Sequoyah's syllabary
A man with no schooling invented a writing system alone
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A syllabary has one sign for each syllable in the language, unlike an alphabet, which has one sign for each individual sound. It is one of very few documented cases in world history of an individual constructing a working writing system from scratch without being able to read an existing one. The syllabic principle suits Cherokee better than an alphabet would. The Cherokee Phoenix began publication in 1828, bilingual, and the script is in use today — including in Unicode. It arrived two years before the Removal Act, and became an instrument of resistance to it.
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Sequoyah could neither read nor write any language when he began. Over twelve years he built an entire writing system for Cherokee, with 85 characters for syllables. It fitted the language so well that people could learn to read in a few days, and the Cherokee soon had higher literacy than their white neighbours.
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