--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A striking example from the history of…" description: "\"“A striking example from the history of writing is the origin of the syllabary devised in Arkansas around 1820 by a Cherokee Indian named Sequoyah, for..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fd/jared-diamond-2519_cherokee-indian_a-striking-example-from-the-history-of-w_2623094.jpg" --- # A striking example from the history of writing is the… ![“A striking example from the history of writing is the origin of the syllabary devised in Arkansas around 1820 by a Cherokee Indian named Sequoyah, for writing the Cherokee language. Sequoyah observed that white people made marks on paper, and that they derived great advantage by using those marks…” quote by Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fd/jared-diamond-2519_cherokee-indian_a-striking-example-from-the-history-of-w_2623094.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fd/jared-diamond-2519_cherokee-indian_a-striking-example-from-the-history-of-w_2623094.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fd/jared-diamond-2519_cherokee-indian_a-striking-example-from-the-history-of-w_2623094.jpg) > ““A striking example from the history of writing is the origin of the syllabary devised in Arkansas around 1820 by a Cherokee Indian named Sequoyah, for writing the Cherokee language. Sequoyah observed that white people made marks on paper, and that they derived great advantage by using those marks to record and repeat lengthy speeches. However, the detailed operations of those marks remained a mystery to him, since (like most Cherokees before 1820) Sequoyah was illiterate and could neither speak nor read English. Because he was a blacksmith, Sequoyah began by devising an accounting system to help him keep track of his customers’ debts. He drew a picture of each customer; then he drew circles and lines of various sizes to represent the amount of money owed. Around 1810, Sequoyah decided to go on to design a system for writing the Cherokee language. He again began by drawing pictures, but gave them up as too complicated and too artistically demanding. He next started to invent separate signs for each word, and again became dissatisfied when he had coined thousands of signs and still needed more. Finally, Sequoyah realized that words were made up of modest numbers of different sound bites that recurred in many different words—what we would call syllables. He initially devised 200 syllabic signs and gradually reduced them to 85, most of them for combinations of one consonant and one vowel. As one source of the signs themselves, Sequoyah practiced copying the letters from an English spelling book given to him by a schoolteacher. About two dozen of his Cherokee syllabic signs were taken directly from those letters, though of course with completely changed meanings, since Sequoyah did not know the English meanings. For example, he chose the shapes D, R, b, h to represent the Cherokee syllables a, e, si, and ni, respectively, while the shape of the numeral 4 was borrowed for the syllable se. He coined other signs by modifying English letters, such as designing the signs , , and to represent the syllables yu, sa, and na, respectively. Still other signs were entirely of his creation, such as , , and for ho, li, and nu, respectively. Sequoyah’s syllabary is widely admired by professional linguists for its good fit to Cherokee sounds, and for the ease with which it can be learned. Within a short time, the Cherokees achieved almost 100 percent literacy in the syllabary, bought a printing press, had Sequoyah’s signs cast as type, and began printing books and newspapers. Cherokee writing remains one of the best-attested examples of a script that arose through idea diffusion. We know that Sequoyah received paper and other writing materials, the idea of a writing system, the idea of using separate marks, and the forms of several dozen marks. Since, however, he could neither read nor write English, he acquired no details or even principles from the existing scripts around him. Surrounded by alphabets he could not understand, he instead independently reinvented a syllabary, unaware that the Minoans of Crete had already invented another syllabary 3,500 years previously.”” [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Sequoyah created a writing system by recognizing recurring sound units, adapting symbols from English while inventing new ones. **In simple terms:** He built a syllabary from sounds and borrowed symbols. Key Takeaway Study patterns to innovate language tools. Themes innovation language cultural exchange Mood inspired analytical Type history linguistics When to use this quote - alphabet design - literacy programs - cross‑cultural projects Key Concepts linguistics education technology Questions to Reflect On - How can modern creators respect source cultures? - What lessons does Sequoyah’s method teach about problem solving? A Different Perspective Adapting foreign symbols can cause misinterpretation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cherokee indian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cherokee-indian/) [Cherokee Syllabic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cherokee-syllabic-2127225/) [Cherokee Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cherokee-writing-2127221/) [Drawing pictures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drawing-pictures/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Invented Syllabary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invented-syllabary-2127224/) [Printing press](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/printing-press/) [Sequoyah Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sequoyah-writing-2127223/) [White people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-people/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Cherokee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-cherokee-2127222/) ## Related quotes > [Lt. Carson: My grandmother was a full-bodied Cherokee Indian. Lili: How exciting. Lt. Carson: It was for my grandfather.