[Aztlan] Southeastern US/Mesoamerican language contacts

[D. Mylne]

The original original syllabary had no resemblance to Latin characters.  To me, they might be seen as a representation of the path that leaves might take falling to the ground.  It seems more reasonable (to me) to believe that Sequoyah merely let his hand flow freely, without consideration of any physical object or its motion in the wind.  (Surely someone else has seen the original originals?)

For some reason, whatever printer was charged with publishing something in Cherokee, he used and modified Latin character type that was already available.  I have not found samples of the "more original" characters on-line (yet), but they are in a book for learning Cherokee that I obtained from the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma many years back.  I should think it is still available.  Maybe I can find the book amidst my boxes of books; if so, I will send a picture of them.  In other words, the familiary appearance of the writing is due to a Latin-type limited printer rather than Sequoyah's original design.

On the other hand, consensus seems to be that Sequoyah's inspiration derived from the contemporary Euro-American inhabitants' ability to communicate by writing, independently of Sequoyah's source for the characters themselves.

Note: This is what I read in that book, and not the result of any research I did on my own.  (So if it's wrong, "it's the book's fault."  :)  )

> From: nickhopkins at live.com
> To: troemner at yahoo.com; robertleonardhall at sbcglobal.net
> Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:55:36 -0400
> CC: aztlan at lists.famsi.org
> Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Southeastern US/Mesoamerican language contacts
> 
> 
> The sources that argue for a precolumbian Southwestern origin for the Cherokee syllabary fail to account for the obvious fact that many of Sequoya's characters are English letters, used of course with distinct values, but identical to printed letters right down to the serifs... 
> 
> 

_________________________________________________________________
Windows Live: Make it easier for your friends to see what you’re up to on Facebook.
http://windowslive.com/Campaign/SocialNetworking?ocid=PID23285::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:SI_SB_facebook:082009