The Cherokee writing syllabary developed by Sequoyah

Vowel Sounds

a, as a in father, or short as a in rival
e, as a in hate, or short as e in met
i, as i in pique, or short as i in pit
o, as o in note, approaching aw as in law
u, as oo in fool, or short as u in pull
v, as u in but, nasalized

Cherokee Syllabary Pronunciation Key

Almost all Cherokee syllables end in a vowel. When using the syllabary, Cherokee words can almost always be spelled as they are pronounced. Spelling sometimes varies when using English letters to interpret the syllables.

The Cherokee language uses the following English consonants: d g h k l m n q s t w

The following English consonants do not exixt in the Cherokee language: b f p r* t v x z.

*The Eastern or lower dialect which is now extinct used a rolling "r", which took the place of the "l" of the other dialects.

A beginning speaker should try keep the lips still, mouth slightly opened, pressing the tongue against the lower teeth.

Syallables beginning with "g" except (ga) are pronounced almost as in English, but approaching to (k).

Syllables beginning with "d" are pronounced almost as in English, but approaching to (t); do, du , dv are sounded as to, tu, tv in some words.

Syllables written with (ti) except (tla) sometimes vary to "di". The syllables "do, du, dv " are sometimes sounded "to, tu, tv."

The syllables qua, que, qui, quo, quu, quv are pronounced with a "kw" sound before each vowel.

The syllables dla, tla, tle, tli, tlo, tlu, tlv are pronounced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth and bringing it down as the syllables are spoken. The syllables written with "tl" except "tla" sometimes are pronounced "dl".

The syllabes tsa, tse, tsi, tso, tsu, tsv are pronounced a little differently depending upon the dialect. In Western Cherokee the syllables are usually pronounced as the "j" in jaw. Remember to try to keep the tongue at the bottom of the mouth, touching the bottom teeth and the "j" sound becomes softer.