endangered language | Page 2 | Your Grandmother's Cherokee

Bullet Standingdeer: "A Way to Understand"

Oct 31, 2015

"I believed, and could not let go, that there had to be a way to understand, not just mimic like a parrot or a crow, but a way to understand it and know what you were saying. That is why this has been developed."

My mother, her day. Agitsi utseli iga.

May 9, 2015

In Cherokee language, say "Etsi," for "Mother" when you are speaking directly to your mother. If you are talking about her or someone else's mother, you can be very specific.

Level 2 Students Master FUTURE tense

May 5, 2015

Level 2 students taking the Your Grandmother's Cherokee course in Cherokee, N.C., have just mastered the FUTURE tense. For example, "I will go to Asheville" = Tokiasdi dagesi. They passed their exam with A's and B's. Way to go!

Spring--Gogeyi

Red Maples in the Great Smoky Mountains. Photo by Barbara R. Duncan

Apr 2, 2015

Gohi iga
This day
(Today)

Kawoni taline
April 2nd

Uganawa
It’s warm outside

Atse tsogesi
Green fields
(Fields are green)

Anatsilvsga
Flowers are blooming

Level 1 Students Get High Marks on Final Exam

Jan 13, 2015

Congratulations to all the students in Cherokee NC who passed the Level 1 test with high marks! They have come to class, studied, laughed, and persevered.

Happy New Year -- Ulihelisdi Atse Udetiyvsv'i

Fireworks in Cherokee, photo by Kristy Maney Herron

Jan 1, 2015

Ulihelisdi = it to be happy

Atse = new

Udetiyvsv'i = it was a year

Udetiyvsv'i is the same word as "He, she, or it had a birthday," meaning in English, that it has been a year.

Ditsaliheligi! = You all be happy!

Ulihelisdi Unadetiyisgv'i -- Merry Christmas

Dec 22, 2014

People who grew up speaking Cherokee say “Merry Christmas” several different ways. This is another phrase that cannot be translated exactly from English to Cherokee.

Thanksgiving--Words for Eating

Nov 27, 2014

Some Cherokee words specify whether the action is happening to a solid, liquid, flexible thing, long thing, or living thing. This is another way that Cherokee language differs from English. Talking about eating is very specific.