Tsalagi (ᏣᎳᎩ): The Cherokee Syllabary

After reading “The Trail of Words” in The United States of Appalachia, my interest was sparked by Sequoyah Gist’s amazing accomplishment: the creation of the Cherokee syllabary. I wanted to go into more detail about this than the reading did, however. What is a syllabary you may ask? And what does the Cherokee one look like? The reading did not provide much information about these two questions, as it does not provide any pictures (I hate when books don’t cater to the visual learners such as me; that’s why I don’t read more than I do). So I am going to delve into it so you will have a better idea of what Sequoyah accomplished, instead of having to imagine (even though imagination is a great gift, I feel that it’s even better to have some pictures).
A syllabary is similar to an alphabet. We know there are several different alphabets, such as the Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and Russian alphabets. However, some languages have syllabaries, for instance Japanese. A syllabary, instead of just letters, consists of symbols that usually represent a consonant and a vowel (as we have “K” to represent the k sound, Japanese has different symbols for “ka”, “ki”, “ku”, “ke”, “ko” か、き、く、け、こ, in two different syllabaries). The Cherokee syllabary (ᏣᎳᎩ / Tsalagi) works the same way. Here is a chart of the symbols.

We can certainly see on this chart that it was invented due to the fact that there are many Roman letters in the syllabary, even though they don't necessarily correspond to the Roman sound. However, some of the symbols are unique without a doubt! I can say from experience that this system of writing is definitely not the most difficult. In fact, I feel that this would be easy to learn. Perhaps that is how so many Cherokee people were able to learn it quickly, making Sequoyah's innovative writing system such a success.

According to Omniglot website, Sequoyah's descendants claim that he was the last surviving member of his tribe's scribe clan and the Cherokee syllabary was invented by persons unknown at a much earlier date. By 1820 thousands of Cherokees had learned the syllabary. By 1830, 90% were literate in their own language. Books, religious texts, almanacs and newspapers were all published using the syllabary, which was widely used for over 100 years.

Today the syllabary is still used. Efforts are being made to bring back both the Cherokee language and the Cherokee syllabary. Cherokee courses are even offered at a number of schools, colleges and universities.

Also on Omniglot, I found this text:

The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11: 1-9)
ᏣᎳᎩ / Tsalagi (Cherokee)

1. ᎠᎴ ᏒᎳᏂᎬ ᏌᏉᏉ ᎨᏐ ᎠᏂᏬᏂᏍᎬ, ᎠᎴ ᎤᏠᏱᏉ ᎨᏎ ᎠᏂᏁᎬᎢ.
2. ᎯᎠᏃ ᏄᏝᏍᏔᏁᎢ, ᎾᏍᎩ ᎠᎾᎢᏒ ᏗᎧᎸᎬ ᏅᏓᏳᎾᏂᎩᏛ, ᎤᏪᏓᎸ ᎤᏂᏩᏛᏔᏁᎢ ᎾᎿ ᎦᏙᎯ ᏌᎾ ᏚᏙᎥᎢ; ᎠᎴ ᎾᎿ ᏚᎾᏁᎳᏨᎢ.
3. ᎯᎠᏃ ᏂᏚᎾᏓᏪᏎᎴᎢ, Ꭷ, ᏗᏛᏓᏅᎯ ᏗᏙᏢᎾ, ᎠᎴ ᎣᏍᏛ ᏗᏗᏕᏴᏓ. ᏗᏛᏓᏅᎯᏃ ᏅᏍ ᏚᏂᏰᎸ-ᏎᎢ, ᏩᏖᎳᎨᏃ ᏝᏪᏚ ᎤᏂᏰᏎᎢ.
4. ᎯᎠᏃ ᏄᏂᏪᏎᎢ, Ꭷ, ᎢᏗᏚᎲᎦ, ᎠᎴ, ᎢᏅ ᎢᎦᏘ ᎢᏓᏐᏪᎦ, ᎠᎴ ᎾᏍᎩ ᎤᏍᎪᏝ ᎦᎸᎳᏗ ᏫᎦᏃ- ᏠᏨᎭ; ᎠᎴ ᏗᎦᏙᏍᏙᏗ ᎢᏙᏢᎾ, ᏒᎶᎯᏰᏃ ᏂᎬᎾᏛ ᏱᏓᏠᎦᎴᏲᎩ.
5. ᏱᎰᏩᏃ ᎤᏠᎠᏂᎴ ᎤᎦᏔᏂᎴ ᎦᏚᎲ ᎠᎴ ᎢᏅ ᎢᎦᏘ ᎤᎾᏐᏴᎢ, ᎾᏍᎩ ᏴᏫ ᎫᏁᏓ ᎫᎾᏐᏲᎴᎢ.
6. ᏱᎰᏩᏃ ᎯᎠ ᏄᏇᏎᎢ, ᎬᏂᏳᏉ, ᎯᎠ ᏴᏫ ᎤᏂᏠᏱᏉ ᎠᏂᏬᏂᏍᎬᎢ; ᎠᎴ ᎯᎠ ᎾᏍᎩ ᎤᎾᎴᏅᎭ ᎾᎾᏛᏁᎭ; ᎠᎴ ᎥᏝ ᎿᏉ ᎪᎱᏍᏗ ᎬᏩᏂᏲᏍᏙᏓᏁᏗ ᏱᎨᏐᏍᏗ, ᎾᏍᎩ ᎫᎾᏓ-ᏅᏖᎸ ᎢᏳᎾᏛᏁᏗᏱ.
7. Ꭷ, ᎢᏓᏠᎠᎯ, ᎠᎴ ᏣᎿᎫᏓᎴᏅᏛ ᏫᏂᎨᏛᏂᏏ ᎠᏂᏬᏂᏍᎬᎢ,ᎾᏍᎩ ᎫᎾᏙᏝᎢᏗᏱ ᏂᎨᏒᎾ ᏓᎾᏝᏃ-ᎮᏍᎬᎢ.
8. ᎾᏍᎩᏃ ᏱᎰᏩ ᏚᏗᎦᎴᏰ ᏒᎶᎯ ᏥᎬᎾᏛ ᎾᎿᎤᎾᏓᎴᏁᎢ; ᎠᎴ ᎤᏂᏛᏝᎪᎢ ᎠᏂᏚᎲᏍᎬᎢ.
9. ᎾᏍᎩ ᎢᏳᏍᏗ ᏓᏓᎶᏂ ᏚᏙᏒᎢ; ᏅᏗᎦᏝᏍᏙ-ᏗᏍᎨ ᏱᎰᏩ ᎾᎿ ᏧᏓᎴᏅᏛ ᏂᏚᏩᏁᎸ ᎡᎳᏂᎬ ᏓᏂᏬᏂᏍᎬᎢ; ᎠᎴ ᎾᎿ ᎤᏭᏓᎴᏅ ᏱᎰᏩ ᏚᏗᎦᎴᏴ ᏒᎶᎯ ᏂᎬᎾᏛᎢ.

