ᏃᏈᏏ
noquisi
The Cherokee word for star is ᏃᏈᏏ (noquisi).
ᏃᏈᏏ is a noun used in an astronomical context to refer to a luminous celestial body made of plasma.
Meaning: (astronomy) a luminous celestial body made of plasma (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
noquisi
Did you know?
- The Cherokee syllabary used to write ᏃᏈᏏ was invented by Sequoyah, who claimed the characters were given to him in a dream as 'talking leaves'.
- Cherokee is a polysynthetic language, meaning a single word can function as an entire sentence by adding prefixes and suffixes to a root like ᏃᏈᏏ.
- In many traditional Cherokee perspectives, the placement and movement of stars were used as a living calendar, making the word ᏃᏈᏏ central to seasonal agricultural planning.
Example conversation
Two people are looking at the night sky.
- AᏃᏈᏏ ᎢᏳᏓᏓᏓᏍᏗ ᎢᏓᏓᏘᏍᏓᏓᏅᏓ.noquisi iyudadasti idadatisdanvda.Let's look at the star.
- BᎢᏳᏓᏓᏓᏍᏗ ᎪᏢᎾ ᎢᏳᏓᏓᏓᏍᏗ.iyudadasti gotna iyudadasti.It is shining brightly.
- AᏃᏈᏏ ᎢᏳᏓᏓᏓᏍᏗ ᎾᎿ ᎢᏳᏓᏓᏓᏍᏗ.noquisi iyudadasti naha iyudadasti.There is another star over there.
- BᎠᎥ, ᎢᏳᏓᏓᏓᏍᏗ ᎪᏢᎾ ᎢᏳᏓᏓᏓᏍᏗ.av, iyudadasti gotna iyudadasti.Yes, that one is shining too.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry ᏃᏈᏏ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
