IROQTTOIAN LANGUAGES. 



73 



Guess (G.) — Continnod. 



discovercfl four otiier syllables, luakiu^ all tin- 

 known syllables of the Chciokeo language 

 eighty-six. This is a very curious fact; espe- 

 cially when it is considered that the language 

 is very copious on some subjects, a single verb 

 undergoing some thousands of inflections." 



This is followed Ijy a statement from Kev. S. 

 A. Worcester, one of the early advocates of 

 and among the first to use the alphabet, as fol- 

 lows : 



"It is well woithy of iioticij that Mr. Guyst 

 f.M'c], the inventor, is a uuiu past the middle age. 

 He had seen books, and, I have been told, had an 

 English spelling-book in his house; but he 

 could not road a word in any language at all. 

 His alphabet consists of eighty-sis characteis, 

 eaehof which represents a syllable, with the ex- 

 ception of one, which has the sound ofthoEng 

 lish «, and is prefixed to other chai-actcrs wlien 

 required. These eighty-six characters are suffi- 

 cient to write the language at least intelligibly. 

 The al[)habet is thought by .some of the Chero- 

 kees to need improvement; but, as it is, it is 

 road by a very large portion of the people, 

 though I suppose there has been no such thing 

 as a school in which it lias been taught, and it 

 is not more than two or three years sinceit was 

 invented. A few hours of instruction are sulii- 

 cient fora Cherokee to learn to read his own lan- 

 guage intelligibly. Ho will not, indeed, so soon 

 bo able to read fluently; but when he has 

 learned to read and understand fluency will bo 

 acquired by practice. The extent of my iu- 

 foiiuation will not enable mo to form a proba- 

 ble estimate of (ho number in the nation who 

 can thus read, but I am as.sured, by those who 

 had the bestopportunity of knowing, that there 

 is no part of the nation where the new alphabet 

 is not understood. That it will prevail over 

 every other method of writing the language 

 there is no doubt. If a book were j)rinted in 

 that character there are those in every part of 

 the nation who could read it at once ; and many 

 others would only have to obtain a few hours 

 instruction from some friend to enable them to 

 do so. They have but to learn their alphabet, 

 and they can read at once. If, on the other 

 Iiauil, it were printed in the English character, 

 it would bo necessary to spend considerable 

 time at school in order to bo able to read ; 

 which scarcely any but children, and, doubtless 

 for years to come, but a very smallpart of tlieni, 

 could do. Probably at least twenty, perhaps 

 fifty, times as many would read a book printed 

 with Guyst's characters, as would read one 

 printed with the English alphabet." 



In the same article Mr. Worcostcr gives the 

 sounds represented by these characters. 



In the Herald of July, 1827, Mr. AVorccster 

 again refers to the alphabet : 



"I am not insensible of the advantages 

 which Mr. Pickering's alphabet, in couimon 

 with that in use at tlio Sandwich Ishinds, 

 possesses above the E-.iglish, by being souiucli 

 morenearly a perfect alphabet. Nor do I sup 



Guess (G.) — Contiuueil. 



pose that more than half the time would bo re- 

 quired for a Cherokee child to learn to read his 

 own language in that alphabet which is re- 

 quired I'or an English child to learn his. But 

 in point of simi)lieity. Guess has still the pre- 

 eminence ; and in no language probably can 

 the art of reading be ac(iiiired with nearly the 

 same facility." 



In the issue of the Herald for December of 

 the sa me year, Mr. Worcester contiibutes five 

 verses of Genesis in the syllabary, and this, so 

 far as I know, is the first printing in these 

 characters. 



In February, 1828, the first number of tlio 

 Cherokee Phcenix, a weekly newspaper, partly 

 in English and partly in Chcrokeo characters, 

 was published at New Echota. The first book 

 printed in these characters was probably the 

 Cherokee Hymns, compiled by Eliaa Boudinot 

 and Mr. Worcester, and published at NewEchota 

 in 1829 — a small volume of .JO pages. 



The Herald for May, 1828, gives a somewhat 

 fiillei' account by Mr. Worcester of the charac- 

 teis, their sounds, and their systematic arrange- 

 ment; and in the October number of the same 

 year the Lord's jirayer, copied from the Chero- 

 kee Phanix, is given, accompanied by an ap- 

 proximate literal translation, for, as the writer 

 renuirks, "literal translations, word for word, 

 from Euglish into Cherokee, are beyond the 

 limits of possibility." See Worcester (S. A.). 



Ill the Indian Record, vol. 1, No. 6, John F. 

 Wheeler speaks of the alphabet as follows: 



"The Cherokee alphabet is unlike any other 

 alphabet known, as it is syllabic escei)t one 

 letter which answers to the English s, and is 

 l)laced between the syllables to give a hissing 

 sound. There was no need of schools or school 

 books to learn to read among the full bloods, 

 because as soon as the alphabet was learned 

 the person who learned it could (even the old- 

 est person) easily learn to read. Each syllable 

 was perfect, and there was not a consonant in 

 the whole 85 characters. In the Cherokee 

 language there is not a sound of f, j, p, nor v. 

 The language is guttural, and a person speak- 

 ing Cherokee can talk all day and not have oc- 

 casion to close bis lips." 



Sequoyah was born in the Cherokee Nation 

 in the State of Geoigia in 1770. His father 

 was a Dutch peddler named (Jeorge (Jist, his 

 mother a Cherokee. According to Foster, his 

 biographer, "his dreamy meditations on this 

 invention" extended from 1809 to 1821, when ho 

 completed his work. He seems to have had 

 no education and to have been unable to read 

 the Roman characters. He died near San Ber- 

 nardino, Cal., about the year 1812. 

 Guichart de Kersident (Phc Vincent 

 Fleari). Mr. Giiicliart N" li | 1" Ex- 

 aiiieii do con.scionce Alkoiuiuin ot Iro- 

 qiioi.s I 2'' Pensccs, priercs i suggerer 

 iiiix malados | :5 Exhortation ayrcs la 

 confession | 4 Prieres 



