Cherokee syllabary
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cherokee | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type | Syllabary | |
| Spoken languages | Cherokee language | |
| Time period | 1819-present | |
| Parent systems | none Cherokee |
|
| ISO 15924 | Cher | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
The Cherokee language is written in a syllabary invented by Sequoyah (also known as George Gist or George Guess) in 1819. In his system, each symbol represents a syllable rather than a single phoneme. While the large number of syllables in English (tens of thousands) precludes the use of a syllabary, the 85 characters in the Cherokee syllabary provide a suitable method to write Cherokee. Some symbols do resemble Latin alphabet letters, but the sounds are completely different (the form of the letter for /a/ resembles Latin D, for example).
Not all phonemic distinctions of the spoken language are represented. For example, while /d/+vowel syllables are mostly differentiated from /t/+vowel by use of different graphs, syllables beginning with /g/ are all conflated with those beginning with /k/. Also, long vowels are not ordinarily distinguished from short vowels, tones are not marked, and there is no regular rule for representing consonant clusters.
However, as with some other writing systems (like Arabic), adult speakers can distinguish words by context. The syllabary achieved almost instantaneous popularity, and for decades was used in the Cherokee Phoenix, a Cherokee newspaper. It is still used today to transcribe recipes, religious lore, folktales, etc. Knowledge of it is considered necessary for full Cherokee citizenship.
In recent years, startling evidence has emerged suggesting that the Cherokee syllabary provided a model for the design of the Vai syllabary in Liberia, Africa. The Vai syllabary is the earliest form of writing devised in western Africa, which emerged about 1832/33. The link appears to have been Cherokee who emigrated to Liberia after the invention of the Cherokee syllabary (which in its early years spread like wildfire among the Cherokee) but before the invention of the Vai syllabary. One such man, Cherokee Austin Curtis, married into a prominent Vai family and became an important Vai chief himself. It is perhaps not coincidence that the "inscription on a house" that drew the world's attention to existence of the Vai script was in fact on the home of Curtis, a Cherokee. There also appears to be a connection between an early form of written Bassa, with the earlier Cherokee syllabary.
Note: ‘v’ is a nasal vowel in this chart.
Contents |
[edit] Computer representation
Cherokee is represented in Unicode, in the character range U+13A0 to U+13F4.
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | ||
| 13A0 | Ꭰ | Ꭱ | Ꭲ | Ꭳ | Ꭴ | Ꭵ | Ꭶ | Ꭷ | Ꭸ | Ꭹ | Ꭺ | Ꭻ | Ꭼ | Ꭽ | Ꭾ | Ꭿ | |
| 13B0 | Ꮀ | Ꮁ | Ꮂ | Ꮃ | Ꮄ | Ꮅ | Ꮆ | Ꮇ | Ꮈ | Ꮉ | Ꮊ | Ꮋ | Ꮌ | Ꮍ | Ꮎ | Ꮏ | |
| 13C0 | Ꮐ | Ꮑ | Ꮒ | Ꮓ | Ꮔ | Ꮕ | Ꮖ | Ꮗ | Ꮘ | Ꮙ | Ꮚ | Ꮛ | Ꮜ | Ꮝ | Ꮞ | Ꮟ | |
| 13D0 | Ꮠ | Ꮡ | Ꮢ | Ꮣ | Ꮤ | Ꮥ | Ꮦ | Ꮧ | Ꮨ | Ꮩ | Ꮪ | Ꮫ | Ꮬ | Ꮭ | Ꮮ | Ꮯ | |
| 13E0 | Ꮰ | Ꮱ | Ꮲ | Ꮳ | Ꮴ | Ꮵ | Ꮶ | Ꮷ | Ꮸ | Ꮹ | Ꮺ | Ꮻ | Ꮼ | Ꮽ | Ꮾ | Ꮿ | |
| 13F0 | Ᏸ | Ᏹ | Ᏺ | Ᏻ | Ᏼ |
A single Cherokee font is supplied with Mac OS X, version 10.3 (Panther) and later and Windows Vista. Cherokee is also supported by free fonts found at languagegeek.com, and the shareware fonts Code2000 and Everson Mono.
[edit] References
- Konrad Tuchscherer. 2002 (with P.E.H. Hair). "Cherokee and West Africa: Examining the Origins of the Vai Script," History in Africa, 29, pp. 427-486.
[edit] Further reading
- Cherokee Language and Culture (Firm). ([200-]). Cherokee syllabary. Tulsa, OK: Cherokee Language and Culture.
- Cowan, A. (1981). Cherokee syllabary primer. Park Hill, Okla: Cross-Cultural Education Center.
