ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ
tsalagi gawonihisdi
The English phrase "cherokee" (referring to the language) is ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ (tsalagi gawonihisdi) in Cherokee.
The term ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ is used to denote the Cherokee language.
Meaning: language (name)
Which one should you use?
While ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ refers specifically to the Cherokee language, the related form ᎠᏣᎳᎩ refers to an individual member of the Cherokee people.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
tsalagi gawonihisdi
Did you know?
- The Cherokee writing system, used to write ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, was created in the 1820s by a man named Sequoyah who was not literate in any language before inventing the syllabary.
- The origin of the word ᏣᎳᎩ is uncertain and may have been borrowed from the Choctaw word 'chulaki', which refers to 'people from the cave country'.
- The characters used to write ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ were originally inspired by the shapes of English letters and punctuation, but they represent completely different sounds.
Example sentences for Cherokee are not verified yet.
Example conversation
Two people discuss a language class.
- AᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ ᏗᏓᏓᏅᏓᏓᏓᏅᏓᏓ.Tsalagi gawonihisdi didanav-danv.We are learning the Cherokee language.
- BᎢᏳᎢ ᎦᏙᎢ?Iyu-i gadoi?What is that?
- AᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ ᎢᏳᎢ.Tsalagi gawonihisdi iyu-i.That is the Cherokee language.
- BᎠᏓᏓᏅᏓᏓᏓᏅᏓᏓ.Adanav-danv.I want to learn.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “cherokee” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ᏣᎳᎩ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
