ᎢᎬᏱ ᏣᎳᎩ ᏗᎾᏕᏠᏆᏍᏗ

[Mol_Bolom]

The First Cherokee Lessons

(For pronunciations, many words can be found here. Remember, search by clicking the button, not by pressing enter).

Dialogue:

ᏣᏂ: ᎣᏏᏲ ᎺᎵ, ᏙᎯᏧ?
ᎺᎵ: ᏙᎯᏊ, ᏂᎯᎾ ᏙᎯᏊᏍ?
ᏣᏂ: ᎠᏴ ᏙᎯᏊ. ᏣᎪᎮᏍ ᏆᎳ?
ᎺᎵ: ᎥᏝ, Ꮭ ᏯᎩᎪᎲ.

Jani: Osiyo Meli, Tohiju?
Meli: Tohigwu, nihina tohigwus?
Jani: Ayv tohigwu.  Jagohes kwala?
Meli: Vtla, tla yagigohv.

John: Hello Mary, how are you?
Mary: I'm fine, and how are you?
John: I'm fine.  Have you seen Paul?
Mary: No, I haven't seen him.


Vocabulary:

ᎣᏏᏲ	osiyo	Hello
ᏣᏂ	Jani	John, Jonny
ᎺᎵ	Meli	Mary
ᏆᎳ	kwala	Paul
ᏙᎯᏧ	tohiju	Fine? Good? Well?
ᏙᎯᏊ	tohigwu	Just fine! Just good! Just well!
ᏙᎯᏊᏍ	tohigwus	Just fine? Just good? Just well?
ᏂᎯᎾ	nihina	And [how/what] about you
ᎠᏴ	ayv	I, me, us, we
ᏣᎪᎮᏍ	jagohes	Did you see it/him/her?
ᎥᏝ	vtla	No, not
Ꮭ	tla	No, not
ᏯᎩᎪᎲ	yagigohv	I didn't see it/him/her. If I saw it/him/her

(This is an experiment, thoughts are welcome).

[Mol_Bolom]

1.2:  ᏗᎵᏍᏓᏴᏗᎢ ᎠᎾᎵᏍᏓᏴᎲᏍᎦ ᎺᎵ ᎠᎴ ᏣᏂ.
Mary and John are eating at a restaurant.

Dialogue:

ᏣᏂ: ᎦᏙ ᎤᏍᏗ ᏣᏗᏔᏍᏗ ᏣᏚᎵ ᎺᎵ?
ᎺᎵ: ᎠᎹ ᎠᎴ ᎧᏫ. ᎧᏫ ᎨᎵ. ᏂᎯᎾᎲ?
ᏣᏂ: ᎧᏫᏋ. ᎦᏙ ᎤᏍᏗ ᏣᎩᏍᏗ ᏣᏚᎵ? ᏏᏆ ᎭᏫᏯ ᎠᎴ ᏄᎾ ᏓᏆᏚᎵᎠ.
ᎺᎵ: ᏥᏔᎦ ᎠᎴ ᏚᏯ ᏓᏆᏚᎵ.

Jani: Gado usdi tsaditasdi tsaduli Meli?
Meli: Ama ale kahwi. Kahwi geli. Nihinahv?
Jani: Kahwigwv. Gado usdi tsagisdi tsaduli? Sikwa hawiya ale nuna dagwadulia.
Meli: Tsitaga ale tuya dagwaduli.

John: What do you want to drink Mary?
Mary: Water or coffee. Coffee I guess.  And you?
John: Only coffee.  What do you want to eat?  I want pork and potatoes.
Mary: I'd like chicken and beans.

