Cherokee Small Letter Te

It represents one spoken syllable in Cherokee writing.

A syllabary is a writing system where each character stands for a spoken syllable. Latin-letter guides write this one's value as te; that spelling names a Cherokee syllable, not English letters. Its resemblance to Latin letters does not determine its Cherokee reading.

Sequoyah developed the Cherokee syllabary between 1815–1821 to put Cherokee speech in writing for learning, correspondence, public affairs, and print. Archaeological work treats cave inscriptions from the early nineteenth century as experiments in creating the script, not proof of an ancient script carried forward unchanged. The Cherokee Phoenix newspaper printed in Cherokee and English in 1828. Later, missionary James Evans developed a separate writing system for Cree after hearing of the Cherokee syllabary's success.

Why does ꮦ look different from Ꮦ?

Ꮦ is the cap-height case counterpart of ꮦ. Traditional Cherokee writing was mostly caseless and used cap-height forms. The modern case distinction adds a small form for regular text while keeping the established form for uppercase positions; both characters represent the same syllable.

As of 2026, Cherokee Nation language programs still teach the syllabary and support its use on digital devices.