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/lt-carson-my-grandmother-was-a-full-bodied-cherokee-indian-lili-how/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was called "T-Bow" but the people got it mixed up with "T-Bone." My name is Aaron Walker but "T-Bone" is catchy, people remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-bone-walker/i-was-called-t-bow-but-the-people-got-it-mixed-up-with-t-bone-my-name/) [T-Bone Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-bone-walker/) > [She's Cherokee Indian, which is great 'cause whenever we have sex, it rains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/she-s-cherokee-indian-which-is-great-cause-whenever-we-have-sex-it/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [ Long accustomed to the use of European manufactures, \[the Cherokee Indians\] are as incapable of returning to their habits of skinsand furs as we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/long-accustomed-to-the-use-of-european-manufactures-the-cherokee/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Smallpox in a blanket, which the U.S. Army gave to the Cherokee Indians on their long march to the West, was nothing compared to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/smallpox-in-a-blanket-which-the-u-s-army-gave-to-the-cherokee-indians/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [I'm Irish and Cherokee Indian. I can't faint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-collins/i-m-irish-and-cherokee-indian-i-can-t-faint/) [Lynn Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-collins/) > [What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crowfoot/what-is-life-it-is-the-flash-of-a-firefly-in-the-night-it-is-the-2/) [Crowfoot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crowfoot/) > [Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crazy-horse/treat-the-earth-well-it-was-not-given-to-you-by-your-parents-it-was/) [Crazy Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crazy-horse/) > [ \[last words\] What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crowfoot/last-words-what-is-life-it-is-the-flash-of-a-firefly-in-the-night/) [Crowfoot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crowfoot/) > [Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/everything-an-indian-does-is-in-a-circle-and-that-is-because-the-2/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [“Julia Bradshaw was part Cherokee Indian. She was small and dark and the inscrutability of her eyes hinted at enigmas a man might unravel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/julia-bradshaw-was-part-cherokee-indian-she-was-small-and-dark-and/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [My father was one-eighth Cherokee indian and my mother was quarter-blood Cherokee. I never got far enough in arithmetic to figure out how much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/my-father-was-one-eighth-cherokee-indian-and-my-mother-was-quarter/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [Help me always to speak the truth quietly, to listen with an open mind when others speak, and to remember the peace that may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-muller/help-me-always-to-speak-the-truth-quietly-to-listen-with-an-open-mind/) [Robert Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-muller/) > [Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/everything-an-indian-does-is-in-a-circle-and-that-is-because-the/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [My mother's mother is Jewish and African, so I guess that would be considered Creole. My mother's father was Cherokee Indian and something else.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meagan-good/my-mother-s-mother-is-jewish-and-african-so-i-guess-that-would-be/) [Meagan Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meagan-good/) ## More by Jared Diamond > [Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/bird-taxonomy-is-a-difficult-field-because-of-the-severe-anatomical/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [What did the last Easter Islander say as he chopped down the last tree? The Easter Islanders didnt have anthropologists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/what-did-the-last-easter-islander-say-as-he-chopped-down-the-last/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“We come to conquer this land by his command, that all may come to a knowledge of God and of His Holy Catholic Faith;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/we-come-to-conquer-this-land-by-his-command-that-all-may-come-to-a/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“With the rise of chiefdoms around 7,500 years ago, people had to learn, for the first time in history, how to encounter strangers regularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/with-the-rise-of-chiefdoms-around-7-500-years-ago-people-had-to-learn/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [Human societies vary in lots of independent factors affecting their openness to innovation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/human-societies-vary-in-lots-of-independent-factors-affecting-their/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [No government is here forever. And there are other forces - the most potent force in our society, in fact, big business - doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/no-government-is-here-forever-and-there-are-other-forces-the-most/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“Those parasites pass to a person from an eaten animal, but the virus causing laughing sickness (kuru) in the New Guinea highlands used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/those-parasites-pass-to-a-person-from-an-eaten-animal-but-the-virus/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“...invokes the supposed stimulatory effects of their homeland's cold climate and the inhibitory effects of hot, humid, tropical climates on human creativity and energy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/invokes-the-supposed-stimulatory-effects-of-their-homeland-s-cold/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“Throughout the Americas, diseases introduced with Europeans spread from tribe to tribe far in advance of the Europeans themselves, killing an estimated 95 percent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/throughout-the-americas-diseases-introduced-with-europeans-spread/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples' environments, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/history-followed-different-courses-for-different-peoples-because-of/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [We study the injustices of history for the same reason that we study genocide, and for the same reason that psychologists study the minds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/we-study-the-injustices-of-history-for-the-same-reason-that-we-study/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [I decided that now is the time to start doing the things that really interest me and I find important. It was in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/i-decided-that-now-is-the-time-to-start-doing-the-things-that-really/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“As a result of that confined distribution, peoples who pride themselves on being civilized have always viewed writing as the sharpest distinction raising them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/as-a-result-of-that-confined-distribution-peoples-who-pride/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [Infectious diseases introduced with Europeans, like smallpox and measles, spread from one Indian tribe to another, far in advance of Europeans themselves, and killed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/infectious-diseases-introduced-with-europeans-like-smallpox-and/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [In fact, everywhere in the world there has been a flux between big and small societies. Big political units are constantly being formed, later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/in-fact-everywhere-in-the-world-there-has-been-a-flux-between-big-and/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) [Explore all 161 Jared Diamond quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) ## More Cherokee indian quotes > [Lt. Carson: My grandmother was a full-bodied Cherokee Indian. Lili: How exciting. Lt. Carson: It was for my grandfather.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/lt-carson-my-grandmother-was-a-full-bodied-cherokee-indian-lili-how/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/everything-an-indian-does-is-in-a-circle-and-that-is-because-the/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [Help me always to speak the truth quietly, to listen with an open mind when others speak, and to remember the peace that may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-muller/help-me-always-to-speak-the-truth-quietly-to-listen-with-an-open-mind/) [Robert Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-muller/) > [My father was one-eighth Cherokee indian and my mother was quarter-blood Cherokee. I never got far enough in arithmetic to figure out how much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/my-father-was-one-eighth-cherokee-indian-and-my-mother-was-quarter/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [“Julia Bradshaw was part Cherokee Indian. She was small and dark and the inscrutability of her eyes hinted at enigmas a man might unravel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/julia-bradshaw-was-part-cherokee-indian-she-was-small-and-dark-and/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/everything-an-indian-does-is-in-a-circle-and-that-is-because-the-2/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [ \[last words\] What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crowfoot/last-words-what-is-life-it-is-the-flash-of-a-firefly-in-the-night/) [Crowfoot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crowfoot/) > [Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crazy-horse/treat-the-earth-well-it-was-not-given-to-you-by-your-parents-it-was/) [Crazy Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crazy-horse/) > [What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crowfoot/what-is-life-it-is-the-flash-of-a-firefly-in-the-night-it-is-the-2/) [Crowfoot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crowfoot/) > [I'm Irish and Cherokee Indian. I can't faint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-collins/i-m-irish-and-cherokee-indian-i-can-t-faint/) [Lynn Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-collins/) > [Smallpox in a blanket, which the U.S. Army gave to the Cherokee Indians on their long march to the West, was nothing compared to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/smallpox-in-a-blanket-which-the-u-s-army-gave-to-the-cherokee-indians/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [ Long accustomed to the use of European manufactures, \[the Cherokee Indians\] are as incapable of returning to their habits