, ▁its ▁syntax ▁in ▁general ▁is ▁largely ▁free ▁and ▁dependent ▁on ▁context . ▁ ▁Writing ▁system ▁ ▁Mi <0xEA> <0x9E> <0x8C> k ma q ▁is ▁written ▁using ▁a ▁number ▁of ▁Latin ▁al ph ab ets ▁based ▁on ▁ones ▁de vised ▁by ▁mission aries ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 th ▁century . ▁ ▁Pre viously , ▁the ▁language ▁was ▁written ▁in ▁Mi <0xEA> <0x9E> <0x8C> k ma q ▁hier og lyph ic ▁writing , ▁a ▁script ▁of ▁partially ▁native ▁origin . ▁The ▁Francis - Smith ▁orth ography ▁used ▁here ▁was ▁developed ▁in ▁ 1 9 7 4 ▁and ▁was ▁adopted ▁as ▁the ▁official ▁orth ography ▁of ▁the ▁M ík ma q ▁Nation ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 0 . ▁It ▁is ▁the ▁most ▁widely ▁used ▁orth ography ▁and ▁is ▁that ▁of ▁by ▁Nova ▁Scot ian ▁Mik ma q ▁and ▁by ▁the ▁M ík ma q ▁Grand ▁Council . ▁It ▁is ▁quite ▁similar ▁to ▁the ▁" L ex icon " ▁orth ography , ▁differ ing ▁from ▁it ▁only ▁in ▁its ▁use ▁of ▁the ▁straight ▁apost rop he ▁ ▁or ▁ac ute ▁acc ent ▁ ▁instead ▁of ▁the ▁colon ▁ ▁to ▁mark ▁v owel ▁length . ▁ ▁When ▁the ▁Francis - Smith ▁orth ography ▁was ▁first ▁developed , ▁the ▁straight ▁apost rop he ▁( o ften ▁called ▁a ▁" tick ") ▁was ▁the ▁designated ▁symbol ▁for ▁v owel ▁length , ▁but ▁since ▁to ▁software ▁applications ▁incorrectly ▁aut oc or rect ed ▁the ▁tick ▁to ▁a ▁cur ly ▁apost rop he , ▁a ▁secondary ▁means ▁of ▁indicating