ᎤᏪᏴ
uweyv
The Cherokee word for river is ᎤᏪᏴ (uweyv). Wiktionary also lists ᎠᎹᏱ (amayi) and ᎡᏉᏂ ᎨᏴᎢ (equoni geyvi).
Meaning: large stream which drains a landmass (noun)
Ways to say it
| Cherokee | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| ᎤᏪᏴ | uweyv |
| ᎠᎹᏱ | amayi |
| ᎡᏉᏂ ᎨᏴᎢ | equoni geyvi |
The term refers to a large stream which drains a landmass.
Which one should you use?
While ᎤᏪᏴ is the default form, you may also encounter ᎠᎹᏱ or ᎡᏉᏂ ᎨᏴᎢ.
How do you pronounce it?
uweyv
Did you know?
- The syllabary used to write ᎤᏪᏴ was invented by Sequoyah, which is a feat of linguistic engineering that allowed the language to be written without a phonetic connection to English.
- A river is often grammatically treated as an animate being in traditional Cherokee thought, influencing how it is addressed in certain contexts.
- The word ᎤᏪᏴ is not just a noun but can function as a verb meaning 'it flows' or 'it is a river'.
Example sentences for Cherokee are not verified yet.
Example conversation
Two people are looking at a map of the local area.
- AᎤᏪᏴ ᎦᏙᎢ ᎢᏳᎢ ᎤᏓᏓᏅᎦ?uwev gado-i iyut udadanvga?Where does the river flow?
- BᎤᏪᏴ ᎢᏳᎢ ᏓᏓᏛᏓᏓᏅᎦ.uwev iyut dadadvdanvga.The river flows this way.
- AᎤᏪᏴ ᎢᏳᎢ ᎦᏙᎢ ᎤᏓᏓᏅᎦ?uwev iyut gado-i udadanvga?Where does that river lead?
- BᎤᏪᏴ ᎢᏳᎢ ᏓᏓᏛᏓᏓᏅᎦ ᎢᏳᎢ.uwev iyut dadadvdanvga iyut.That river flows over there.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “river” translations and entries ᎤᏪᏴ, ᎠᎹᏱ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
