A Written Language for the Cherokee So Efficient It Was Thought to Be Magic

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/man-created-written-language-cherokee-did-efficiently-elegantly-peers-thought-magic-180988850/

Comments

53 points · 6 comments · view on lemmy.world

6 Comments

Maeve@kbin.earth · 20 pts · 70d

At first, they laughed. Then they scoffed. Finally, they accused him of witchcraft. The Cherokee silversmith named Sequoyah had spent years scratching strange marks on paper. In 1821, his fellow tribespeople, disturbed by his obsession, put him on trial for practicing black magic. Sequoyah insisted his invention would allow Cherokee speakers to write out Iroquoian language for the first time. To test his claim, tribal elders ordered Sequoyah’s young daughter, Ayoka, to another room. Father and daughter separately made marks on paper and told their minders in each room what the marks said. Then the papers were exchanged. When each was able to read the other’s messages aloud, suspicion turned to wonder.

winkly@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 70d (2 replies)

And not a single example to be found in the article

kobra@piefed.social · 10 pts · 70d (1 reply)

It's one of the best kept native languages and there are tons of resources online if you want to see examples or even learn it!

A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 70d

The alphabet is neat too. Its a matrix!

kobra@piefed.social · 7 pts · 70d

Johnny Cash actually has a song about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls_SP7-G3g0

raman_klogius@ani.social · 3 pts · 70d

::: spoiler Amogus jumpscare

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