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Cherokee
Tsa-la-gi ("Cherokee") written in the Cherokee syllabary
Script type
Time period
1820s[1] – present[2]
LanguagesCherokee language
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Cher (445), ​Cherokee
Unicode
Unicode alias
Cherokee
 This page contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and  , see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The Cherokee syllabary is a syllabary invented by Sequoyah in the late 1810s and early 1820s to write the Cherokee language. His creation of the syllabary is particularly noteworthy as he could not previously read any script.[3] He first experimented with logograms, but his system later developed into a syllabary. In his system, each symbol represents a syllable rather than a single phoneme; the 85 (originally 86)[4] characters provide a suitable method to write Cherokee. Although some symbols resemble Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic letters, they are not used to represent the same sounds.

  1. ^ Sturtevant & Fogelson 2004, p. 337.
  2. ^ "Cherokee language". www.britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  3. ^ Diamond, Jared (1999). Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: Norton. p. 228. ISBN 0393317552.
  4. ^ Sturtevant & Fogelson 2004, p. 337.