Tsalagi has six vowels and twenty-three consonants. With the exception of the syllable Ꮝ (s), all syllables contain a vowel. The syllables, like each word, ends in a vowel. Although some speakers omit the last vowel, while others speak the last vowel in a more nasalized tone. Five of the six vowels are written as the English a, e, i, o, and u. The sixth is written as the English v. Tsalagi Ꭵ (v) makes the English uh sound/ a nasalized u like in uh-oh.

Special note in speaking: Cherokee does not typically use lips to speak. There is no b, f, or v sound equivalent and the m is rarely used. The way I told my kids (from my experience watching family members) was to think of a ventriloquist. Unlike other languages, Cherokee speakers rarely move their mouths. The upper lip remains firm across the upper teeth while the tongue sits at the lower teeth. The movement of the sounds come from the center of the tongue moving up and down, not the tip. Most speakers have a Mona Lisa (the painting) smile as they speak. For my children, I had them practice speaking in this manner in front of a mirror.

Most of the Tsalagi letter sounds are the same or similar to the corresponding English consonants. However, Cherokee does not utilize the English B, C, F, P, R, V, X, and Z. Cherokee does have one unique consonant sound represented by ‘dl’ or ‘tl’ and sometimes ‘hl.’
There are technically twelve consonant sounds. However, the sounds can be altered depending on the word:

G as in the word “good.”
The G can have a K variation, as in the word “kind.”

H as in the word “honest.”

L as in the word “love.”

M as in the word “merry.”

N as in the word “nice.”
The N can have an Hn variation, where you allow air to exit through your nose as you pronounce the N sound. There is also a variation where an h sound, aka aspiration, appears after the vowel (nah).

Qu as in the word “quiet.”
The Qu can have a Gw variation, as in the name “Gwen.” Sometimes Qu is written as Kw.

S as in the word “smile.”

D as in the word “deep.”
The D can have a T variation, as in “Tall.”

W as in the word “wonder.”
Sometimes the W can take on an h sound and is written as hw

Y as in the “yard.”
Sometimes the Y can take on an h sound and is written as hy

Now for the two “special” consonants.

Ts similar to the “j” in the word “joy.”
Ts is commonly written as a j, as in the word “joy,” but the sound isn’t exactly the same as an English j. This consonant can have a Ch variation, as in the word “chose.” Sometimes, mostly in Qualla Boundary, the ‘ts’ syllables have an English ch sound in church instead of ‘j.’

Tl is especially difficult for non-Cherokee speakers to pronounce, but it can be easily learned with practice. First place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth, like when pronouncing an L sound, but a bit further back. Let the air flow around your tongue, like pronouncing an H sound. Then you can pronounce your vowel. This consonant can be written as hl. The dl variation is a lot easier to pronounce. Simply pronounce the D and then immediately blend into an L sound before your vowel sound. In Roman writing you will see tl, dl, and hl all used for the syllables: tlo, tlu, and tlv to indicate different sound in pronunciation.

These are little hints I have learned for those letter combinations:

hl / lh – not in English, a whispered ‘l’

hn / nh – not in English, a whispered ‘n’

hw / wh – the English ‘wh’ in which, pronounced instead of witch

hy / yh – the English ‘h’ in hue

kh – the English ‘k’ in king

khk – the English letters ‘ckg’ in background

ks – the English ‘x’ in six

kt – the English letters ‘ckd’ in backdoor

nht – not in English, a whispered ‘n’ immediately followed by ‘d’

sk – the English ‘sk’ in sky

skw – the English ‘squ’ in square

st – the English ‘st’ in stew

th – the English ‘t’ in top

thl – not in English, like the ‘tl’ is whistle

tht – not in English, a whispered ‘t’ immediately followed by a ‘d’

tl – the English ‘dl’ in cuddle

ts – the English ‘ts’ in hats

tsk – the English ‘tsk’ in Catskill.

tskw – the English ‘t’ immediately followed by ‘squ’ in flat squash

Cherokee is a syllabic language so every consonant needs a vowel. However, there are exceptions and rules for spelling and sounds.

One rule is a ‘silent vowel’ / ‘dropped vowel.’ Most books that I have read will place either the whole syllable or just the vowel itself in parenthesis () when the vowel is dropped. I do only the vowel, because the consonant is pronounced.

When there is an ‘h’ written, but not seen in the Syllabary, it is to indicate aspiration. Aspiration / Intrusive H is the presence of a breathy sound and will not have a vowel attached. All of the ‘h’ letter combinations listed above are used with aspiration. I tried to explain the sounds it makes to, hopefully, make it easier. Some make a distinction between and aspirated h and an intrusive h with an intrusive h being an h written backwards.

Lastly, a reminder about the Glottal Stop. Remember it is an absence of sound. It is most commonly used, and always found, in Tsalagi separating two vowels that don’t have a consonant to separate them, but can be used in other cases. In English you can hear a glottal stop when you say ‘uh oh’ (the pause between the h and o) or kitten (the pause between the t’s).