Google supports Cherokee written language in search engine

Friday, March 25, 2011  

You can now search Google using the Cherokee Syllabary, the written Cherokee language.

Translators from the Cherokee Nation worked with the company to add the language and a special Cherokee keyboard to its search engine. The syllabary was developed by Sequoyah in the early 1800s.

“I believe that efforts like those of Google are essential to keeping our language alive,” Chief Chad Smith said in a press release. “We have been working hard to get our young people interested in learning our Native tongue but we cannot be successful unless they can read and write in the medium of their era – all the digital devices that are currently so popular.”

The Cherokee language can also be used on the Apple iPhone.

Get the Story:
Google search now supports Cherokee (Google Blog 3/25)
Google adds Cherokee to searchable languages (AP 3/25)