[Jennifer Reeser]

I thought this might be of interest to my fellow translators here, among others who are generally intrigued by philology and linguistics. This article just came out in "The Tulsa World," where I used to live, and where my family are still, citizens of the Cherokee Nation.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state...6946cd2a9.html

Part of the problem is the extreme sophistication and difficulty of Cherokee. Linguists rate Spanish, for example, as "Level One," among the easiest. Greek and Russian would be one step higher, Level 2. Arabic and Chinese -- Level Four. But Cherokee is harder than all of those. And it has NOTHING in common with English, either grammatically or phonetically. It is "the tongue from another dimension."

I know and translate multiple languages -- English, French, Russian. But also, I speak Cherokee. I translate Cherokee. I *am* Cherokee. I believe it is one of the most brilliant, poetic, unique languages on Earth, and I cannot begin to imagine with what unutterable sorrow and horror my ancestors watched this masterpiece of ours, brought to the brink of extinction, through the white genocide. It must have been like witnessing the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.

Jennifer

[William A. Baurle]

Thanks for this, Jennifer.

It's so nice to see you posting here.

[Gregory Palmerino]

That's inspiring news, Jennifer. It sounds much like what the Mashpee tribe is doing here on the East Coast, which is a fascinating story as well for those who are interested.

http://www.wlrp.org/home.html

Best,
Greg

[Jennifer Reeser]

William, Greg, thank you. Greg, I love Little Doe's quote on that page. Indeed, so true, that. The Cherokee have a saying that if the language is ever lost, the tribe will cease to exist. That is the crucial nature of language, to the Cherokee.

As it happens, I have just gotten a new acceptance for my translation of "To Fix the Affections," recorded by A Yu I Ni ("He Who Swims," or "Swimmer") in the 1800's. Like my "Cherokee Love Charm," this is a "spell" to unite two souls eternally. It is a formula so ancient, even Swimmer himself could not explain some of it. The knowledge has been lost to antiquity.

I hope to post an announcement at the board, when it appears in print. Also -- if you would like to hear me speaking Cherokee, there is a file here at Soundcloud. Cherokee is a tonal language. It has pitches, not accents, so you "sing" it, rather than say it. Listen, and you will hear my voice change several times. It has to go like this, or you will be saying something different:

https://soundcloud.com/jennifer-rees...edium=facebook

All best,
Jennifer