What Are Some Common Cherokee Words and Phrases?
Some common words and phrases used in everyday greetings include “o si yo,” which means “hello”; “wa do,” which means “thank you”; and “tsi lu gi,” which means “welcome.” Cherokee has six vowels and 17 consonants, and the words are spelled in the language according to how they are pronounced.
Some other common words and phrases used in everyday greetings include “do hi tsu,” which means “how are you”; “do hi quu,” which means “I am well”; “o s da su na le i,” which means “good morning”; “o s da su he he ye e,” which means “good evening”; “o s da su no e,” which means “good night”; “do na da’ go hv i,” which is used to say “goodbye” to one person; and “do’ da da go’ hv i,” which is used to say “goodbye” to a group.
Some Cherokee words used for people include “a s ga ya,” which means “man”; “i ge and i ge ya,” both of which mean “woman”; “e do da,” which means “father”; “e tsi,” which means “mother”; “e do di,” which means “grandfather”; “e li si,” which means “grandmother”; “si-da-ni-lv,” which means “family”; and “tsu-na-li,” which means “friends.” In addition, “tsu tsa” is used for a boy and “a ge yu tsa” is used for a girl.
