Cheyenne

Cheyenne (Tsėhesenėstsestotse / Tsisinstsistots)

There are about 11,000 Cheyenne people, 3,000 of whom speak the Cheyenne
language, a member of the Algonquian family. The Cheyenne population is
divided between the Northern Cheyenne, who live on the Northern Cheyenne
Reservation in southeastern Montana and number about 8,000, and the
Southern Cheyenne, who live in western Oklahoma and number about 3,000.

The Cheyenne name for their language is Tsėhesenėstsestotse or
Tsisinstsistots and the Cheyenne people call themselves Tsitsistas. The Cheyenne
alphabet consists of only 14 letters which can be combined together
to make some very long words.

Cheyenne alphabet

Cheyenne is a tonal language and tones are marked as follows:

á, é, ó = high pitch or tone
ȧ, ė, ȯ or â, ê, ô = voiceless (whispered)

Some examples of Cheyenne

Nétsêhésenêstsehe = Do you speak Cheyenne?

Náohkėsáa’oné’seómpėhévetsėhésto’anéhe
= I truly do not pronounce Cheyenne well

Náno’ee’ėha’onȯtse vóóhe = I put my
shoes on with the morning star (I got up really early)

Mȧxhevéesevȯhtse ooȧhé’e = when frogs
have teeth (i.e. never)

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