Harry Ritchie

Celebrating Sequoyah and his Cherokee alphabet

The writing system the Native American devised for his people was soon followed by a printing press, a newspaper and a far higher literacy rate than that of their oppressors

Sequoyah with his Cherokee alphabet. [Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images] 
issue 24 August 2024
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  • An Atlas of Endangered Alphabets: A Global Exploration of the Writing Systems on the Verge of Vanishing

    Tim Brookes

    Quercus, pp. 256, £30

There are about 7,000 languages currently spoken on this planet. By the end of this century, all but 600 will have disappeared – the inevitable result of an unstoppable process as the last speakers of the world’s little languages die out, usually leaving no trace, for the vast majority are spoken only, with no written record.

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