ᎦᏙᎤᏍᏗ ᎠᎢᏒ ᏅᎩ ᎦᏅᏍᎨᏂᏗ ᎾᎿ, ᏔᎵ ᎦᏅᏍᎨᏂᏗ ᎾᎿ, ᎠᎴ' ᏦᎢ ᎦᏅᏍᎨᏂᏗ ᎾᎿ?
ᎦᏬᎯᎵᏴᏛ: ᏴᏫ.
gadousdi aisv nvgi ganvsgenidi nahna, tali ganvsgenidi nahna, ale' tsoi ganvsgenidi nahna?
gawohiliyvdv: yvwi
When Cherokee and Udugi are written in the Roman alphabet, the letter "v" represents the sixth vowel, which sounds like "uh" in English.
The Sequoia Syllabary is only suitable for writing Cherokee and Udugi, because it only contains the phonology (sounds) of those languages. Since Udugi vocabulary is based on Cherokee, it uses the same sounds--it's just a matter of a simpler grammar. I estimate that a Cherokee speaker (they are getting rarer by the day) can figure out 80% of Udugi without previous study.
The riddle above can teach you the meanings of ten Udugi words. I published a complete Udugi dictionary (including a sketch of the grammar) in this blog on May 26, 2020. It is also the pinned post in my profile. You have everything you need to get started in this wonderful, expressive language.
Text Copyright © 2021 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler, ᏃᏈᏏ-ᎤᎦᏔ.