Vocabulary:

ᎦᏙ	gado	What?
ᎤᏍᏗ	usdi	kind/type of thing
ᏣᏗᏔᏍᏗ	tsaditasdi	[for] You to drink
ᏣᏚᎵ	tsaduli	You want
ᎠᎹ	ama	Water
ᎠᎴ	ale	and/or
ᎧᏫ	kawi	Coffee
ᎨᎵ	geli	I think so, I think, I am of the oppinion
ᏣᎩᏍᏗ	tsagisdi	[for] You to eat
ᏏᏆ	sikwa	Pig
ᎭᏫᏯ	hawiya	Meat
ᏄᎾ	nuna	Potato
ᏥᏔᎦ	tsitaga	Chicken
ᏚᏯ	tuya	Bean

Notes:

ᏓᏆᏚᎵᎠ : dagwadulia : The prefix d- is added onto the verb to show that the subject -agw- wants plural objects. agwadulia "I want a single thing", dagwadulia "I want more than one thing".

The present tense suffix -a is not necessary so with the words tsaduli and dagwaduli it is left off.

Prefix and suffix list:

d-	Plural object prefix
-agw-	First person singular subject, "I"
ts-	Second person singular subject, "You"
g-	First person singular subject, "I"
-a	Present tense, "Is, am, are"
-gwv, -gwu	Just, only
-di	Infinitive, "To" (as in to eat, to think)
-na, -nahv	And how about? And what about? And?

[Mol_Bolom]

1.3: ᏗᏛᏛᎲᏗ ᎠᎴ ᎡᎿᎢ
Questions and Wild Animals

Deer
ᎦᏙ ᎤᏍᏗ ᎯᎠ?  ᎠᏫ.
Gado usdi hia?  Ahwi.
What is this? It's a deer.

ᎠᏫᏍ?  Ꭵ! ᎠᏫᏛ.
Ahwis? V! Ahwidv.
Is it a deer?  Yes! It's a deer.

Rabbit
ᎦᏙ ᎤᏍᏗ ᎾᏍᎩ? ᏥᏍᏚ.
Gado usdi nasgi? Tsisdu.
What is that? A rabbit.

ᏥᏍᏚᏍ? Ꭵ! ᏥᏍᏚᏊᏛ.
Tsisdus? V! Tsisdugwudv.
Is it a rabbit? Yes! It is just a rabbit.

ᎾᏍ ᏥᏍᏚ? Ꭵ! ᏥᏍᏚᏛ.
Nas tsisdu? V! Tsisdudv.
Is that a rabbit? Yes! It's a rabbit.

Buffalo
ᎦᏙ ᎤᏍᏗ ᎡᎿᎢ? ᏯᎾᏏ.
Gado usdi ehnai? Yansi.
What kind of animal is it?  A buffalo.

ᎡᎿᏍᎪᎲ? Ꭵ! ᏯᎾᏏᏛ ᎡᎿ.
Ehnasgohv? V! Yansidv ehna.
But is it an animal? Yes! A buffalo is an animal.

Butterfly / Elephant
ᎦᏙ ᎤᏍᏗ ᎯᎠ ᎡᎿᎢ? ᎧᎹᎹ.
Gado usdi hia ehnai? Kamama.
What kind of animal is this? A butterfly. (An elephant).

ᎤᏔᎾᏍ ᎧᎹᎹ? Ꭵ! ᎤᏔᎾᏛ. ᎥᏝ! ᎤᏍᏗ.
Utanas kamama? V! Utanadv.  Vtla! Usdi.
Is an elephant/butterfly big?  Yes! It is big.  No! it is small.

Since the large ears on an elephant look like a butterflies wings, therefore, the Cherokees called the elephant Kamama (Butterfly).

Vocabulary:

ᎦᏙ ᎤᏍᏗ	gado usdi	What kind of thing
ᎯᎠ	hia	This
ᎾᏍᎩ, Ꮎ	nasgi, na	That
ᎠᏫ, ᎠᎭᏫ	ahwi, ahawi	Deer
ᎡᎿᎢ	ehnai	Animal, wild animal
ᏯᎾᏏ	yansi	Buffalo
ᏥᏍᏚ	tsisdu	Rabbit
Ꭵ	v	Yes
ᎥᏝ	vtla	No
ᎧᎹᎹ	kamama	Butterfly / Elephant
ᎤᏔᎾ, ᎤᏔᏅ	utana, utanv	Large, big
ᎤᏍᏗ	usdi	Little, small

Notes:
Most nouns, adjectives, and adverbs that end in -na or -nvi are usually interchangeable.  Therefore, the word utana can also be utanvi.

