Cherokee Syllabary Pronunciation Key
a as a in father
e as a in way
I as e in bee
O as o in oh
U as oo in pool
V as u in huh, nasalized
The Cherokee language uses the following English consonants: d g h k l m n q s t w.
Note: ts makes a "j" sound
The following English consonants do not exist in the Cherokee language: b f p r* 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.
The Cherokee alphabet is written in the syllabary form. A syllabary is an alphabet in which each letter in a word stands for a whole syllable (such as "ga" ) instead of a single letter (such as "g"). With the exception of the letter "s," Cherokee is a complete syllabary.
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.
A beginning speaker should try to keep the lips still, mouth slightly opened, pressing the tongue against the lower teeth.
Syllables 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.
At times, Cherokee syllables have unvoiced or silent vowels. At times the silent vowel may be indicated with an apostrophe as in the number seven, "ga l' quo gi" - or indicated by brackets "ga (li) quo gi." When this happens the consonant in that syllable is pronounced with the preceding syllable, "gal quo gi."