Google adds Cherokee to searchable languages

[Dustin]

Google adds Cherokee to searchable languages
The Internet can now be searched using the Cherokee language.

By The Associated Press Comment on this article 2
Published: March 25, 2011

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Internet can now be searched using the Cherokee language.

Google announced Friday it's added the Cherokee written language, called Cherokee Syllabary, to its list of searchable languages. The company also created an on-screen keyboard with the Cherokee language so content can be searched without a specialized keyboard.

The company worked with volunteer translators from the Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah to translate Google's interface into the language.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith said in a news release that Google's efforts will increase the language's use among young people.

The 85-character syllabary has slowly died out since its creation in the early 1800s. Only about 8,000 of the tribe's 290,000 members can speak the language.

http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=chr

[skyrick]

Very cool. Ya-teh-hey!

Oops! I just found out that's Navajo, not Cherokee!

[KayneMo]

This is awesome! I hope Google will continue to add Native American languages to it's search engine. I'm only a drop of blood of Cherokee, but this makes me ecstatic! Hopefully Choctaw and Navajo are next!