User:Oi40/Cherokee

Cherokee
Tsalagi
"ᏣᎳᎩ"
Native to	United States
Region	east Oklahoma; Great Smoky Mountains and Qualla Boundary in North Carolina Also in Arkansas.
Ethnicity	Cherokee
Native speakers	11,000–13,500 (2006–2008) (2000 – date of reference or census)[reference]
Language family	Iroquoian Southern Iroquoian Cherokee
Official status
Official language in	Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
Language codes
ISO 639-2	chr
ISO 639-3	chr
Glottolog	cher1273  default 2nd ref
Linguasphere	63-AB
Current geographic distribution of the Cherokee language

Cherokee (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, romanized: Tsalagi Gawonihisdi) or Iroquois, Tsalagi, Tslagi, Rickohockan, Rechahecrian, Southern Iroquoian, ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, チェロキー語, is an Iroquian language spoken in North America by the Cherokee people. There are 16,000 people speaking in two dialects: Western Cherokee and Eastern Cherokee. The locations of ᏣᎳᎩ are east Oklahoma; North Carolina; and Arkansas. Speakers of ᏣᎳᎩ are generally in all realms and all ages with generally positive attitudes.

ᏣᎳᎩ (Cherokee) is also called: Iroquois, Tsalagi, Tslagi, Rickohockan, Rechahecrian, Southern Iroquoian, ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, チェロキー語.

History

The Cherokee is the southernmost branch of the Iroquoian language family. Linguists believe that the Cherokee might have migrated from the Great Lakes region to the Southeast over some 3,000 years ago .

In 1540, the Cherokee took claim of land territory comprising of 40,000 square miles in the southeastern part of what later became the United States. This area included parts of the states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Upon the Cherokee's first contact with European settlers, the Cherokee occupied three different geographical regions. Due to this, three distinct Cherokee dialects were spoken. These three dialects were known was the Eastern, Middle, and Western dialects.

The Eastern or lower dialect is now extinct. Its main difference is the rolling "r". It is used instead the place of the "l" in the other dialects dialects. The Cherokee speakers of the Eastern dialect occupied what is now South Carolina and made the first contact with the British. Due to the wars and conflicts of the 1800's, the few remaining speakers were pushed into the other Cherokee groups further inland.

The Middle dialect (Kituwah) is spoken by the Cherokee now living on the Qualla reservation in North Carolina.

The Western dialect (The Overhill) is spoken by the Cherokee Nation in the West. Because of their isolation, the Kituwah dialect was severely less impacted by the influence of other Indian cultures. The Overhill dialect is the softest sounding of the between the several different dialects of the Cherokee language.

Geographic distribution

Cherokee is the most populous Native American language spoken in the U.S. states of Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Texas, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

Official status

The Cherokee language remains an essential part of the Cherokee history and its cultural identity, and both dialects of the Cherokee language have still been preserved throughout the years. ᏣᎳᎩ has been known as the co-official language of the Cherokee Nation along with English since 1991.

Dialects/Varieties

The two main dialects of Cherokee spoken by modern speakers are the Giduwa (Eastern Band) and Otali dialects. Originally the third dialect spoken by the Cherokee known as the Lower dialect has been extinct for about 200 years. This dialect of Cherokee was spoken around the region of South Carolina and Gerogia. Otali, significantly spoken in Oklahoma, is a dialect that drifted from Sequoyah's sllyabary about 150 or so years before it originated.

In modern times, there are more than 85 syllables in use by modern Cherokee speakers. Modern Cherokee speakers who speak Otali use around 122 distinct syllables in Oklahoma.

Sounds/Phonology

If there is a significant amount of information here, it is probably best to have a separate article on the phonology, called XXX phonology (eg Somali phonology). See Wikipedia:WikiProject Phonetics/Phonology template for a suggested structure.

If a separate page is not warranted, it may still be best to divide the information in this section into sub-sections following the structure on the above phonology template.

If there is a separate page, give a brief summary here, eg the number of consonant and vowel phonemes; important features such as phonemic use of tone or vowel harmony; and unusual or interesting features of the language's phonology.

Grammar

Cherokee, like many Native American languages, is polysynthetic, meaning that many morphemes may be linked together to form a single word, which may be of great length. Cherokee verbs, the most important word type, must contain as a minimum a pronominal prefix, a verb root, an aspect suffix, and a modal suffix. For example, the verb form ge:ga, "I am going," has each of these elements:

Verb form ge:ga

g-	e:	-g	-a
PRONOMINAL PREFIX	VERB ROOT "to go"	ASPECT SUFFIX	MODAL SUFFIX

The pronominal prefix is g-, which indicates first person singular. The verb root is -e, "to go." The aspect suffix that this verb employs for the present-tense stem is -g-. The present-tense modal suffix for regular verbs in Cherokee is -a.

