Editing Cherokee language (section)

=== Consonants ===
As with many Iroquoian languages, Cherokee's phonemic inventory is small. The consonants for North Carolina Cherokee are given in the table below. The consonants of all Iroquoian languages pattern so that they may be grouped as (oral) obstruents, sibilants, laryngeals, and resonants.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Lounsbury |first=Floyd G. |date=1978 |editor-last=Trigger |editor-first=Bruce G. |title=Iroquoian Languages |journal=[[Handbook of North American Indians]] |location=Washington, DC |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |volume=15 |pages=334–343 |oclc=12682465}}</ref>{{Rp|page=337}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ North Carolina Cherokee consonants
! rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan="2" | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! <small>plain</small>
! [[Lateral consonant|<small>lateral</small>]]
! <small>plain</small>
! <small>[[Labialization|labial]]</small>
|-
! [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPAlink|m}}
| {{IPAlink|n}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
|
| {{IPAlink|t}}
|
|
| {{IPAlink|k}}
| {{IPAlink|kʷ}}
| {{IPAlink|ʔ}}
|-
! [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
|
| {{IPAlink|t͡s}}
| {{IPAlink|t͡ɬ}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|
| {{IPAlink|s}}
|
|
|
|
| {{IPAlink|h}}
|-
! [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|
|
| {{IPAlink|l}}
| {{IPAlink|j}}
| {{IPAlink|ɰ}}
|
|
|}

==== Notes ====
* The stops {{IPA|/t, k, kʷ/}} and affricates {{IPA|/t͡s, t͡ɬ/}} are voiced in the beginning of syllables and between vowels: {{IPA|[d, ɡ, ɡʷ, d͡z, d͡ɮ]}}. Before {{IPA|/h/}}, they surface as aspirated stops: {{IPA|[tʰ, kʰ, kʷʰ, t͡sʰ]}}, except {{IPA|/t͡ɬ/}} which surfaces as a plain voiceless affricate {{IPA|[t͡ɬ]}} or fricative {{IPA|[ɬ]}} in some Oklahoma Cherokee speakers.{{sfn|Uchihara|2016|p=41}}{{sfn|Montgomery-Anderson|2008a|pp=39, 64}} These aspirated allophones are felt as separate phonemes by native speakers and are often reflected as such in the orthographies (in romanization or syllabary).
* {{IPA|/t͡s/}} is palatalized as {{IPA|[t͡ɕ ⁓ t͡ʃ]}} (voiced allophones: {{IPA|[d͡ʑ ⁓ d͡ʒ]}}) in the Oklahoma dialects,{{sfn|Uchihara|2016|pp=40–41}} but {{IPA|[t͡s]}} before {{IPA|/h/}} + obstruent after vowel deletion:{{sfn|Scancarelli|1987|p=25}} {{lang|chr-Latn|jⱥ-hdlv́vga}} becomes {{lang|chr-Latn|tsdlv́vga}} {{gloss|you are sick}}.{{sfn|Montgomery-Anderson|2008a|p=65}}
* {{IPA|/t͡ɬ/}} has merged with {{IPA|/t͡s/}} in most North Carolina dialects.{{sfn|Uchihara|2016|p=41}}
* {{IPA|[ɡ]}} (the voiced allophone of {{IPA|/k/}}) can also be lenited to {{IPA|[ɣ]}}, and {{IPA|[ɡʷ]}} (the voiced allophone of {{IPA|/kʷ/}}) to {{IPA|[ɣʷ ⁓ w]}}.{{sfn|Uchihara|2016|p=39}}{{sfn|Scancarelli|1987|p=26}}
* The sonorants {{IPA|/n, l, j, ɰ/}} are devoiced when preceding or following {{IPA|/h/}}, with varying degrees of allophony: {{IPA|[n̥, l̥⁓ɬ, j̥⁓ç, w̥⁓ʍ⁓ɸ]}}.{{sfn|Uchihara|2016|p=42}}
* {{IPA|/m/}} is the only true labial. It occurs only in a dozen native words{{sfn|Uchihara|2016|p=43}} and is not reconstructed for [[Proto-Iroquoian language|Proto-Iroquoian]].{{sfn|Charles|2010|pp=21, 82}}
* {{IPA|/s/}} is realized as {{IPA|[ʃ]}} or even {{IPA|[ʂ]}} in North Carolina dialects. After a short vowel, {{IPA|/s/}} is always preceded by a faint {{IPA|/h/}}, generally not spelled in the romanized orthographies.{{sfn|Uchihara|2016|p=42}}{{sfn|Montgomery-Anderson|2008a|p=36}}{{sfn|Scancarelli|1987|p=25}}
* {{IPA|/ʔ/}} and {{IPA|/h/}}, including the pre-aspiration {{IPA|/h/}} mentioned above, participate in complex rules of laryngeal and tonal alternations, often surfacing as various tones instead. Ex: {{lang|chr-Latn|h-v'''h'''d-a}} > {{lang|chr-Latn|hv'''h'''da}} "use it!" but {{lang|chr-Latn|g-v'''h'''d-íha}} >  {{lang|chr-Latn|g'''vv̀'''díha}} "I am using it" with a low falling tone;{{sfn|Uchihara|2016|p=43}} {{lang|chr-Latn|wi-hi-ga'''h'''t-i}} > {{lang|chr-Latn|hwi'''k'''ti}} "you're heading there" but {{lang|chr-Latn|wi-ji-ga'''h'''t-i}} >  {{lang|chr-Latn|wijig'''áa'''ti}} "I am heading there" with a falling tone.

==== Orthography ====
There are two main competing orthographies, depending on how plain and aspirated stops (including affricates) are represented:{{sfn|Uchihara|2016|p=11}}{{sfn|Montgomery-Anderson|2008a|pp=33, 64}}{{sfn|Scancarelli|2005|pp=359-362}}
* In the ''d/t system'', plain stops are represented by English voiced stops (''d, g, gw, j, dl'') and aspirated stops by English voiceless stops (''t, k, kw, c, tl''). This orthography is favored by native speakers.
* In the ''t/th system'', plain stops are represented by voiceless stops instead, and aspirated stops by sequences of voiceless stops + ''h'' (''th, kh, khw/kwh, ch, thl/tlh''). This orthography is favored by linguists.

Another orthography, used in Holmes (1977), doesn't distinguish plain stops from aspirated stops for {{IPA|/t͡sa/}} and {{IPA|/kw/}} and uses ''ts'' and ''qu'' for both modes.{{sfn|Scancarelli|1987|p=30}} Spellings working from the syllabary rather than from the sounds often behave similarly, {{IPA|/t͡s/}} and {{IPA|/kʷ/}} being the only two stop series not having separate letters for plain and aspirated before any vowel in Sequoyah script. Ex: {{lang|chr|ᏌᏊ}} {{transliteration|chr|saquu}} {{IPA|chr|saàɡʷu|}}, {{lang|chr|ᏆᎾ}} {{transliteration|chr|quana}} {{IPA|chr|kʷʰana|}}.