Ꮩ ᏕᏣᏙᎠ?
do detsado'a?
The phrase Ꮩ ᏕᏣᏙᎠ? (do detsado'a?) is how you say "what is your name?" in Cherokee.
This phrase is a question used to ask someone what they are called.
How do you pronounce it?
do detsado'a?
Did you know?
- The syllabary used for this phrase was created by a man named Sequoyah, who was not literate in English when he invented it.
- In traditional Cherokee culture, asking Ꮩ ᏕᏣᏙᎠ? is less common because people often identify themselves by their clan rather than an individual name.
- Cherokee is a polysynthetic language, meaning a single word like ᏕᏣᏙᎠ can contain as much information as a whole sentence in English.
Example conversation
Two people meet for the first time at a gathering.
- AᎣᏏᏲ! Ꮩ ᏕᏣᏙᎠ?Osiyo! Do detsadoa?Hello! What is your name?
- BᎣᏏᏲ. ᎦᏚᎩ ᏕᏣᏙᎠ.Osiyo. Gadugi detsadoa.Hello. My name is Gadugi.
- AᎠᏓᏅᏓᏓ ᏕᏣᏙᎠ.Adanvdada detsadoa.My name is Adanvdada.
- BᎤᏓᏓᏅᏓᏓ ᏗᏓᏓᏅᏓ.Udanvdata didadanvda.It is nice to meet you.