of skinsand furs as we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/long-accustomed-to-the-use-of-european-manufactures-the-cherokee/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [She's Cherokee Indian, which is great 'cause whenever we have sex, it rains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/she-s-cherokee-indian-which-is-great-cause-whenever-we-have-sex-it/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [I was called "T-Bow" but the people got it mixed up with "T-Bone." My name is Aaron Walker but "T-Bone" is catchy, people remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-bone-walker/i-was-called-t-bow-but-the-people-got-it-mixed-up-with-t-bone-my-name/) [T-Bone Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-bone-walker/) > [My mother's mother is Jewish and African, so I guess that would be considered Creole. My mother's father was Cherokee Indian and something else.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meagan-good/my-mother-s-mother-is-jewish-and-african-so-i-guess-that-would-be/) [Meagan Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meagan-good/) [Browse all 16 Cherokee indian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cherokee-indian/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A striking example from the history of writing is the origin of the syllabary devised in Arkansas around 1820 by a Cherokee Indian named Sequoyah, for writing the Cherokee language. Sequoyah observed that white people made marks on paper, and that they derived great advantage by using those marks to record and repeat lengthy speeches. However, the detailed operations of those marks remained a mystery to him, since (like most Cherokees before 1820) Sequoyah was illiterate and could neither speak nor read English. Because he was a blacksmith, Sequoyah began by devising an accounting system to help him keep track of his customers’ debts. He drew a picture of each customer; then he drew circles and lines of various sizes to represent the amount of money owed. Around 1810, Sequoyah decided to go on to design a system for writing the Cherokee language. He again began by drawing pictures, but gave them up as too complicated and too artistically demanding. He next started to invent separate signs for each word, and again became dissatisfied when he had coined thousands of signs and still needed more. Finally, Sequoyah realized that words were made up of modest numbers of different sound bites that recurred in many different words—what we would call syllables. He initially devised 200 syllabic signs and gradually reduced them to 85, most of them for combinations of one consonant and one vowel. As one source of the signs themselves, Sequoyah practiced copying the letters from an English spelling book given to him by a schoolteacher. About two dozen of his Cherokee syllabic signs were taken directly from those letters, though of course with completely changed meanings, since Sequoyah did not know the English meanings. For example, he chose the shapes D, R, b, h to represent the Cherokee syllables a, e, si, and ni, respectively, while the shape of the numeral 4 was borrowed for the syllable se. He coined other signs by modifying English letters, such as designing the signs , , and to represent the syllables yu, sa, and na, respectively. Still other signs were entirely of his creation, such as , , and for ho, li, and nu, respectively. Sequoyah’s syllabary is widely admired by professional linguists for its good fit to Cherokee sounds, and for the ease with which it can be learned. Within a short time, the Cherokees achieved almost 100 percent literacy in the syllabary, bought a printing press, had Sequoyah’s signs cast as type, and began printing books and newspapers. Cherokee writing remains one of the best-attested examples of a script that arose through idea diffusion. We know that Sequoyah received paper and other writing materials, the idea of a writing system, the idea of using separate marks, and the forms of several dozen marks. Since, however, he could neither read nor write English, he acquired no details or even principles from the existing scripts around him. Surrounded by alphabets he could not understand, he instead independently reinvented a syllabary, unaware that the Minoans of Crete had already invented another syllabary 3,500 years previously.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jared Diamond" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/a-striking-example-from-the-history-of-writing-is-the-origin-of-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cherokee indian" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/a-striking-example-from-the-history-of-writing-is-the-origin-of-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fd/jared-diamond-2519_cherokee-indian_a-striking-example-from-the-history-of-w_2623094.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fd/jared-diamond-2519_cherokee-indian_a-striking-example-from-the-history-of-w_2623094.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fd/jared-diamond-2519_cherokee-indian_a-striking-example-from-the-history-of-w_2623094.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A striking example from the history of writing is the origin of the syllabary devised in Arkansas around…” — Jared Diamond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jared Diamond", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“A striking example from the history...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/a-striking-example-from-the-history-of-writing-is-the-origin-of-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/a-striking-example-from-the-history-of-writing-is-the-origin-of-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```