Greetings and politeness in Cherokee
Hello, please, thank you, sorry: the eleven openers everything else builds on. Play the ten Cherokee words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 11 Cherokee phrases in this lesson
- α£αα²oh-SEE-yo
- Hello
- α£αα ααΎα΄α’OHS-da soo-NAH-lay-ee
- Good morning
- α£αα αα―α°α±OHS-da suh-hee-YAY-yee
- Good evening
- ααΎααͺα²α’doh-nah-dah-GOH-huh-ee
- Goodbye
- α£α α―α¬αͺα₯α³OH-nee hee-guh-GOH-uh-yoo
- See you
- α°α©α§hoh-WAH-joo
- Please
- α©αwah-DOH
- Thank you
- α¬α΅α‘α΅α¦guh-lee-AY-lee-gah
- You're welcome
- α€α² α α°αΆαoo-YOH ah-yay-LOH-dee
- Sorry
- αα²SEE-yo
- Excuse me
- α¦α΅α‘α΅ α₯ααΎαΈgah-lee-AY-lee jee-day-NAH-luh
- Nice to meet you
The greeting for anyone at any time. Among friends it shortens to αα² (SEE-yo).
Literally "good morning", built from α£αα (OHS-da), good. Many speakers simply say α£αα² (oh-SEE-yo) at any hour.
Literally "good evening", the same pattern as the morning greeting.
Literally "we will see each other again". Cherokee has no word that means a final goodbye.
I will see you later, a conversational farewell.
Rarely heard in conversation. Politeness in Cherokee lives more in tone and in the form of the verb than in a separate word.
The everyday thank you, and the Cherokee word most visitors already know.
A reply to thanks, from the same root as being glad.
Built on α€α² (oo-YOH), bad: an expression of regret.
There is no set phrase for getting someone's attention, so a quiet short hello does the job.
Literally "I am glad we met".