• IndescribablySad@threads.net@sh.itjust.works
    16·
    22 hours ago

    85 (originally 86)[26] characters in the Cherokee syllabary provide a suitable method to write Cherokee

    That’s fascinating! It’s a relatively new language, so I’m surprised it hasn’t changed more in the last 200 years.

    • ArgentRaven@lemmy.world
      7·
      20 hours ago

      There’s definitely two different dialects now, from the Oklahoma Cherokee and North Carolina Cherokee. That’s simply from the difference between the two. For instance, in the Cherokee Nation, we say “Osiyo” as a greeting, but the Eastern Band of Cherokee say “Siyo”. It’s still written the same way, but it’s an interesting way to see language change in such a recent time (the trail of tears was 1831). Kind of like Spanish in Mexico vs Chile or Spain.

      The language itself is very old (an Iroquoian language base), but the syllabary was created in 1821.

      • LousyCornMuffins@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        18 hours ago

        Thanks for that clarification. Osiyo is one of like five Cherokee words I think I know (at one point I thought I learned how to say “hi, I am speaking Cherokee” or something similar, but my “knowledge” came from the internet so I was never sure)

        For some reason I thought you’d say Osiyo be then the other person would say Siyo and that’s how you said hello. I wonder what language I’m confusing it with.

  • Skullgrid@lemmy.world
    10·
    20 hours ago

    someone done fucked up the transliteration system… or american english phonetics are really fucked.