Cherokee on the iPad

The Cherokee language is unique in its widespread adoption of a syllabic writing system designed by a Native speaker. Equally unique is that users of this writing system have persevered to implement the system electronically. Cherokee syllabics are incorporated int the Unicode character set and have been widely available on personal computers since 2003. Now a new app developed by Thornton Media makes it possible to learn Cherokee syllabics on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod.

A syllabic writing system differs from an alphabetic writing system in that each symbol represents not just a single consonant or vowel but rather an entire syllable. Given the number of possible combinations of consonants and vowels which may form a syllable, a syllabic writing usually system requires more symbols. Some syllabic systems get around this problem by using regular variation of a symbol in a meaningful way. For example, in the Cree syllabary the syllables pa and ta are indicated with ᐸ an ᑕ, respectively. Reversing these symbols changes the vowels from a to o, so that po and to are represented by ᐳ and ᑐ, respectively. So in the Cree system one need learn only about 15 basic symbols.

In contrast, the Cherokee system doesn't use rotation or symbol variation to indicate meaning. Instead, 85 unique symbols are used to indicate different syllables. So learners have many more symbols to learn in order to become literate. That's where the app becomes very helpful.

My attempt to write the character for ka.

Thanks to Thornton Media I had the opportunity to test-drive the Writing Cherokee for iPad app. This app provides representations of each of the 85 Cherokee characters, organized by row. Clicking on a character both displays the character and plays a recording of the syllable pronounced by a native speaker. The app takes full advantage of the iPad's touch screen by writing the character as if it were being written on the screen and also allowing the user to practice tracing the character. This is particularly useful because the Cherokee characters are for the most part different from those in the English alphabet--or any other alphabet for that matter. Also, the recordings are very high quality--crisp and clean.

All in all it's a pretty simple app, but incredibly useful for learning these 85 characters, most of which will be new to learners. The same company also produces an iPhone/iPod version of the Writing Cherokee app, as well as a Learning Cherokee app. The latter contains basic phrases organized by category. Like the Writing Cherokee app, the recordings are very clear and useful. There's a free "lite" version which you can download if you'd like to check out how it works.

Cherokee Lite app

This story in the Muskogee Phoenix describes the impact of tools like the iPad app on Cherokee language revitalization.

Thornton Media has certainly blazed new ground with this app. It would be great to see apps like these for Alaskan languages.