| Cherokee | |
|---|---|
 Tsa-la-gi ("Cherokee") written in the Cherokee syllabary | |
| Script type | |
Time period | 1820s[1] – present[2] |
| Languages | Cherokee language |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Cher (445), Cherokee |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Cherokee |
| |
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.
- ^ Sturtevant & Fogelson 2004, p. 337.
- ^ "Cherokee language". www.britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ^ Diamond, Jared (1999). Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: Norton. p. 228. ISBN 0393317552.
- ^ Sturtevant & Fogelson 2004, p. 337.