cho (big), u as in tu (water).

In Dene languages, you also have to mark the "tone", which shows where your voice must rise or fall. You'll see a small slanted line that goes above the vowels. Your voice has to go up when you say that part of the word in Slavey. You also have to mark "nasal", which looks like a little tail under the vowels. If you see this, you have to say the letter through your nose, almost as if you have a bad cold.

This Roman writing system is fairly easy to learn, because each symbol can be pronounced only one way, and, vice-versa, each sound can be written only one way.

English does not follow these rules. It is really impossible to know how to say certain words without hearing them. (Think about how you pronounce the "-ough" in though, thought, through, enough, cough, and so on. They're all different even though we write them the same way!)

In the Roman writing system for Dene languages, once you learn the sound that goes with each symbol, you will be able to pronounce every written word properly (with a little practice!).