Transliteration

1. Ale svlanigv saquoquo geso aniwonisgv, ale utloyiquo gese aninegvi.
2. Hiano nutlastanei, nasgi anaisv dikalvgv nvdayunanigidv, uwedalv uniwadvtanei nahna gadohi sana dudovi; ale nahna dunanelatsvi.
3. Hiano nidunadaweselei, ka, didvdanvhi didotlvna, ale osdv didideyvda. Didvdanvhino nvs duniyelv-sei, watelageno tlawedu uniyesei.
4. Hiano nuniwesei, ka, ididuhvga, ale, inv igati idasowega, ale nasgi usgotla galvladi wigano- tlotsvha; ale digadosdodi idotlvna, svlohiyeno nigvnadv yidatlogaleyogi.
5. Yihowano utloanile ugatanile gaduhv ale inv igati unasoyvi, nasgi yvwi guneda gunasoyolei.
6. Yihowano hia nuquesei, gvniyuquo, hia yvwi unitloyiquo aniwonisgvi; ale hia nasgi unalenvha nanadvneha; ale vtla hnaquo gohusdi gvwaniyosdodanedi yigesosdi, nasgi gunada-nvtelv iyunadvnediyi.
7. ka, idatloahi, ale tsahnagudalenvdv winigedvnisi aniwonisgvi,nasgi gunadotlaidiyi nigesvna danatlano-hesgvi.
8. nasgino yihowa dudigaleye svlohi tsigvnadv nahnaunadalenei; ale unidvtlagoi aniduhvsgvi.
9. nasgi iyusdi dadaloni dudosvi; nvdigatlasdo-disge yihowa nahna tsudalenvdv niduwanelv elanigv daniwonisgvi; ale nahna uwudalenv yihowa dudigaleyv svlohi nigvnadvi.

The Cherokee syllabary certainly revolutionized the way the Cherokee nation communicated. They were suddenly able to document their people's history in a more orderly fashion, instead of relying solely on word of mouth

http://www.cherokee.org/Extras/Downloads/syllabary.html

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/cherokee.htm

http://www.omniglot.com/babel/cherokee.htm

A Hidden America?

Diane Sawyer Reports on America's Children Living in Poverty in Appalachia in her report called “A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains”.  Although most of what she reports may be true, it is definitely not a solid representation of all the children of the mountains. 

Reporters followed four children: Erica, Shawn, Courtney, and Jeremy.  Courtney lives with a lot of relatives in Kentucky and has to keep her clothes in a suitcase under her bed.  Her mom has a drug problem and is trying to recuperate and get her GED by walking 2 hours to her class and 2 hours back, a 16 mile round trip!  Shawn has to sleep in his truck to avoid all the thievery and dangers, but wishes to be the first in his family to earn his high school diploma and maybe even college.  Jeremy had to give up his dreams when his girlfriend got pregnant; he had to accept a job working 3.5 miles underground in the coal mines. 

Diane Sawyer also touches on the “heroes” of the region such as doctors and dentists reaching out to help “these people”. One of them is a doctor from India, Anant Chandel, who reports that, “it's hard to believe but yes… people are poorer in this part of the country than where I was in India."  One dentist even used his own money to convert his truck to a mobile dentist office, which cost $150,000.  Then Sawyer gives the statistics for “toothlessness” for central Appalachia, which is the highest in the country.

I remember watching all this one night because I wanted to know what all she had to say about it (I even recorded it on my DVD Recorder and still have the copy).  I recall that she mentioned that she was from this area in Appalachia, but I strongly feel that if she really was or if she had strong feelings, not for, but with Appalachia, she would not have been so quick to create an image for Appalachia that I felt to be like a hideous, forsaken place for its citizens. Sure the statistics may be true but only for the area which she was reporting; the story could make anyone have an image that all of Appalachia is such a disastrous place!

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=6845770&page=1