ᏒᏃᏱ
svnoyi
The Cherokee word for "night" is ᏒᏃᏱ (svnoyi).
ᏒᏃᏱ is used to refer to the period of time between sunset and sunrise.
Meaning: period between sunset and sunrise (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
svnoyi
Did you know?
- In traditional Cherokee narratives, the arrival of ᏒᏃᏱ is not just a change in light, but a signal that spirits and certain animals have changed their ontological status.
- The written form of ᏒᏃᏱ uses a syllabary created by Sequoyah in the 1820s, meaning the word was spoken for millennia before it was ever written down.
- In the Cherokee syllabary, ᏒᏃᏱ is written using three characters that represent entire syllables instead of individual letters like 'n' or 'i'.
Example conversation
Two people are talking about the time of day.
- AᎥᏝ ᎥᏝ ᏒᏃᏱ.vtla vtla snoyi.It is a dark night.
- BᎠᎥᏓᏓ ᏒᏃᏱ.andada snoyi.I like the night.
- AᎠᏓᏓ ᏒᏃᏱ ᎤᏓᏓᏓᏛᏓᏓ.adada snoyi udadadvdada.The night is very long.
- BᎤᏓᏓᏓᏛᏓᏓ ᏒᏃᏱ.udadadvdada snoyi.It is a long night.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry ᏒᏃᏱ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
