Cherokee Small Letter Si

ꮟ writes the whole Cherokee syllable si, roughly like English “see.” A syllabogram represents a complete spoken syllable, not one consonant. This Cherokee lowercase form belongs inside Cherokee spelling.

In cased Cherokee, ꮟ pairs with uppercase Ꮟ; traditional Cherokee text often used one cap-height set. Sequoyah developed the syllabary to write Cherokee speech, completing it around 1821; the Cherokee Nation adopted it in 1825. Cherokee collaborators and Samuel Worcester prepared forms for print, and the bilingual Cherokee Phoenix began in 1828. A Manitou Cave inscription dated 1828 records a stickball ceremony. James Evans later drew on Cherokee’s success when developing a distinct writing system for Cree. As of 2026, Cherokee Nation language programs use the syllabary for teaching, preservation and digital support.