The final vowels, such as -i and the present tense suffix -a can be dropped in normal speech.  So gawonia (He is speaking) can become gawoni (without the final -a). utanvi can be utanv. (Modern Cherokee often drops the final vowels in many words if they follow a consonant, so Usdi can become Usd, utana utan, etc).

Suffixes and Prefixes:

-s	Marks the sentence or word a question.
-sgohv	But is it?
-dv	Truly, definitely (When answering a Yes or No question positively).
-gwu	Just, only

[Mol_Bolom]

1.4: ᎢᏧᏍᏗ
Things

ᎧᏁᏍᏗ	ᎤᎪᏓ ᏌᏊ ᏏᏅ	ᏲᏁᎦ [Ꮧ]ᎧᏁᏍᏗ
ᎧᏁᏌᎢ	ᏗᎧᏁᏌᎢ	Box
ᏍᏆᏞᏍᏗ	ᏗᏍᏆᏞᏍᏗ	Ball
ᎡᎵᏍᎩ	ᏤᎵᏍᎩ	Computer
	ᎠᏗᏙᏗ	ᏗᏗᏙᏗ

Spoon

ᎠᎾᎦᎵᏍᎩ ᏗᏔᎴᏍᏗ

ᎠᎾᎦᎵᏍᎩ ᏗᏔᎴᏍᏗ

Electric drill

ᏗᎪᏪᎶᏙᏗ

ᏗᎪᏪᎶᏙᏗ

Pencil, pen
[/table]

ᎦᏙ ᎤᏍᏗ ᎯᎠ? ᎠᎾᎦᎵᏍᎩ ᏗᏔᎴᏍᏗ.
What is this? An electric drill.

ᎠᎾᎦᎵᏍᎩᏍ ᏗᏔᎴᏍᏗ? Ꭵ! ᎠᎾᎦᎵᏍᎩᏛ ᏗᏔᎴᏍᏗ.
Is this an electric drill? Yes! It is an electric drill.

Review:

ᎦᏙ ᎤᏍᏗ : What kind of thing, what type of thing.  (What is it?)
Ꮫ : Truly, definitely, absolutely, really.  (A suffix added to the first word of an answer to a yes/no question with or without a "yes").

"ᏥᏍᏆᏍᎪ? ᏥᏍᏆᏛ." or "Ꭵ! ᏥᏍᏆᏛ."

Ꮚ, Ꮛ : Just, only. (A suffix).

ᏥᏍᏆᏊ, ᏥᏍᏆᏋ : It's just a bird, it's only a bird.

Ꮝ, ᏍᎪ, Ꮷ : Suffixes used on the first word of a sentence to mark the sentence a question.

ᏥᏍᏆᏍ, ᏥᏍᏆᏍᎪ, ᏥᏍᏆᏧ : Is it a bird?

Mixing suffixes together:

Is it only a bird? ᏥᏍᏆᏋᏍ? ᏥᏍᏆᏊᏍ? ᏥᏍᏆᏊᏧ? ᏥᏍᏆᏊᏍᎪ?
Yes, it is just a bird.  Ꭵ! ᏥᏍᏆᏋᏛ. Ꭵ! ᏥᏍᏆᏊᏛ.

The suffix gwu (Ꮚ), in rapid speech, sometimes becomes gwv (Ꮛ).

Now use these lists of words to create your own questions and answers. Therefore, this thread, and lesson, is finished, or at least this draft is done.  From now on, if you come across new words or just want to practice these words then post what you have done or found using anything you have learned from this thread.

ᎣᏍᏓ ᎭᏕᏠᏆ.
(Good learning)