Tsalagi Tsiwoniha
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lesson 1
This lesson has an accompanying video. You can go to the video for the lesson on our You Tube channel at https://youtu.be/3tkcT8T782Y. You can also watch the video here.
Lesson 1 Getting to Know You
Dialogue
This is the written form of the video dialogue in phonetics. Words that are not followed by punctuation have two spaces between them so that the words can be separated into syllables without cumbersome dashes. This is what you will hear being said in the dialogue on the video. Your teacher may want you to watch the video first, study the vocabulary (listed below) before watching the video, or practice the reading first. Follow your teacher's lead. Syllables that have parts of them underlined do so to show where speakers may drop sounds out. You need to have the whole syllable in phonetics, however, to be able to write the dialogue in the syllabary.
Me li: Si yo. O si gwo tsu?
Ne la si: Si yo. Ha di. U yo a gwa da na ta.
Me li: U da do li s di tsa da nv ta.
Ne la si: Su na le.
Me li: Su na le.
Me li: Si yo. O si gwu tsu?
JC: Si yo, Me li. O si gwo. Ni hi na?
Me li: O si gwu.
JC: O s da.
Me li: Ha wa. De na da go hv yu.
JC: De na da go hv i.
ACTIVITY: Write or type the dialogue in your notes. Practice the dialogue aloud with your classmates in groups of three. Be prepared to present the dialogue as a skit for the class. During the practice, take on each of the roles at least once, and then decide who will have each of the roles for your final presentation.
Cultural Note: Remember to shake hands as you greet and take leave of people. The words used to take leave of people in Cherokee do not mean "good-bye." They are more accurately translated as "until we meet again," here speaking to one person. There is no word in Cherokee for "good-bye."
Homework: Use your syllabary chart to rewrite the dialogue in the syllabary. Practice reading it in syllabary only. if you want additional practice with the syllabary, this site will be helpful to you:
http://www.nativehistoryassociation.org/tutor_syllabary.php
Language Notes:
1. The terms o si gwo tsu and o si gwu tsu mean the same thing. They are just dialectical differences. The same is true of the responses o si gwo and o si gwu.
2. Underlined vowels in the words indicate a sound that is usually not pronounced when speaking. You need to know the whole syllable, however, in order to write the word in the syllabary.
3. In the Tutiyi (Snowbird) community, a gwa da na ta is pronounced ha gwa da na ta. This is a dialectical difference.
4. The two farewells that are similar here both mean the same thing. These are also just dialectical differences, and for these words, there are several more, depending on the community the speaker comes from.
VOCABULARY LIST
Si yo. Hello.
O si gwo/gwu tsu? Are you fine?/Are you well?
V. Yes.
Ha di. No.
O si gwo/gwu. I am fine (or well).
U yo (h)a gwa da na ta. I feel bad.
U da do li s di tsa da nv ta. Oh, you do not feel well
(acknowledgement).
O s da. Good.
Ni hi na? And you?
Su na le. See you tomorrow.
De na da go hv yu/i. Until we meet again. (to one person)
Lesson 1 Getting to Know You
Dialogue
This is the written form of the video dialogue in phonetics. Words that are not followed by punctuation have two spaces between them so that the words can be separated into syllables without cumbersome dashes. This is what you will hear being said in the dialogue on the video. Your teacher may want you to watch the video first, study the vocabulary (listed below) before watching the video, or practice the reading first. Follow your teacher's lead. Syllables that have parts of them underlined do so to show where speakers may drop sounds out. You need to have the whole syllable in phonetics, however, to be able to write the dialogue in the syllabary.
Me li: Si yo. O si gwo tsu?
Ne la si: Si yo. Ha di. U yo a gwa da na ta.
Me li: U da do li s di tsa da nv ta.
Ne la si: Su na le.
Me li: Su na le.
Me li: Si yo. O si gwu tsu?
JC: Si yo, Me li. O si gwo. Ni hi na?
Me li: O si gwu.
JC: O s da.
Me li: Ha wa. De na da go hv yu.
JC: De na da go hv i.
ACTIVITY: Write or type the dialogue in your notes. Practice the dialogue aloud with your classmates in groups of three. Be prepared to present the dialogue as a skit for the class. During the practice, take on each of the roles at least once, and then decide who will have each of the roles for your final presentation.
Cultural Note: Remember to shake hands as you greet and take leave of people. The words used to take leave of people in Cherokee do not mean "good-bye." They are more accurately translated as "until we meet again," here speaking to one person. There is no word in Cherokee for "good-bye."
Homework: Use your syllabary chart to rewrite the dialogue in the syllabary. Practice reading it in syllabary only. if you want additional practice with the syllabary, this site will be helpful to you:
http://www.nativehistoryassociation.org/tutor_syllabary.php
Language Notes:
1. The terms o si gwo tsu and o si gwu tsu mean the same thing. They are just dialectical differences. The same is true of the responses o si gwo and o si gwu.
2. Underlined vowels in the words indicate a sound that is usually not pronounced when speaking. You need to know the whole syllable, however, in order to write the word in the syllabary.
3. In the Tutiyi (Snowbird) community, a gwa da na ta is pronounced ha gwa da na ta. This is a dialectical difference.
4. The two farewells that are similar here both mean the same thing. These are also just dialectical differences, and for these words, there are several more, depending on the community the speaker comes from.
VOCABULARY LIST
Si yo. Hello.
O si gwo/gwu tsu? Are you fine?/Are you well?
V. Yes.
Ha di. No.
O si gwo/gwu. I am fine (or well).
U yo (h)a gwa da na ta. I feel bad.
U da do li s di tsa da nv ta. Oh, you do not feel well
(acknowledgement).
O s da. Good.
Ni hi na? And you?
Su na le. See you tomorrow.
De na da go hv yu/i. Until we meet again. (to one person)