Cherokee language

The Cherokee language (ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, Tsalagi Gawonihisdi) is an endangered language spoken by the Cherokee people.^[1]

Writing system

The Cherokee language does not use the Latin alphabet (ABCs) like English does. Instead, it uses its own alphabet, which has some letters that look like the ABCs. Each letter represents a different syllable sound. This special alphabet was invented by a Cherokee man named Sequoyah.

Below is a chart of all the letters of the Cherokee alphabet and the sound each one makes.

Notes:

1. In the chart, ‘v’ represents a nasal vowel, which is pronounced like "ung" in "lung".
2. The character Ꮩ do is shown upside-down in some fonts. It should look like the Latin letter V.^[a]

Grammar

The Cherokee language uses many prefixes and suffixes.

Notes

1. There was a difference between the old-form DO (Λ-like) and a new-form DO (V-like).^[2]