Cherokee has 17 verb tenses and 10 persons.

The following is a conjugation in the present tense of the verb to go.

There is no distinction between dual and plural in 3rd person.

Full conjugation of Root Verb-e- going

	Singular	Dual incl.	Dual excl.	Plural incl.	Plural excl.
1st	ᎨᎦ gega – I'm going	ᎢᏁᎦ inega – we're going (you + I)	ᎣᏍᏕᎦ osdega – we two are going (not you)	ᎢᏕᎦ idega – we're all going (3+, including you)	ᎣᏤᎦ otsega – we're all going (3+, not you)
2nd	ᎮᎦ hega – you're going	ᏍᏕᎦ sdega – you two are going		ᎢᏤᎦ itsega – you're all going
3rd	ᎡᎦ ega – she/he/it's going	ᎠᏁᎦ anega – they are going

The translation uses the present progressive ("at this time I am going"). Cherokee differentiates between progressive ("I am going") and habitual ("I go") more than English does.

The forms ᎨᎪᎢ, ᎮᎪᎢ, ᎡᎪᎢ gegoi, hegoi, egoi represent "I often/usually go", "you often/usually go", and "she/he/it often/usually goes", respectively.

Verbs can also have prepronominal prefixes, reflexive prefixes, and derivative suffixes. Given all possible combinations of affixes, each regular verb can have 21,262 inflected forms.

Cherokee does not make gender distinctions. For example, ᎦᏬᏂᎭ gawoniha can mean either "she is speaking" or "he is speaking."

Pronouns and prefixes

Like many Native American languages, Cherokee has many pronominal prefixes that can index both subject and object. Pronominal prefixes always appear on verbs and can also appear on adjectives and nouns. There are two separate words which function as pronouns: aya "I, me" and nihi "you".

Table of Cherokee first person pronominal prefixes

Number	Set I	Set II
Singular	ji-, g-	agi-, agw-
Dual inclusive	ini-, in-	gini-, gin-
Dual exclusive	osdi-, osd-	ogini-, ogin-
Plural inclusive	idi-, id-	igi-, ig-
Plural exclusive	oji-, oj-	ogi-, og-

Classifiers in verbs

Some Cherokee verbs require special classifiers which denote a physical property of the direct object. Only around 20 common verbs require one of these classifiers (such as the equivalents of "pick up", "put down", "remove", "wash", "hide", "eat", "drag", "have", "hold", "put in water", "put in fire", "hang up", "be placed", "pull along"). The classifiers can be grouped into five categories:

• Live
• Flexible (most common)
• Long (narrow, not flexible)
• Indefinite (solid, heavy relative to size), also used as default category
• Liquid (or container of)

Example:

Conjugation of "Hand him..."

Classifier Type	Cherokee	Transliteration	Translation
Live	ᎯᎧᏏ	hikasi	Hand him (something living)
Flexible	ᎯᏅᏏ	hinvsi	Hand him (something like clothes, rope)
Long, Indefinite	ᎯᏗᏏ	hidisi	Hand him (something like a broom, pencil)
Indefinite	ᎯᎥᏏ	hivsi	Hand him (something like food, book)
Liquid	ᎯᏁᎥᏏ	hinevsi	Hand him (something like water)

There have been reports that the youngest speakers of Cherokee are using only the indefinite forms, suggesting a decline in usage or full acquisition of the system of shape classification. Cherokee is the only Iroquoian language with this type of classificatory verb system, leading linguists to reanalyze it as a potential remnant of a noun incorporation system in Proto-Iroquoian. However, given the non-productive nature of noun incorporation in Cherokee, other linguists have suggested that classificatory verbs are the product of historical contact between Cherokee and non-Iroquoian languages, and instead that the noun incorporation system in Northern Iroquoian languages developed later.

Word order

Simple declarative sentences usually have a subject-object-verb word order. Negative sentences have a different word order. Adjectives come before nouns, as in English. Demonstratives, such as ᎾᏍᎩ nasgi ("that") or ᎯᎠ hia ("this"), come at the beginning of noun phrases. Relative clauses follow noun phrases. Adverbs precede the verbs that they are modifying. For example, "she's speaking loudly" is ᎠᏍᏓᏯ ᎦᏬᏂᎭ asdaya gawoniha (literally, "loud she's-speaking").

