Tsalagi (Cherokee) Language – Lesson 2

Osiyo! In the previous lesson of the Cherokee Culture Series, you learned vowels pronunciations and how to say hello (osiyo). In this lesson I will introduce you to common greetings and courtesies. The format is: words in English, translated to Tsalagi followed by pronunciation breakdown. It is also important to note there is no “c” or “h” in the language. It is replaced by “ts” which is basically the equivalent to a “j”. So Tsalagi would be Jah-lah-gee (gee as in geek). Now, here is today’s lesson:

Goodbye (to one person) – donada`govi (doe-nah-dah-go-uh-ee)

Goodbye (to a group) – do`dagag`hvi (doe-dah-gahg-uh-ee)

Good morning – osda sunalei (ohs-dah soo-nah-lay-ee)

Good evening – osda svhiyeyi (ohs-dah soo-hee-yay-yee)

Good night – osda svnoi (ohs-dah soo-no-ee)

Please – howatsu (hoe-wah-choo)

Thank you or thanks – wado (wah-doe)

You’re welcome – gvlieliga (guh-lee-eh-lee-gah)

Welcome – tsilugi (jee-loo-gee)

Eventually I am going to try to setup a way for you to hear clips of how these words sound. This will help you make sure you understand the pronunciations correctly. It will make it much easier for you to learn future lessens quicker. Until next time.

Do`dagag`hvi!