Cherokee

Welcome to the Cherokee Wikibook! This is a work in progress.

Flag of the Cherokee Nation

Flag of the United Keetoowah Band

Flag of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

Are you a Cherokee person endeavoring to learn your ancestral language?

Are you a non-Cherokee person interested in the Cherokee language?

If so, we hope this book may be of great use to you! The introduction provides a contextualization of the Cherokee language, its status, and its standout features. The lessons are designed to explain concepts in thorough, accurate, and unpretentious language that the common reader will understand.

Learning Cherokee, or any language, is a long process requiring great emotional investment, time commitment, and a dedication to using practical strategies to overcome inevitable challenges, anxiety, and frustration. You must be patient. We graciously invite you to proceed if you believe this undertaking to be worth it.

If you have any general questions about content in this book, feel free to leave a comment on the Discussion tab of the corresponding page.

Note: You must be using Cherokee Unicode Supported Fonts to view this book correctly. Information on obtaining and installing Cherokee Unicode Fonts for Windows 2000 and Windows XP is available on the Cherokee Unicode page. Mac OS X from version 10.3 (Panther), Windows Vista and some Linux Operating Systems include default support for displaying the Cherokee Language in syllabary.

Introduction

For Everyone

Reading these short articles is highly recommended to everyone! You will understand how the Cherokee language fits into the larger North American linguistic situation, get an overview of the history of the language, and become aware of the revitalization projects and how you can help out! The accessibility statement pertains to the current and upcoming features of this site designed to foster a smooth learning experience for all.

• Classification
• History
• Revitalization
• Accessibility

For the New Learner

The new learner of Cherokee may easily feel discouraged by the reputation of the language as tonally complex and polysynthetic. The articles below will help demystify these phenomena and show you the true nature of the structure of Cherokee. Also check out the article on learning tips.

• On Tone
• On Polysynthesis
• Learning Tips

For the Linguist and Dedicated Student

• Survey of Resources (Research History)

Lexicon & Vocabulary

This section contains the dictionary and vocabulary lists you may find useful for studying. Eventually we envision Anki decks (digital flashcards) for the vocabulary list to help you memorize the lexicon via spaced repetition.

• Dictionary
• Learn Vocabulary
• Critical Pairs

Grammar

Below is a list of articles about specific areas of Cherokee grammar. Linguists will find this a good place to start research. The general learner is also highly encouraged to refer these articles as they are recommended throughout the course.

General Topics

Phonology

• Vowels
• Consonants
• Laryngeal Alternation and Aspiration Classes
• Pronominal Tonic Lowering

• Tone in Cherokee

Orthography

• On the Syllabary

Verbs

• Verb Template
• Five Stems
• Modal Suffixes
• Conjugation Classes
• Verb Root
• Inflection Tree
• Lexical Features of the Verb
• Prepronominal Prefixes
• Derivational Suffixes

Pronouns

• Pronominal Prefixes
• Reflexive and Middle Voice

Other Affixes

• Clitics

Nouns and Adjectives

• Nouns
• Adjectives
• Derivational Morphology

Connectors

• Adpositions
• Conjunctions

Quantity

• Expressing Quantity
• Numerals

Niche Studies

• Ambiguity in the Syllabary and Possible Solutions

Course

General (i.e. non-linguist) learners should feel free to start from these lessons! Some important grammar points are contained in their own lesson pages for neater reference.

Cherokee Lessons

Lesson Number	Topic	Associated Grammar Points
Preparation and Drills
i	Syllabary: Reading and Writing
ii	Listening for Vowel Length
iii	Listening for Tones
Module 1: Fundamentals
1	Greetings and Introductions
2	Basic Vocabulary
3	Simple Sentences	Word Order, Parts of Speech
4	Important Verbs	Features of Verbs, Conjugation Overview
5	More Sentence Structures
Module 2: Core Content
6	Numbers and Quantity	Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers, Counters
7	Time and Date
8	Stuff
9	Feelings and Emotions
10	Communication	Using Tone
11	Sensory Perception
12	Cognition
13	Describing Life
14	Describing People
15	Interpersonal Relationships
16	Physics and Structure
17	Life Activities
18	Describing Stuff
19	Earth
Module 3: Culture
20

Temporary

Notes for the Book Writers

Additional Resources

Cherokee Nation Language Department

Cherokee-English Online Dictionary

CED Game

Digital Archive of Indigenous Language Persistence (DAILP)

Cherokee Writing the Keetoowah Way (DAILP)

Culturev Cherokee Resource

Resources