A Cherokee sentence may not have a verb as when two noun phrases form a sentence. In such a case, word order is flexible. For example, Ꮎ ᎠᏍᎦᏯ ᎠᎩᏙᏓ na asgaya agidoda ("that man is my father"). A noun phrase might be followed by an adjective, such as in ᎠᎩᏙᏓ ᎤᏔᎾ agidoga utana ("my father is big"). A general outline of the grammar of the language. Focus on what makes the grammar of the language unique compared to other languages, related as well as unrelated. Lists of each word class and their individual properties, as well as full-fledged inflection or conjugation tables, are probably best put in a separate article.

Vocabulary/Lexis

Numbers

Cherokee uses Arabic numerals (0–9). The Cherokee council voted not to adopt Sequoyah's numbering system. Sequoyah created individual symbols for 1–20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 as well as a symbol for three zeros for numbers in the thousands, and a symbol for six zeros for numbers in the millions. These last two symbols, representing ",000" and ",000,000", are made up of two separate symbols each. They have a symbol in common, which could be used as a zero in itself.

English	Cherokee	Transliteration
one	ᏐᏬ	sowo
two	ᏔᎵ	tali
three	ᏦᎢ	tsoi
four	ᏅᎩ	nvgi
five	ᎯᏍᎩ	hisgi
six	ᏑᏓᎵ	sudali
seven	ᎦᎵᏉᎩ	galiquogi
eight	ᏧᏁᎳ	tsunela
nine	ᏐᏁᎳ	sonela
ten	ᏍᎪᎯ	sgohi
eleven	ᏌᏚ	sadu
twelve	ᏔᎵᏚ	talidu
thirteen	ᏦᎦᏚ	tsogadu
fourteen	ᏂᎦᏚ	nigadu
fifteen	ᎯᏍᎦᏚ	hisgadu
sixteen	ᏓᎳᏚ	daladu
seventeen	ᎦᎵᏆᏚ	galiquadu
eighteen	ᏁᎳᏚ	neladu
nineteen	ᏐᏁᎳᏚ	soneladu
twenty	ᏔᎵᏍᎪᎯ	talisgohi

Colors

English	Cherokee	Transliteration
black	ᎬᎾᎨᎢ	gvnagei
blue	ᏌᎪᏂᎨᎢ	sagonigei
brown	ᎤᏬᏗᎨ	uwodige
green	ᎢᏤᎢᏳᏍᏗ	itseiyusdi
gray	ᎤᏍᎪᎸ ᏌᎪᏂᎨ	usgolv sagonige
gold	ᏓᎶᏂᎨᎢ	dalonigei
orange	ᎠᏌᎶᏂᎨ	asalonige
pink	ᎩᎦᎨᎢᏳᏍᏗ	gigageiyusdi
purple	ᎩᎨᏍᏗ	gigesdi
red	ᎩᎦᎨ	gigage
silver	ᎠᏕᎸ ᎤᏁᎬ	adelv unegv
white	ᎤᏁᎦ	unega
yellow	ᏓᎶᏂᎨ	dalonige

Months

English	Meaning	Cherokee	Transliteration
January	Month of the Cold Moon	ᏚᏃᎸᏔᏂ	dunolvtani
February	Month of the Bony Moon	ᎧᎦᎵ	kagali
March	Month of the Windy Moon	ᎠᏄᏱ	anuyi
April	Month of the Flower Moon	ᎧᏩᏂ	kawani
May	Month of the Planting Moon	ᎠᎾᎠᎬᏘ	anaagvti
June	Month of the Green Corn Moon	ᏕᎭᎷᏱ	dehaluyi
July	Month of the Ripe Corn Moon	ᎫᏰᏉᏂ	guyequoni
August	Month of the End of Fruit Moon	ᎦᎶᏂᎢ	galonii
September	Month of the Nut Moon	ᏚᎵᎢᏍᏗ	duliisdi
October	Month of the Harvest Moon	ᏚᏂᏅᏗ	duninvdi
November	Month of Trading Moon	ᏄᏓᏕᏆ	nudadequa
December	Month of the Snow Moon	ᎥᏍᎩᎦ	vsgiga

