The Four Gospels and Selected Psalms in Cherokee
is a companion to the Cherokee syllabary New Testament. Written by Sequoyah in the nineteenth century, the syllabary New Testament is the largest complex text composed in Cherokee by a truly fluent speaker with an easy command of the language. Here for the first time the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are presented in Cherokee using the English alphabet. With line breaks that follow exactly those in the syllabary New Testament, this book serves as an aid for readers seeking to deepen their understanding of the Cherokee Bible.
In her introduction to the Gospels, Ruth Bradley Holmes offers a history of the Cherokee New Testament, a detailed look both at the Cherokee syllabary and at the process of transliterating a Cherokee text into the English alphabet, and information on tones, vowel length, and other intricacies of the Cherokee language. Also included is the Lord’s Prayer. This prayer is presented first in English, then in the Cherokee syllabary, and finally in Cherokee using the English alphabet. It is accompanied by an analysis of the language structure and word definitions within the prayer.