I don't get many emails from my web site, around a couple a week. But 90% of those seem to be requests from people asking me for translations. Some are polite about it, some are quite rude. But I worry that all of them think I know more Cherokee than they do.
Chances are, I don't. My family stopped speaking Cherokee when my grandparents were young. The government was said to kidnap children and put them in boarding schools for speaking an American language. So my family, like many, stopped.
For me, this whole Cherokee language thing started back in 1992 when i created some paper flashcards (followed by a DOS flashcard program followed by a Windows flashcard program followed by an Internet version of the flash cards, all of which have been lost over the years) because, like many in my mother's generation, I wanted to learn the language. But I am not a native speaker.
Which means that many of the people who have emailed me have been disappointed. I am too busy to reply to most in a timely manner (it can take me a month or longer), and I normally have to look up the answer.
If you are looking for a certain Cherokee word, your best bet is probably the Internet newsgroups like soc.culture.native.
Another option is a Cherokee dictionary, but I haven't found a very comprehensive one, and besides, most book stores don't carry them, making them hard to find.
So, for all those people who would normally email me for help, I am building an English/Cherokee dictionary. Chances are, if it's not on this list, I don't know the answer.
Now, on with the list...
| About | gvwaduwidv | |
| Across | diganadiwissvi | |
| After | ulosonv | |
| Again | asiquo | |
| Against | digatelegi | |
| All | nigadv | |
| Alligator | tsulasgi | |
| Almost | navnigesdi | |
| Among | nunadvnv | |
| And | ale | |
| Animals | ehnai | |
| Ant | dosvdali | |
| Any | inusdi | |
| At | nanahi | |
| Bat | tlameha |    |
| Bear, Bears | yonva |  |
| Beaver, Beavers | doya |  |
| Because | igvnisisgi | |
| Bed Bug | galuisdi |  |
| Bee | wadulisi | |
| Before | udalulv |  |
| Belief | uwohiyusv |    |
| Between | ayeli |  |
| Bird, Birds | tsisqua |   |
| Blacksnake (climber) | galegi | |
| Bluebird | tsaquolade |   |
| Bluejay | tlaiga | |
| Bobcat, Bobcats | gvhe |  |
| Book | goweli |   |
| Bull | tsukanvsdena |  |
| But | aseno |   |
| Butterfly | kamama |  |
| Buzzard | suli |  |
| By | navi | |
| Centipede | tsuganotsi | |
| Chickadee | tsigalili | |
| Chicken, Chickens | tsitaga |  |
| Come | lvla | |
| Cow, Cattle | waga | |
| Crawfish | tsisdvna | |
| Deer (singular and plural) | vsgiyi |  |
| Do | nahdvga | |
| Dog, Dogs | gitli |  |
| Donkey (long-eared) | digalinvhidv | |
| Donkeys | dinigalinvhidv | |
| Dove | woya | |
| Down | eladi | |
| Dragonfly | wadaduga | |
| Duck | kawoni | |
| Eagle | wohali | |
| Earthworm | utsiya or unitsiya | or |
| East | kalvgv | |
| Eighth | tsunelinei |  |
| Elephant (or Butterfly) | kamama | |
| Enough | eliquv |  |
| Even | itsulaha | |
| Ever | iyuquo | |
| Every | nagavi | |
| Far | invhiyu | |
| Female | ageyv |  |
| Fish | atsadi | |
| Forward | igvyiditlv |  |
| Fox, Foxes | tsutla | |
| Friend | unalii | |
| Frog | walosi | |
| From | anigisdi nidvlenvda | |
| Get | higi | |
| Give | adanedi | |
| Go | hanigi | |
| Goat | ukasotsanedv | |
| Goodbye (one to one) | donadagohvi |  |
| Goodbye (one to several) | dodadagohvi | |
| Goose | sasa |  |
| Groundhog | ogana |  |
| Grubs | sgoyi or tsvsgoyi | or  |
| Happy | alihelisdi | |
| Have | uha | |
| He | atsvyai | |
| Hello | osiyo | |
| Help | alisdelvdi | |
| Here | ahani | |
| Hornet | kanatsisdetsi | |
| Horse, Horses | soquili |  |
| Horsefly | damaga | |
| How are you? | dohitsu | |
| Hummingbird | waleli | |
| I | aya | |
| I am a Cherokee | tetsalagi | |
| I am fine | osda | |
| I am going home | diquenvsvi gega |  |
| I am going now | gega | |
| Iron Pot | tsulasgi | |
| It's all right | osda | |
| Journey | visvi | |
| Katydid | sigigi | |
| Keep | ihesdi | |
| Laugh | uyetsasgv | |
| Learning | anade loquosgv | |
| Let | ulisgo lvtanv | |
| Little | usti |  |
| Lizard | tiyohali | |
| Locust | lolo | |
| Louse, Lice | tina | |
| Love | gvgeyui | |
| Medicine Man | didanvwisgi | |
| Mink | etli | |
| Mosquito | dosa | |
| Mouse | tsisdetsi | |
| Ninth | sonelinei | |
| No | vtla | |
| Old Man | udvsanvhi | |
| Old Woman | agayvligei | |
| Owl | wahuhi |  |
| Oyster | dagvna | |
| Panther, Panthers (also means Large Wildcat) | tlvdatsi | |
| Perch (the Fish, Not The Verb) | agoli or anigoli | or |
| Pig, Pigs | siqua | |
| Pleasure | alihelitsidosdi | |
| Quail | guque |  |
| Rabbit, Rabbits | tsisadu | |
| Raccoon, Raccoons | gvli | |
| Rat | tsisdetsi | |
| Rooster | atsvya | |
| Roosters | anitsvya | |
| Sapsucker | gvquoha | |
| Scorpion | tsisdvna adatsvisgi | |
| Seventh | galiquoginei | |
| Sheep (plural) | uninodena | |
| Sheep (woolly) | unodena | |
| Skunk, Skunks | dili | |
| Snake | inadv | |
| Snapping Turtle | saligugi | |
| Spider | kananesgi | |
| Spiders | anikananesgi | |
| Squirrel | saloli | |
| Summer | gogeyi | |
| Sun | nvdoigaehi | |
| Tadpole | tega | |
| Teaching | dadeyohvsgv | |
| Tenth | sgohinei | |
| Thank You | wado | |
| Tick | gugai | |
| Toad | tega | |
| Turkey | gvna | |
| Wasp | kanatsisdetsi | |
| Whippoorwill | tsaqualequala | |
| Wise | agatahnai | |
| Witch | atsasgili | |
| Wizard | advnelisgi | |
| Wolf, Wolves | waya | |
| Woman | ageyv | |
| Worms | sgoyi or tsvsgoyi | or |
| Wren | tsitsi | |
| Yellow Mockingbird | huhu | |
| Yellowjacket | tsasgaya | |
| Yes | vv | |
| You are going home | sudali | |
You can trust some guys. Really, I've read about them.
- Buffy, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Revelations