Writing system

Cherokee Syllabary

Ꭰ

a

Ꭱ

e

Ꭲ

i

Ꭳ

o

Ꭴ

u

Ꭵ

v

Ꭶ

ga

Ꭷ

ka

Ꭸ

ge

Ꭹ

gi

Ꭺ

go

Ꭻ

gu

Ꭼ

gv

Ꭽ

ha

Ꭾ

he

Ꭿ

hi

Ꮀ

ho

Ꮁ

hu

Ꮂ

hv

Ꮃ

la

Ꮄ

le

Ꮅ

li

Ꮆ

lo

Ꮇ

lu

Ꮈ

lv

Ꮉ

ma

Ꮊ

me

Ꮋ

mi

Ꮌ

mo

Ꮍ

mu

Ꮎ

na

Ꮏ

hna

Ꮐ

nah

Ꮑ

ne

Ꮒ

ni

Ꮓ

no

Ꮔ

nu

Ꮕ

nv

Ꮖ

qua

Ꮗ

que

Ꮘ

qui

Ꮙ

quo

Ꮚ

quu

Ꮛ

quv

Ꮝ

s

Ꮜ

sa

Ꮞ

se

Ꮟ

si

Ꮠ

so

Ꮡ

su

Ꮢ

sv

Ꮣ

da

Ꮤ

ta

Ꮥ

de

Ꮦ

te

Ꮧ

di

Ꮨ

ti

Ꮩ

do

Ꮪ

du

Ꮫ

dv

Ꮬ

dla

Ꮭ

tla

Ꮮ

tle

Ꮯ

tli

Ꮰ

tlo

Ꮱ

tlu

Ꮲ

tlv

Ꮳ

tsa

Ꮴ

tse

Ꮵ

tsi

Ꮶ

tso

Ꮷ

tsu

Ꮸ

tsv

Ꮹ

wa

Ꮺ

we

Ꮻ

wi

Ꮼ

wo

Ꮽ

wu

Ꮾ

wv

Ꮿ

ya

Ᏸ

ye

Ᏹ

yi

Ᏺ

yo

Ᏻ

yu

Ᏼ

yv

Examples

Example #1: In English:

Later I will go to Yellow Hill. 

In Cherokee:  Ohni Ela Wodi dagesi.

Example #2:

In English: My daughter (grown up daughter) loves her family (habitually or continually).

In Cherokee:  Agwetsi ageya duwaltina’v getsigeyuso’i.

Some short examples of the language in the writing system(s) used to write the language. You might also include sound samples of the language being spoken. Avoid making lists of tourist phrases such as "hello", "goodbye" and "where's the lavatory?" since these do not represent the specifics of either grammar or phonetics particularly well.

Bibliography

Peter, L. (2007). "Our Beloved Cherokee": A Naturalistic Study of Cherokee Preschool Language Immersion. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 38(4), 323-342.

Peter, L. (2003). A naturalistic study of the Cherokee language immersion preschool project. University of Kansas. Retrieved April, 13, 2012.

Peter, L., & Hirata-Edds, T. E. (2006). Using assessment to inform instruction in Cherokee language revitalisation. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 9(5), 643-658.

King, D. H. (2004). A grammar and dictionary of the Cherokee language (Doctoral dissertation, UMI Ann Arbor).

Brooks, B. J. (1992). Language Maintenance and Language Renewal among Cherokee People in Oklahoma.

Rumford, J. (2004). Sequoyah: The Cherokee man who gave his people writing. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Guyette, S. (1981). An examination of Cherokee language vitality. Anthropological linguistics, 23(5), 215-225.

Cook, W. H. (2004). A Grammar of North Carolina Cherokee (Doctoral dissertation, UMI Ann Arbor).

Reyhner, J. (1997). Teaching Indigenous Languages. Selected Papers from the Annual Symposium on Stabilizing Indigenous Languages (4th, Flagstaff, Arizona, May 1-3, 1997). Northern Arizona Univ., CEE Research Services, Box 5774, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5774.

Preservation, K. (2006). Education Program. 2005 Cherokee language comprehensive survey. Cherokee, NC: Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

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External links

• Cherokee-English Dictionary Online Database
• Cherokee Nation Dikaneisdi (Word List)
• Cherokee numerals
• Cherokee – Sequoyah transliteration system – online conversion tool
• Unicode Chart
• Cherokee Nation ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ ᏖᎩᎾᎶᏥ ᎤᎾᏙᏢᏅᎢ (Tsalagi Gawonihisdi teginalotsi unadotlvnvi / Cherokee Language Technology

Language archives, texts, audio, video

• Cherokee Phoenix, bilingual newspaper in Cherokee and English
• Cherokee Traditions digital archive, from Western Carolina University
• Cherokee New Testament Online Online translation of the New Testament. Currently the largest Cherokee document on the internet.
• "Native American Audio Collections: Cherokee". American Philosophical Society.
• Cherokee Language Texts, from the Boston Athenæum: Schoolcraft Collection of Books in Native American Languages. Digital Collection.