ᎤᎾᏥ
unatsi
The English word "snow" is translated into Cherokee as ᎤᎾᏥ (unatsi). If unsure, use ᎤᎾᏥ. Wiktionary also lists ᎥᏃᏥ (vnotsi) and ᎥᏂᏥ (vnitsi).
Meaning: partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes, falling of such flakes, accumulation of them as a white layer (noun)
Ways to say it
| Cherokee | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| ᎤᎾᏥ | unatsi |
| ᎥᏃᏥ | vnotsi |
| ᎥᏂᏥ | vnitsi |
This term refers to the crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes, as well as the falling of these flakes and the resulting white accumulation on the ground.
How do you pronounce it?
unatsi
Did you know?
- The visual appearance of the characters in ᎤᎾᏥ is part of a system invented by Sequoyah, who was not literate in English when he created it.
- Because Cherokee is a polysynthetic language, a single word built around the root for ᎤᎾᏥ can express an entire sentence like 'it is snowing heavily'.
- The Cherokee language uses a syllabary rather than an alphabet, meaning the symbols for ᎤᎾᏥ represent whole syllables instead of individual letters.
Example sentences for Cherokee are not verified yet.
Example conversation
Two friends are looking out the window in winter.
- AᎤᎾᏥ ᎤᏓᏅᏓᎵ!unatsi udanvda li!It is snowing!
- BᎥᎢ, ᎤᏓᏅᏓᎵ.v-i, udanvda li.Yes, it is.
- AᎤᎾᏥ ᎤᏓᏓᏅᏓᎵ ᎦᏓᏓᏅᏓᎵ.unatsi udadanvda li gadadanvda li.There is so much snow.
- BᎦᏓᏅᏓᎵ ᎤᏓᏓᏅᏓᎵ.gadanvda li udadanvda li.It is very white.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “snow” translations and entries ᎤᎾᏥ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
