ᏙᏯ
doya
The Cherokee word for beaver is ᏙᏯ (doya).
ᏙᏯ is used to refer to the semiaquatic rodent known as a beaver.
Meaning: semiaquatic rodent (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
doya
Did you know?
- The written form of ᏙᏯ relies on a system where the consonant and vowel are fused, meaning you cannot write the 'd' sound without also writing a vowel.
- The Cherokee language contains no direct equivalent to the English 'the' or 'a', so ᏙᏯ can mean 'beaver', 'a beaver' or 'the beaver' depending on context.
- In many indigenous North American linguistic traditions, including Cherokee, animals like the beaver are often treated as 'people' in certain formal storytelling contexts.
Example sentences for Cherokee are not verified yet.
Example conversation
Two friends are walking by a river.
- AᏙᏯ ᎦᏓᏓᏅᏓᏘᏍᎩ ᎢᏓᏅᏓᏘᏍᎩᎢ!doya gadadanvdatisgi idanvdatisgi-i!Look, that is a beaver!
- BᎪᎢ? ᏓᏓᏓᏅᏓᏘᏍᎩᎢ.go-i? dadadanvdatisgi-i.Where? It is a builder.
- AᏙᏯ ᎤᏓᏓᏅᏓᏘᏍᎩᎢ.doya udadanvdatisgi-i.The beaver is working.
- BᎠᏩᏗᏍᏓ.awadisda.I see it.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “beaver” translations and entries ᏙᏯ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
