ᏈᏂᎩᏍ
qwinigis
The English word Phoenix (referring to the capital city of Arizona) is translated into Cherokee as ᏈᏂᎩᏍ (qwinigis).
The word ᏈᏂᎩᏍ is used to refer specifically to the city of Phoenix in the United States.
Meaning: capital city of Arizona, United States (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
qwinigis
Did you know?
- In Cherokee, the concept of a mythical bird like the Phoenix would not be expressed by this word. To describe the legendary creature, a speaker would use a descriptive phrase instead of the transliterated city name.
- The word ᏈᏂᎩᏍ is built using Cherokee syllabics, where each character represents a consonant and a vowel simultaneously, rather than individual letters.
- The sound of the 'ph' in 'Phoenix' is adapted into Cherokee sounds that are most closely related, as there is no direct equivalent for the English 'f' or 'ph' in all Cherokee dialects.
Example conversation
Two people are discussing a future trip to Arizona.
- AᏈᏂᎩᏍ ᎢᏳᎦᏓ ᎦᏓ ᏗᏓᏩᏛᏓ?Qunihigis iyugada gada didawadvda?Are you going to the city of Phoenix?
- BᏙ, ᏈᏂᎩᏍ ᎦᏓ ᏗᏓᏩᏛᏓ.Do, Qunihigis gada didawadvda.Yes, I am going to Phoenix.
- AᏈᏂᎩᏍ ᎢᏳᎦᏓ ᏓᏓᏓᏅᏓᏘ ᎢᏳᎦᏓ.Qunihigis iyugada dadadanvda ti iyugada.Phoenix is the capital city.
- BᏓᏓᏓᏅᏓᏘ ᎢᏳᎦᏓ ᎢᏳᎦᏓ.Dadadanvda ti iyugada iyugada.It is the capital city.
