the cherokee syllabary
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The Cherokee Syllabary. Carrie Clarady University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language. Writing Systems. Three major categories Logographic Syllabic Alphabetic/segmental These categories are not firm and systems can change and evolve across these major categories. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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The Cherokee Syllabary
Carrie ClaradyUniversity of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language
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Writing Systems
Three major categories Logographic Syllabic Alphabetic/segmental
These categories are not firm and systems can change and evolve across these major categories
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Writing Systems
Logographic/Ideographic Oldest forms of writing Not a pure system – usually has some
kind of phonetic or sound information bound up in the characters
Can extend through the “rebus” principle – use homophony of parts to construct new representations
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Writing Systems
Alphabetic 1 character = 1 sound – sort of Abjads – no vowels Abugidas – inherent vowels Easily adaptable for use in other
languages and also for new coinages and loanwords
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Writing Systems
Syllabaries Each syllable has its own unique
symbol Best suited for languages with very
simple syllable structures Almost always CV, and almost always
used for CV languages
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Writing Systems
Languages and their writing systems are not the same thing!
But that doesn’t mean they aren’t related to each other, either
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Languages in the Americas
Pre-European – thousands of languages and hundreds of language families
Extinction rates – maybe half left in N. America
Continued preservation efforts It is estimated that only twenty N.
American indigenous languages will remain viable by the year 2050.
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Cherokee
One of around 300 languages native to North America
Part of the Iroquoian family of languages
Polysynthetic – each word has a lot of parts
‘Cherokee’ – eastern band. More common is ‘Tsalagi’, from the west
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The sound system of Cherokee
Small phonemic inventory 12 consonants 6 vowels – long and short variants,
including schwa Tone is distinctive Syllable structure – open syllables,
CV overwhelmingly common, extrasyllabic /s/
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The Cherokee syllabary
The story of Sequoyah 1809 – 1819 – active development Script and language traveled west
with the Cherokee
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The Cherokee syllabary
Structure – graphic, organization
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The Cherokee syllabary
Code talkers – World War II Mostly Cree and Comanche, but some
evidence of Cherokee used in the same way
Vai syllabary - Liberia
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The Cherokee syllabary
Modern use in print and online
Mostly used for heritage and folklorepurposes now
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Further resources
Cherokee.org Society for the Study of the
Indigenous Languages of the Americas (SSILA)
Contact me: [email protected]