Written by ᏗᎦᏃᏣᎵ Patrick Del Percio
ᎬᏂᎨᏒ ᎢᏯᏛᏁᎯ – Introduction
Whenever Cherokee speakers get together, they are always laughing.
This is a common sentiment expressed by folks who speak and/or understand ᏣᎳᎩ tsalagi ‘Cherokee’. Humor is such an important aspect in any language and is transmitted in so many ways that it is impossible to understand the breadth of a people’s worldview until you are able to understand their humor. Laughter is often the best medicine and the way that we can gauge how comfortable we are with each other in a social setting. Below are some examples that we find in the texts across the DAILP collections that show us real examples of the humor of Cherokee people in their own words.
Ayv gesv vtla asi yigvgiha tuya
Me – as for – not – yet – they are [not] killing me – beans
‘As for me, the beans have not killed me yet.’
I find this example above to be especially humorous because the verb “they are killing me,” takes on the animate form so as to paint the picture that the beans are life-like and are killing the speaker in a figurative way. Examples such as this one are only one of many that you’ll find when learning Cherokee and listening to Cherokee speakers. This is the precise reason why there is never more than a few moments in between laughter when Cherokee speakers get together.
ᎣᏩᏋ ᎾᏋᏗᎥ ᏚᏯ ᎠᏂᏒᎦ ᎾᏋ ᎠᏎ ᏙᏙᎣᎩᏆᏃᏴᎵᏏ
Owaquv naquvdi’v tuya anisvga naquv ase dodo’ogikwanoyvlisi
‘Ok then, now there is the smell of the beans [in the air]. I guess now, our jaws will be flapping again.’
Let’s take a closer look at the word ᏙᏙᎣᎩᏆᏃᏴᎵᏏ. Depending on how the person who is reading this interprets the word, it could mean one of two things. If pronounced dogikwanohyvlsi, it would mean ‘our cheeks made noise.’ If pronounced with one slight sound change, dogiquanohyvlsi would denote the meaning of ‘our butt cheeks made noise.’ One slight sound change can result in an immediate uproar of laughter and possibly falling off one’s chair in amusement.
ᎠᏴᏃ Ꮎ ᎣᎩᏁᎫᏥᏓ ᎨᏒ ᎾᏍᏋ ᏙᎯᏋ ᏙᎩᏆᏃᏴᎵ ᎯᎠ ᎤᏒ ᎡᎯ ᎣᎨᎳᏍᏓ
Ayvhno na oginegutsida gesv nasquv tohiquv dogikwanoyvli hi’a usv ogelasda
‘As for us mean ones, we were noisy during dinner this evening.’
The word ᎣᎩᏁᎫᏥᏓ oginegutsida can mean either ‘us mean ones’ or ‘us mischievous ones,’ it just depends on the context of the sentence. The verb dogiquanoyvli again, is talking about ‘sound coming from our hips or buttocks.’ So, they are calling themselves ‘mean ones’ for how the beans made them react.
ᎪᎯ ᏔᎵᏁ ᏍᏗᎦᏓ ᎪᎢᎴᏍᏗ ᎢᏁᏙᎸᎯ ᎣᏍᏓᏗᏍᎬᎢ ᎠᏏ [?] Ꮓ ᏴᏓᎭ ᏱᎢᎦᏕᏃᎵᎢᎭ ᎭᎭ ᎾᏍᎩ ᎢᎦᎢ ᏱᎸᏉᏗᎭ ᎠᏂ ᎭᎭ ᎠᏗᎾ.
Kohi taline sdigada go’ilesdi inedolvhi osdadisgv’i asi [?]no yvdaha yi’igadenoli’iha haha nasgi iga’i yilvquodiha ahni haha adina.
‘”We should stay longer the second time, or maybe we will come back and look around sometime, ha, ha.” A-ma said, “If you like this place so much, ha, ha.”’
The addition of a haha in syllabary is interesting to find since we mostly see that in written form today in the form of text messaging and other social media communications. The author of this letter really wanted to emphasize to his reader (his mother), that he had still kept his sense of humor even while in the state penitentiary.
Click on the links below to read each letter written by Dollie Duncan to her husband Walter Duncan, who was an inmate at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. In each of these letters you will find an example of humor. Your task is to find at least one example for each and write them down below in syllabary, phonetics, and English.
- Letter to Dollie Duncan: 1951–04-10
- ᏗᏣᎳᎩ:
- phonetics:
- ᏲᏁᎦ:
- Letter to Dollie Duncan: 1951-03-11
- ᏗᏣᎳᎩ:
- phonetics:
- ᏲᏁᎦ:
- Letter to Dollie Duncan: 1951-02-20
- ᏗᏣᎳᎩ:
- phonetics:
- ᏲᏁᎦ: