i – prepronominal prefix / iterative
Indicates that an action has been repeated.
Typically, it is an i – before consonants and vowels. There is a glottal stop between the i – and the vowel after.

However, there can be a dialectal variation. Most Eastern speakers use an /h/ before this i -.

ᎢᎦᏬᏂᎭ / igawoniha / iígáwóoniha – ᎢᎦᏬᏂᎭ is pronounced short i (held and rising tone) – g – short a (high tone) – w – long o (held and high tone) – n – short i – h – short a. igawoniha means he’s speaking again.

ᎢᎭᏁᏟᏓ / ihanetlida / iiháneehl(i)da – ihanetlida is pronounced short i (held) – h – short a (high tone) – n – long a (held) – aspirated l – d – short a. ᎢᎭᏁᏟᏓ means try it again.

Example of the difference between dialects:

ᎢᎬᎩᎪᏩᏘ / igvgigowati / iigvvgigo(h)w(a)ti – ᎢᎬᎩᎪᏩᏘ is pronounced short i (held) – g – nasalized uh (held) – g – short i – g – long o – aspiration – w – t – long e. igvgigowati means they’re seeing me again.

ᎯᎬᎩᎪᏩᏘ / higvgigowati / hiigvvgigo(h)w(a)ti – higvgigowati is pronounced h – short i (held) – g – nasalized uh (held) – g – short i – g – long o – aspiration – w – t – long e. ᎯᎬᎩᎪᏩᏘ means they’re seeing me again.

before a vowel:

Ꮭ ᏱᎤᏬᏂᏎ / tla yiuwonise / hla yiiʔuuwoonise – Ꮭ is pronounced aspirated l – short a. tla means negative. ᏱᎤᏬᏂᏎ is pronounced y – short i (held) – glottal stop – oo (held) – w – long o (held) – n – short i – s – long a. yiuwonise means he did speak again. Ꮭ ᏱᎤᏬᏂᏎ means he did not speak again.

i – prepronominal prefix changes to v- when used before the ga – / since prepronominal prefix.

ᎥᎦᏣᏬᏂᏒᎢ / vgatsawonisvi / vvgáajawoòniísvvʔi – vgatsawonisvi is pronounced nasalized uh (held) – g – short a (held and high tone) – j – short a – w – long o (held and lowfall tone) – n – short i (held and rising tone) – s – nasalized uh (held and highfall tone) – glottal stop – long e. ᎥᎦᏣᏬᏂᏒᎢ means since you have spoken again

i – becomes v – in verb forms with the past tense suffix -vi. However, some speakers do not make this distinction when talking in present continuous.

ᎥᏣᏬᏂᏒᎢ / vtsawonisvi / vvjawoòniísvvʔi – ᎥᏣᏬᏂᏒᎢ is pronounced nasalized uh (held) – j – short a – w – long o (held, lowfall tone) – n – short i (held, rising tone) – s – nasalized uh (held, rising tone) – glottal stop – long e. vtsawonisvi means you spoke again.

ᎢᎦᏁᏍᎨᎭ / iganesgeha / iigáànesgéeha – iganesgeha is pronounced short i (held) – g – short a (held and falling tone) – n – long a – s – g – long a (held and high tone) – h – short a. ᎢᎦᏁᏍᎨᎭ means I’m building it again.

Sometimes, this prefix will appear on a verb to ask a ‘why’ question.

ᎩᏙᎲ ᏣᎳᎩ ᎢᎭᏕᏠᏆ / gadohv tsalagi ihadetloqua / gaadoòhv jalag(i) iihadeehl(o)gwa – ᎩᏙᎲ is pronounced g – short a (held) – d – long o (held, falling tone) – h – nasalized uh. gadohv means why. ᏣᎳᎩ is pronounced j – short a – l – short a – g *Some leave the last long e out*. tsalagi means Cherokee. ᎢᎭᏕᏠᏆ is pronounced short i (held) – h – short a – d – long a – aspirated l – gw – short a. ihadetloqua means you learn/ you are learning. ᎩᏙᎲ ᏣᎳᎩ ᎢᎭᏕᏠᏆ means why are you learning Cherokee.

Final Note: The i – prepronominal prefix does not occur in imperative forms.