Cherokee syllabary

Origin

The Cherokee syllabary, which was reputedly invented by George Guess, a.k.a. Chief Sequoyah, of the Cherokee, was introduced in 1819. Sequoyah's descendants claim that he was the last surviving member of his tribe's scribe clan and the Cherokee syllabary was invented by persons unknown at a much earlier date.

By 1820 thousands of Cherokees had learnt the syllabary, and by 1830, 90% were literate in their own language. Books, religious texts, almanacs and newspapers were all published using the syllabary, which was widely used for over 100 years.

Today the syllabary is still used, efforts are being made to revive both the Cherokee language and the Cherokee syllabary, and Cherokee courses are offered at a number of schools, colleges and universities.

Used to write

Cherokee (Tsalagi), a Southern Iroquoian language spoken by around 22,500 people in North Carolina and Oklahoma.

Cherokee syllabary

Sample text in Cherokee

Transliteration

Nigada aniyvwi nigeguda'lvna ale unihloyi unadehna duyukdv gesv'i. Gejinela unadanvtehdi ale unohlisdi ale sagwu gesv junilvwisdanedi anahldinvdlv adanvdo gvhdi.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Cherkoee language courses

Links

Free Cherokee fonts
http://babel.uoregon.edu/yamada/fonts/cherokee.html
http://joyce.eng.yale.edu/~joant/Cherokee.html

Information about Chief Sequoyah and the Cherokee Syllabary, written by his descendants: http://www.sunflower.com/~dewatson/dma-ls05.htm

Sequoyah Birthplace Museum
http://www.sequoyahmuseum.org

Online Cherokee lessons
http://www.cherokee.org/home.aspx?section=culture&culture=language

Cherokee language lessons and dictionary
http://www.powersource.com/cocinc/language

Echota Tsalagi Language Revitalization Project
http://www.auburn.edu/outreach/dl/echota/

Online Cherokee dictionaries
http://www.wehali.com/tsalagi/
http://www.manataka.org/page122.html
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Stadium/7075/cherokee/cpicsModern/eng-cher.html
http://www.csusm.edu/public/guests/raven/cherokee.dir/cherlexi.html

Cherokee Observer - online Cherokee newspaper
http://www.cherokeeobserver.org

Cherokee Publications - Native American books, tapes, etc.
http://www.nativecollections.com/LanguageCourses.html

Place names of Cherokee origin
http://chenocetah.wordpress.com

Related languages

Cayuga, Cherokee, Mohawk, Oneida, Tuscarora

Other syllabaries

Blackfoot, Caroline Island Script, Carrier, Celtiberian, Cherokee, Cree, Cypriot, Hiragana, Iberian, Inuktitut, Katakana, Kpelle, Loma, Mende, Ndjuká, Nüshu, Ojibwe, Vai, Yi