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.
| (ah) | (ay) | (ee) | (oh) | (oo) | (uh) | — |
| 2 | z | 3 | ^ | # | D | 1. |
| h W | Y | g | c | E | [ | 2. (g,k) |
| n | I | m | A | Q | p | 3. (h) |
| k | d | f | 5 | 6 | ; | 4. (L) |
| 1 | + | Z | ! | _ | — | 5. (m) |
| 4 “ | 0 | s | – | = | ‘ | 6. (n, nh) |
| 8 | : | K | H | J | F | 7. (q) |
| a j | U | l | T | R | L | 8. (s) |
| w ] | v @ | e % | 7 | b | x | 9. (d, t) |
| P $ | } | S | N | X | V | 10. (dl, tl) |
| r | M | t | C | q | O | 11. (j, ch) |
| y | ( | u | * | ) | & | 12. (w, hw) |
| i | B | o | { | 9 | G | 13. (y, hy) |
2. 7mq? — toh-hee-joo — How are you?
3. 7mJ — toh-hee-qoo — I am fine.
4. nPIh? — hah-dluh-hay-gah — Where are you going?
5. wf8 Yh — I am going to Tahlequah.
6. sm4 — nee-hee-nah — How about you?
7. h7 vr72? — gah-doh day-chah-doh-ah — What is your name?
8. {0hj m*sjg? — yoh-nay-gah hee-woh-nee-s-gee — Do you speak English?
9. rkgj m*sjg? — chah-lah-gee hee-woh-nee-s-gee — Do you speak Cherokee?
10. y7 — wah-doh — Thank you.
LESSON 2
rkg c(f3
1. ^l{…
2. 7mq?
3. D, 7mJ.
4. sm4, 7mJj?
5. rs, w87.
6. sm4 h7vr7?
7. 2G tjHH.
8. nPIh, tjHH?
9. wf8, Yh, rs.
10. Ay, 747cp3!
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
1. Hello!
2. How are you?
3. Fine.
4. And how about you?
5. My name is John.
6. And what is your name?
7. I am Robin.
8. Where are you going, Robin?
9. I am going to Tahlequah, John.
10. OK, see you!
LESSON 3
rkg c(f3
1. c(f2.
2. 27(f2.
3. #jw YL3.
4. #jw YUje
5. 4 2jhi #]4.
6. 2Yi YL3.
7. {0h h*sn.
8. #*Bs.
9. #je0h;3.
10. 2h7f.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
1. He’s writing it.
2. It’s been written.
3. It was good.
4. It will be good.
5. The man is big.
6. It is a woman.
7. He is speaking English.
8. His hand.
9. His scalp.
10. His eye.
LESSON 4
rkg c(f3
1. #S I4.
2. 2i Yh
3. smq?
4. nkG xm6t?
5. rhUjvje.
6. 79 {c #je.
7. 79 {c #je.
8. vr;jw02j?
9. 2g;uj]0.
10. uh3.
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.
LESSON 5
rkg c(f3
1. rkg c{S t*s 2U- Wf rkg 2yw4w.
2. t*s2.
3. 2s*s2.
4. t{fh Yf2.
5. rkgo 2Bf 28v’.
6. cmw tY^ 2ns.
7. 2g4;h.
8. he2.
9. tg2.
10. w[j@;mY?
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.
LESSON 6
rkg c(f3
1. Wh m2?
2. nk 3h3 rbf2?
3. nk q[y5e.
4. nV Ih?
5. h7#je m2?
6. m2 (a.
7. m2 gS.
8. m2 21.
9. m2 2qr.
10. m2 2Y9r.
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.
LESSON 7
1. T3 — other
2. 2d — or
3. 7o — outside
4. 2Y — over there
5. c(f — paper
6. $ — no
7. 4D — near
8. #L3 — night
9. $ g5 — no one
10. lh — one day
11. 79 — really
12. 21 — salt
13. zm — resident
14. -i — sand
15. 2f — sweat
16. }g — soon
17. m2 — these
18. 4 — those
19. eP — toward
20. 2w — wood
21. sm — you
22. Oa — yourself
23. #t — mom
LESSON 8
rkg c(f3
1. c(f2.
2. 27(f2.
3. #jw YL3.
4. #jw YUje
5. 4 2jhi #]4.
6. 2Yi YL3.
7. {0h h*sn.
8. #*Bs.
9. #je0h;3.
10. 2h7f.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
1. He’s writing it.
2. It’s been written.
3. It was good.
4. It will be good.
5. The man is big.
6. It is a woman.
7. He is speaking English.
8. His hand.
9. His scalp.
10. His eye.
LESSON 9
rkg c(f3
1. #S I4.
2. 2i Yh
3. smq?
4. nkG xm6t?
5. rhUjvje.
6. 79 {c #je.
7. 79 {c #je.
8. vr;jw02j?
9. 2g;uj]0.
10. uh3.
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.
LESSON 10
1. rkg c{S t*s 2U- Wf rkg 2yw4w.
2. t*s2.
3. 2s*s2.
4. t{fh Yf2.
5. rkgo 2Bf 28v’.
6. cmw tY^ 2ns.
7. 2g4;h.
8. he2.
9. tg2.
10. w[j@;mY?
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.
ATTENTION: Cherokee Companion owners–the lessons found on this page may be used for the Cherokee Companion typing tutor lessons.