Cheyenne Language
The
Cheyenne language
is spoken in southeastern Montana
on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and in central Oklahoma.
It is a member of the large Algonquian
language family of North America which includes other
languages such as Arapaho, Blackfoot, Cree, Ojibwa, Menomini,
Fox, Kickapoo, Potawatomi,
Massachusett, Delaware,
Shawnee,
Micmac, and Naskapi.
Cheyenne
language resources
Chief
Dull Knife
Chief Dull Knife
encouraged Cheyennes,
the Tsitsistas, to pursue education.
Today Chief Dull
Knife
College honors his memory.
The
Cheyenne alphabet and
pronunciation guide
There are only 14 letters in the
official Northern
Cheyenne
alphabet but they can
combine to create long words, composed of smaller
meaning parts. Here is a prounciation guide for the Cheyenne letters.
Click on a word to hear it:
a: ame
(pemmican), as in English "father"
e: eho
(your father), as in English "pit" (usually "i" not "e" sound)
h: hese
(fly), as in English "happy"
k: ke'eehe
(grandma), as in English "skit", not as in English "kit"
': he'eo'o
(women), glottal stop, as between the two syllables of
English "Uh-oh!"
m: me'ko
(head, or councilman), as in English "man"
n: nahkohe
(bear), as in English "nice"
o: okohke
(crow), as in English "note"
p: poeso
(cat), as in English "spot", not as in English "pot"
s: semo
(boat), as in English "say"
š: še'še
(duck), same as "sh" as in English "shirt"
t: tosa'e
(Where?), as in English "stop", not as in English "top"
v: vee'e
(tepee), as in English "vein"
x: xao'o
(skunk), as "ch" in German "Achtung!"
Click
here to download and view a Cheyenne alphabet video.
The
š symbol
has the same sound as the two English letters "sh". The apostrophe (')
stands for the glottal
stop,
a very frequent "sound" in Cheyenne. It is the quick stopping "sound"
between the two syllables of the English exclamation, "Uh-oh!" Cheyenne
"x" has the same sound as German "x". It is a voiceless velar
fricative, raspier than English "h". When Cheyenne "v" comes before an
"a" or "o" vowel, it often sounds like English "w". It is
still the
same sound unit (phoneme), however, whether it is pronounced as "v" or
"w".
The Cheyenne "stop" sounds, "p", "t", and "k" are
unaspirated.
That is, they do not have a puff of air after them as these letters do
when they begin English words, such as "pen," "toy", and "kite."
Instead, they sound like the letters "p", "t", and "k" when they follow
the letter "s," as in the English words "spill," "still," and "skill."
Often "p", "t", and "k" are perceived and written as "b", "d", and "g".
For instance, the Cheyenne word meaning "cat" can be written as boyso
instead of poeso. Boyso is easier to read even though poeso is
technically correct. Gi iih is easier to read than ke'eehe (meaning
"grandma").
There
are three Cheyenne vowels (a, e, o). They can be marked
for high
pitch (á, é, ó), mid pitch (ā, ē, ō) or
be whispered (voiceless) (ȧ, ė, ȯ). Notice that
the whispered vowels have a dot over them. The last
vowel of
each Cheyenne word is whispered if that word is pronounced by itself.
Here
are examples of Cheyenne vowels with each of the marks on them:
low pitches: (ame
'pemmican', neše
'two', he'e
'liver, ho'e 'land')
high pitches: á, é, ó (náhkohe
'bear', šé'še
'duck', ókohke
'crow')
mid pitches: ā, ē, ō (ho'ēsta
'fire', hē'e
'woman', ma'hahkō'e
'badgers')
whispered: ȧ, ė, ȯ (nȧhtona 'my
daughter', éamėhneo'o
'they are walking', ókȯhkeo'o
'crows'
Complex
syllables
Two syllables can be combined to sound like a single
syllable. This
occurs when there is a consonant followed by a vowel with a dot over it
followed
by "h"
followed by another vowel then anything else before the end of
a
word. This single syllable is called a
complex syllable. It is very difficult to learn to read and write. It
is also difficult to print on signs or in obituaries or other newspaper
articles. Sometimes it might be better to write a complex syllable as a
single syllable instead of two syllables. For instance, the Cheyenne
word meaning "Cheyenne persons" is spelled as Tsetsėhestȧhese in the
official Northern Cheyenne alphabet. That is almost impossible for
someone to read correctly unless they have studied Cheyenne spelling
for a
long time. A traditional spelling as Tsitsistas is
easier to read and pronounce correctly.
Cheyenne
words are made up of smaller meaning parts
Here is a
long Cheyenne word:
Náohkėsáa'oné'seómepėhévetsėhésto'anéhe,
meaning 'I truly do not pronounce Cheyenne well.' This word has the
following blocks (linguists call them morphemes):
ná-
'I'
ohke- 'regularly'
sáa- 'not' (this also requires the -he at the end of the word)
oné'seóme- 'truly'
pėhéve- 'good, well'
tsėhést- 'Cheyenne'
-o'ane 'pronounce'
-he 'negative suffix'
It helps to spell
Cheyenne by blocks.
This
is just a brief
introduction to Cheyenne. If you would like to learn more, visit other Cheyenne
pages at this site, or read the Cheyenne
reference grammar.
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News:
2020, many elders
whose first language
was Cheyenne died from the COVID virus.
July
19-August 2, 2014, first adult Cheyenne language immersion camp held at
the tribally owned facilities at Bear Butte State Park, South Dakota.
January 21, 2007,
a new
Cheyenne
translation of parts of the Bible dedicated
in Lame Deer, Montana.
July 19-30, 1999,
Second Annual Cheyenne
Language Immersion Camp: Crazyhead Springs Campground on the Northern
Cheyenne Reservation, 42 happy little campers, the youngest is 4.
June 1998, the
Northern Cheyenne Tribe
held its first annual Language Immersion Camp. Participants were to
speak only Cheyenne within the circle of the tepee camp. This is part
of an effort to keep the language alive among the children.
On April 21,
1997, the Tribal Council of
the Northern Cheyenne Tribe passed an ordinance which declares Cheyenne
as the official language of the tribe.
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Visit
these pages for more
information:
Cheyenne
language pages
Cheyenne
books
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A
Cheyenne Proverb
Névé'novȯhe'étanóme
mȧsėhánééstóva, onésetó'ha'éeta netáhoestovevoo'o, onésėhestóxévétáno
mȧsėhánééstóva!
Don't
race in a crazy way, try to stop your mounts, try to come in last in
terms of craziness!
(This
proverb was frequently quoted by the late Cheyenne historian, John
Stands In Timber.
Its
essential meaning is "Don't live a hurried
life!")
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This
webpage
URL: http://www.cheyennelanguage.org
Contact: kovaahe
at gmail dot com
latest webpage update: May 12, 2024
copyright
2015-2024 Chief Dull Knife College