How to count in Cherokee

Enter a number and read it spelled out in Cherokee.

Language overview

Cherokee (ᏣᎳᎩ, transliterated as tsalagi) is an Iroquoian language written with a unique syllabary writing system devised by Sequoyah in 1819. It is nowadays spoken by about 20,000 people.
Due to lack of data, we can only count accurately up to 999,999 in Cherokee. Please contact us if you can help us counting up from that limit.

Cherokee numbering rules

  • Numbers from zero to ten are specific words, namely Ꮭ ᎪᏍᏗ (tla gosdi) [0] (nothing), ᏐᏬ (sowo) [1], ᏔᎵ (tali) [2], ᏦᎢ (tsoi) [3], ᏅᎩ (nvgi) [4], ᎯᏍᎩ (hisgi) [5], ᏑᏓᎵ (sudali) [6], ᎦᎵᏉᎩ (galiquogi) [7], ᏧᏁᎳ (tsunela) [8], ᏐᏁᎳ (sonela) [9], and ᏍᎪᎯ (sgohi) [10].
  • From eleven to nineteen, numbers are built by adding the “-Ꮪ” (-du) suffix after the unit which can slightly change phonetically: ᏌᏚ (sadu) [11], ᏔᎵᏚ (talidu) [12], ᏦᎦᏚ (tsogadu) [13], ᏂᎦᏚ (nigadu) [14], ᎯᏍᎦᏚ (hisgadu) [15], ᏓᎳᏚ (daladu) [16], ᎦᎵᏆᏚ (galiquadu) [17], ᏁᎳᏚ (neladu) [18], and ᏐᏁᎳᏚ (soneladu) [19].
  • The tens are formed by adding the “-ᎪᎯ” (-gohi) suffix at the end of the matching digit: ᏍᎪᎯ (sgohi) [10], ᏔᎵᏍᎪᎯ (talisgohi) [20], ᏦᎢᏍᎪᎯ (tsoisgohi) [30], ᏅᎩᏍᎪᎯ (nvgisgohi) [40], ᎯᏍᎩᏍᎪᎯ (hisgisgohi) [50], ᏑᏓᎵᏍᎪᎯ (sudalisgohi) [60], ᎦᎵᏆᏍᎪᎯ (galiquasgohi) [70], ᏧᏁᎳᏍᎪᎯ (tsunelasgohi) [80], and ᏐᏁᎳᏍᎪᎯ (sonelasgohi) [90].
  • From twenty-one to ninety-nine, the numbers are made by saying the ten with its last syllable (-Ꭿ, -hi) removed, then the unit (eg. ᏔᎵᏍᎪ ᏦᎢ (talisgo tsoi) [23], ᎦᎵᏆᏍᎪ ᏑᏓᎵ (galiquasgo sudali) [76]). When composed with a ten, the digit one changes from ᏐᏬ (sowo) to ᏌᏬ (sawo) (eg. ᏦᎢᏍᎪ ᏌᏬ (tsoisgo sawo) [31] and not ᏦᎢᏍᎪ ᏐᏬ (tsoisgo sowo)).
  • One hundred is said ᏍᎪᎯᏥᏆ (sgohitsiqua). The other hundreds are made by setting the multiplier root before the one hundred word with no space: ᏔᎵᏍᎪᎯᏥᏆ (talisgohitsiqua) [200], ᏦᏍᎪᎯᏥᏆ (tsosgohitsiqua) [300], ᏅᎩᏍᎪᎯᏥᏆ (nvgisgohitsiqua) [400], ᎯᏍᎩᏍᎪᎯᏥᏆ (hisgisgohitsiqua) [500], ᏑᏓᎵᏍᎪᎯᏥᏆ (sudalisgohitsiqua) [600], ᎦᎵᏆᏍᎪᎯᏥᏆ (galiquasgohitsiqua) [700], ᏧᏁᎵᏍᎪᎯᏥᏆ (tsunelisgohitsiqua) [800], and ᏐᏁᎵᏍᎪᎯᏥᏆ (sonelisgohitsiqua) [900].
  • The word for thousand is ᎢᏯᎦᏴᎵ (iyagayvli). The thousands are built by writing the multiplier before the thousand word, exactly as in English (e.g.: ᏐᏬ ᎢᏯᎦᏴᎵ (sowo iyagayvli) [1,000], ᏔᎵ ᎢᏯᎦᏴᎵ (tali iyagayvli) [2,000], ᏦᎢ ᎢᏯᎦᏴᎵ (tsoi iyagayvli) [3,000]).

Books

  • In English
    • Beginning Cherokee [, ], Ruth Bradley Holmes, Betty Sharp Smith, University of Oklahoma Press (1992)

Numbers list

1 – ᏐᏬ (sowo)
2 – ᏔᎵ (tali)
3 – ᏦᎢ (tsoi)
4 – ᏅᎩ (nvgi)
5 – ᎯᏍᎩ (hisgi)
6 – ᏑᏓᎵ (sudali)
7 – ᎦᎵᏉᎩ (galiquogi)
8 – ᏧᏁᎳ (tsunela)
9 – ᏐᏁᎳ (sonela)
10 – ᏍᎪᎯ (sgohi)
11 – ᏌᏚ (sadu)
12 – ᏔᎵᏚ (talidu)
13 – ᏦᎦᏚ (tsogadu)
14 – ᏂᎦᏚ (nigadu)
15 – ᎯᏍᎦᏚ (hisgadu)
16 – ᏓᎳᏚ (daladu)
17 – ᎦᎵᏆᏚ (galiquadu)
18 – ᏁᎳᏚ (neladu)
19 – ᏐᏁᎳᏚ (soneladu)
20 – ᏔᎵᏍᎪᎯ (talisgohi)
30 – ᏦᎢᏍᎪᎯ (tsoisgohi)
40 – ᏅᎩᏍᎪᎯ (nvgisgohi)
50 – ᎯᏍᎩᏍᎪᎯ (hisgisgohi)
60 – ᏑᏓᎵᏍᎪᎯ (sudalisgohi)
70 – ᎦᎵᏆᏍᎪᎯ (galiquasgohi)
80 – ᏧᏁᎳᏍᎪᎯ (tsunelasgohi)
90 – ᏐᏁᎳᏍᎪᎯ (sonelasgohi)
100 – ᏍᎪᎯᏥᏆ (sgohitsiqua)
1,000 – ᏐᏬ ᎢᏯᎦᏴᎵ (sowo iyagayvli)

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