Cherokee

Welcome to the Cherokee Wikibook! This is a work in progress.

Are you a Cherokee person endeavoring to learn your ancestral language?

Are you a non-Cherokee person interested in the Cherokee language?

If so, we hope this book may be of great use to you! The introduction provides a contextualization of the Cherokee language, its status, and its standout features. The lessons are designed to explain concepts in thorough, accurate, and unpretentious language that the common reader will understand.

Learning Cherokee, or any language, is a long process requiring great emotional investment, time commitment, and a dedication to using practical strategies to overcome inevitable challenges, anxiety, and frustration. You must be patient. We graciously invite you to proceed if you believe this undertaking to be worth it.

If you have any general questions about content in this book, feel free to leave a comment on the Discussion tab of the corresponding page.

Mission and Philosophy
Our mission is not necessarily that you become fluent in Cherokee. Rather, with language being a vehicle for human connection, our goal is that you are able to use the Cherokee language to the extent that you wish in order to form and maintain meaningful connections with Cherokee speakers and learners.

As such, this course's layout and pedagogical content are (currently being) designed to facilitate your ability to smoothly climb up the ladder of functional proficiency in the language. Practical, everyday terms are the first focus in the course. From there, you will be guided to learn and internalize the structures within the language instead of being inundated with vocabulary that you have not been given the framework to handle.

Regardless of your experience with linguistics, if you are interested in learning about Cherokee rather than learning to speak it, you will find that this site also has many useful pages for you outside the Course section.

For Everyone
Reading these short articles is highly recommended to everyone! You will understand how the Cherokee language fits into the larger North American linguistic situation, get an overview of the history of the language, and become aware of the revitalization projects and how you can help out! The accessibility statement pertains to the current and upcoming features of this site designed to foster a smooth learning experience for all.
 * Classification
 * History
 * Revitalization
 * Accessibility

For the New Learner
The new learner of Cherokee may easily feel discouraged by the reputation of the language as tonally complex and polysynthetic. The articles below will help demystify these phenomena and show you the true nature of the structure of Cherokee. Also check out the article on learning tips.
 * On Tone
 * On Polysynthesis
 * Learning Tips

For the Linguist and Dedicated Student

 * Survey of Resources (Research History)

Lexicon & Vocabulary
This section contains the dictionary and vocabulary lists you may find useful for studying. Eventually we envision Anki decks (digital flashcards) for the vocabulary list to help you memorize the lexicon via spaced repetition.
 * Dictionary
 * Learn Vocabulary
 * Critical Pairs

Grammar
Below is a list of articles about specific areas of Cherokee grammar. Linguists will find this a good place to start research. The general learner is also highly encouraged to refer these articles as they are recommended throughout the course.

Phonology

 * Vowels
 * Consonants
 * Laryngeal Alternation and Aspiration Classes
 * Pronominal Tonic Lowering


 * Tone in Cherokee

Orthography

 * On the Syllabary

Verbs

 * Verb Template
 * Five Stems
 * Modal Suffixes
 * Conjugation Classes
 * Verb Root
 * Inflection Tree
 * Lexical Features of the Verb
 * Prepronominal Prefixes
 * Derivational Suffixes

Pronouns

 * Pronominal Prefixes
 * Reflexive and Middle Voice

Other Affixes

 * Clitics

Nouns and Adjectives

 * Nouns
 * Adjectives
 * Derivational Morphology

Connectors

 * Adpositions
 * Conjunctions

Quantity

 * Expressing Quantity
 * Numerals

Niche Studies

 * Ambiguity in the Syllabary and Possible Solutions

Explore the Language (Hyperfixation Stations)
Niche Vocabulary Lists of Nouns with Pronunciation Tips

Good-to-Know Lil' Connecting Elements

(Not So?) Secret Uses of Individual Verbs and Inflections

Literally All the Adjectives We Were Able to Document

Course
General (i.e. non-linguist) learners should feel free to start from these lessons! Some important grammar points are contained in their own lesson pages for neater reference. {| class="wikitable" !Lesson Number !Topic !Associated Grammar Points ! colspan="3" |
 * +Cherokee Lessons

Preparation and Drills
! colspan="3" |
 * i
 * colspan="2" |Syllabary: Reading and Writing
 * ii
 * colspan="2" |Listening for Vowel Length
 * iii
 * colspan="2" |Listening for Tones
 * iii
 * colspan="2" |Listening for Tones
 * colspan="2" |Listening for Tones

Module 1: Fundamentals
! colspan="3" |
 * 1
 * Greetings and Introductions
 * 2
 * Basic Vocabulary
 * 3
 * Simple Sentences
 * Word Order, Parts of Speech
 * 4
 * Important Verbs
 * Features of Verbs, Conjugation Overview
 * 5
 * More Sentence Structures
 * 4
 * Important Verbs
 * Features of Verbs, Conjugation Overview
 * 5
 * More Sentence Structures
 * 5
 * More Sentence Structures

Module 2: Core Content
! colspan="3" |
 * 6
 * Numbers and Quantity
 * Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers, Counters
 * 7
 * Time and Date
 * 8
 * Stuff
 * 9
 * Feelings and Emotions
 * 10
 * Communication
 * Using Tone
 * 11
 * Sensory Perception
 * 12
 * Cognition
 * 13
 * Describing Life
 * 14
 * Describing People
 * 15
 * Interpersonal Relationships
 * 16
 * Physics and Structure
 * 17
 * Life Activities
 * 18
 * Describing Stuff
 * 19
 * Earth
 * Describing Life
 * 14
 * Describing People
 * 15
 * Interpersonal Relationships
 * 16
 * Physics and Structure
 * 17
 * Life Activities
 * 18
 * Describing Stuff
 * 19
 * Earth
 * 17
 * Life Activities
 * 18
 * Describing Stuff
 * 19
 * Earth
 * 18
 * Describing Stuff
 * 19
 * Earth
 * 19
 * Earth

Module 3: Culture

 * 20
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }

Temporary
Notes for the Book Writers

Additional Resources
Cherokee Nation Language Department

Cherokee-English Online Dictionary

CED Game

Digital Archive of Indigenous Language Persistence (DAILP)

Cherokee Writing the Keetoowah Way (DAILP)

Culturev Cherokee Resource

Resources