Cherokee language - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cherokee language (ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, Tsalagi Gawonihisdi) is an endangered language spoken by the Cherokee people.[1]

Writing system[change | change source]

The Cherokee language doesn't use the Latin alphabet (ABCs) like English does. Instead, it uses its own alphabet, which has some letters that look like the ABCs. Each letter represents a different syllable sound. This special alphabet was invented by a Cherokee man named Sequoyah.

Below is a chart of all the letters of the Cherokee alphabet and the sound each one makes.

Notes:

  1. In the chart, ‘v’ represents a nasal vowel, which is pronounced like "ung" in "lung".
  2. The character Ꮩ do is shown upside-down in some fonts. It should look like the Latin letter V.[a]

Grammar[change | change source]

The Cherokee language uses many prefixes and suffixes.

Notes[change | change source]

  1. There was a difference between the old-form DO (Λ-like) and a new-form DO (V-like).[2]

References[change | change source]

  1. McKie, Scott (June 27, 2019). "Tri-Council declares State of Emergency for Cherokee language". Cherokee One Feather. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  2. "Cherokee". download. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)

Other websites[change | change source]