Itse Dugalu

       This is the Cherokee syllabary, our written language.  Each consonant is prounounced roughly the same as it's English counterpart.  The "v" is used as a vowel substituting the uh sound in but, however it is usually somewhat nasalized.  The ts when we speak it here locally is often the j sound and the tl is more of a cl sound.  AEIOU all take the roman pronunciations:

fAther, Egg (more like AYgg), pIzza, Orange, yoU

 Grammar

Cherokee is a verb heavy language and if we want to learn to speak it we need to take a look at the verbs.

There are 4 regular types of verbs: Ga, Tsi (a), Tsi (u) and Aqua.  We're going to learn a little about the characteristics of the Tsi (u and a) verbs which are by far the most prevalent.  Let's take a look at the verb to Watch.

To Watch:  Gadosdiha

Gadosdiha doesn't mean anything by itself, because noone's doing it.  In Cherokee we determine who's doing something by adding a prefix to the verb.  With Tsi verbs these are the prefixes needed:

Tsi-- I               

Hi--You

U--He/She/It

Eni--You and I

Osti--He/She and I

Esti--You 2

Edi--We (3 or more including you)

Otsi--Others and I (excluding you)

Etsi--You (3 or more)

Uni--They (2 or more)

Tsigadosdiha means I am watching or I watch.  This is the present tense.  Likewise Higadosdiha means you are watching or you watch.  Practice the present tense for the Tsi verbs in the vocabulary.  For Tsi (a) verbs you use these prefixes:

Tsi--I

Hi--You

A--He/She/It

Ina--You and I

Osta--He/She and I

Ista--You 2

Ida--We (3 or more including you)

Otsa--Others and I (excluding you)

Itsa--You (3 or more)

Ana--They (2 or more)

Don't mistake  Osta for Otsa or Ista for Itsa.  The final vowel in the prefix can sometimes change, and A can also be Ga very often in spoken Cherokee but this won't hinder you learning right now.  If you learn the prefixes as they are written above it will be easier to perfect the verbs later.

Sample vocabulary

1.  (tsi) gadosdiha -- to watch (tsi u verb)

2.  (tsi) gatiya -- to wait (for a person) (tsi a verb)

3.  (tsi) wadvhidoha -- to visit (someone) (tsi a verb)

4.  (tsi) noheha -- to tell (tsi a verb)

5.  (tsi) yeyohvsga -- to teach (someone) (tsi a verb)

6.  (tsi) widiha -- to take (something with you) (tsi a verb)

7.  (tsi) suyeha -- to stir (tsi a verb)

8.  (tsi) woniha -- to speak (tsi a verb)

9.  (tsi) lvsga -- to sleep (tsi a verb)

10.  (tsi) gotiha -- to see (something) (tsi a verb)

11.  tsalagi -- Cherokee

12.  aniyvwiya -- Principle People (our old word for Cherokee)

13.  igvyi(i) -- first

14.  unadodaquasgvi -- Sunday

15.  unadodaquonvi -- Monday

16.  talineiga -- Tuesday

17.  tsoineiga -- Wednesday

18.  nvgineiga -- Thursday

19.  jun'gilosti -- Friday

20.  unadodaquidena -- Saturday

Notice the tendency for verbs to end in ha (or ga if preceded by 's').  All verbs as written mean 'I am' or 'I' with 'tsi' being pronounced.  To change the person verbing replace tsi with the respective prefix.  Also notice the Unadodaqu that starts off 3 of the days of the week and it's also good to point out that tali, tsoi and nvgi are the numbers 2, 3 and 4 respectively.

       Galagina Boudinott was a great Cherokee linguist who started up the Cherokee Phoenix and translated from English and the Biblical languages into Cherokee and vice versa.  This part of our page is dedicated to him and his purpose that we share.