ᎣᏍᏛ
osdv
The Cherokee word for "good" is ᎣᏍᏛ (osdv).
ᎣᏍᏛ is an adjective used to describe something as pleasant or enjoyable. Depending on the sentence structure, it is also frequently used as an adverb to mean "well" or "nicely".
Meaning: pleasant, enjoyable (adj)
How do you pronounce it?
osdv
Did you know?
- The Cherokee syllabary used to write ᎣᏍᏛ was created by Sequoyah around 1821. Unlike many alphabets, it was developed by a man who could not read or write any other language.
- Cherokee is a polysynthetic language, meaning a single word can be built into a complex sentence. While ᎣᏍᏛ means 'good' alone, it can be integrated into longer words to modify the entire action.
- Cherokee speakers may use variations of ᎣᏍᏛ to express 'correct' or 'right' in a moral sense, rather than just 'pleasant'.
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a meal.
- AᎣᏍᏛ ᎦᏓᏅᎯᏍᎩ ᏗᏓᏓᏅᎯᏍᎩ.osdv gadanvhisgi didadanvhisgi.The food is good.
- BᎯᎵᏓᏓᏅᎯᏍᎩ ᎢᎦᎢᎦ.hili dadanvhisgi igaiga.I agree with you.
- AᎣᏍᏛ ᎢᎦᏓᏅᎯᏍᎩ ᎢᎦᎢᎦ.osdv igadadanvhisgi igaiga.It is a good meal.
- BᎦᏓᏅᎯᏍᎩ ᏗᏓᏓᏅᎯᏍᎩ ᎣᏍᏛ.gadanvhisgi didadanvhisgi osdv.The taste is good.
