"The Only Independent Cherokee Newspaper"
"The Original On-line Independent Cherokee Newspaper"
Copyright © 1992-2007  All Worldwide Rights Reserved
The Cherokee Observer, Inc.
http://www.cherokeeobserver.org
Cherokee Observer Language Editor
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INTRODUCTION TO CHEROKEE

          ^l{, My name is Marvin J. Summerfield and I am the Language Editor for the Cherokee Observer. I am a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma which is located in 14 counties of northeastern Oklahoma.
          I am a certified Language Instructor and I am proud to offer our readers who are interested in learning the Cherokee language or at least get familiar with it and the Cherokee syllabary. This section of the on-line newspaper is dedicated to the memory of Sequoyah, a true Cherokee genius. This section will have the Cherokee language lessons and The Cherokee Observer on-line newspaper will also reprint historic pieces from our past and I will seek out present day Cherokee authors ask them to contribute their written material.
          I have chosen not to translate a few of my articles, whether historic or modern, into English. Reasons are quite simple. Speakers and readers of the Cherokee language are special. They constitute an alarmingly small portion of our Nation. But many of the Cherokee stories will have English translations for our new online readers.
          The first step in learning to read and write Cherokee is to learn the Cherokee Syllabary which was created by Sequoyah, a Cherokee genius, in the early 1800's.
          Sequoyah taught it using the sight and sound method, we have found it to be the best method also. We suggest you learn one line at a time. Say and write each symbol of the line seven times. We recommend you avoid using English phonetics. Learning the sound of the symbol by sight eliminates the dependency on an unnecessary learning step which some new methods use.
          The Cherokee Observer staff strongly encourages you to learn and speak Cherokee by studying Sequoyah's Syllabary. Help us to work on saving our language. If you write in Cherokee, then write something. The more we write, the better we get. After more than 100 years of being told our language is not important, we must retrain ourselves to believe that it is important and then use it.y7.

Marvin J. Summerfield - Cherokee Language Editor
Miami, Oklahoma

March 1, 2005

Note: Cherokee True Type Font required to read all Cherokee. If you do not have the Cherokee true type font you will not be able to read the Cherokee. If you want the Cherokee True Type Font CD, it is FREE!  we do take donations please send your check or money order to the Cherokee Observer, P.O. Box 487, Blackwell, OK 74631-0487 ATTN: Language Editor. We will send one to you immediately by snail mail or we can send it to you through E-mail.

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ENGLISH TRANSLATION

1.   Go away.
2.   I am going.
3.   Is that you?
4.   When are you coming back?
5.   Watch out.
6.   That's wonderful.
7.   That's the way it is.
8.   Are you working?
9.   I am working.
10.   I am on my way.

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ENGLISH TRANSLATION

1.   I speak a little Cherokee but my thinking is all in Cherokee.
2.   I am speaking.
3.   They are speaking.
4.   I think I know him.
5.   I was born in the Cherokee Nation.
6.   I have lived here a long time.
7.   I am angry.
8.   I say.
9.   I am eating.
10.   May I help you.

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ENGLISH TRANSLATION

1.   Who is that?
2.   How many do you want?
3.   How much does it cost?
4.   Where are you going?
5.   What is this?
6.   This is a cat.
7.   This is a dog.
8.   This is water.
9.   This is a boy.
10.   This is a girl.