Sequoyah
1
9.1
- proper noun
- /sɪˈkwɔɪə/
- Many recognize Sequoyah as a pioneer who dedicated his life to developing a writing system for the Cherokee language.
- biography of Sequoyah
- Sequoyah, the Cherokee
Examples
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Sequoyah is celebrated for creating a Sequoyah syllabary that transformed written communication for the Cherokee people.
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The Cherokee linguist Sequoyah developed the Cherokee syllabary in the early 1820s, making it possible to write in the Cherokee language.
Academic text (2011) -
The nation sold the facility to the Department of the Interior, which changed its name in 1925 to the Sequoyah Orphan Training School in honor of the inventor of the Cherokee syllabary.
Academic text (2010) -
The Cherokee had been a robed and turbaned tribe with curled-handled pipes, writing and reading the letters of Sequoyah's syllabary.
Fiction book (1994) -
Historically significant, Sequoyah's invention of the Cherokee syllabary in the early 19th century revolutionized literacy in his community.
Synonyms
1
9.6
A Cherokee metal worker and scholar who created a writing system for the Cherokee language
Surface Forms
Etymology
Sequoyah is the Cherokee name of the man who invented the Cherokee writing system, and it comes from the Cherokee language. Many people say the name means 'sparrow' or a small animal, so a helpful way to remember him is to think of a little 'sparrow' who gave his people a way to write.