Etymology of
“Sunalei”
The word “Sunalei” might strike some as unfamiliar, hard to pronounce, and perhaps even mysterious. But it’s more than just a word; it’s an echo of wisdom once whispered by generations on this wonderful land we now call the United States of America. Our name is an homage, a tribute to the diverse tapestry of nations who first called this land home.
Image Credit: “Native American Day” by Erwin Wirapratama (https://www.vecteezy.com)
Respectfully inspired by the Tsalagi dialect (Cherokee Nation), the word spelled as ᏑᎾᎴᎢ (sanalei, sha nah lee, sunalayi, sunalei) was chosen by its primary meaning: “tomorrow”. Pronounced tsu-nah-li 
the word can also mean “morning”, referencing the first sunlight of today’s day. For this reason, this word carries a deep fundamental concept we love and embrace – a notion of “future” with roots in a more immediate concept!
No word in most native dialects defines the concept of “future” as we nowadays perceive it – something that varies depending on the sentence. Unlike our modern concept, they didn’t conceive distant possibilities, but the immediate reality.
When the Cherokee people started their days saying “osda sunalei“, meaning “the morning is good” (nowadays loosely translated as “good morning“), it was not a wish for the morning to be good but a declaration of its inherent potential. This subtle shift speaks volumes about our organization’s spirit. We don’t idly hope for a better tomorrow; we actively build it today. We don’t wait for directions to come later; we find a way now! We don’t operate in silos; we lift each other up.
On a deeper meaning, the United States of America is a living and breathing experiment that embeds those inherent principles – a promise etched by “we the people” of all backgrounds – if we work together today, a better tomorrow will be forged to benefit us all. This is Sunalei! We echo the wisdom of the great nations that once stewarded this land, the vision that inspired our founding fathers, and the dreams of those who yet approach these shores. We are all inescapably threads in the tapestry of this one great nation.
That is why our name, Sunalei, is not just a homage or an appropriation. It is an invitation to remember the sapience of the past, celebrate the possibilities of the present, and unite for a better, brighter, and inclusive “sunalei“, one STEM job at a time.
In Cherokee: Ꮡ Ꮎ Ꮄ Ꭲ |
In English: su na le i
|
The Tsa-la-gi (Cherokee) words are spelled as they are pronounced and likewise, words are pronounced as they are spelled. The word “syllabary” is used to describe a system to develop words into writing. Cherokee is written syllabary form because each letter in a word represents a whole syllable (such as “ga“) instead of a single letter (such as “g“). Cherokee is a complete syllabary, except for the letter ‘s‘.
The language has 6 vowels and 17 consonants.
The vowels are “a, e, i, o, u, v.” The vowels are pronounced as:
a = as in bark
e = as in late
i = as the e in beat
o = as the o in wrote
u = as the double o in boot
v = as the u in nut. V is always nasalized.
All words begin with a consonant and end with a long or short vowel except the ‘s‘ sound. Often, a word will appear to end with a consonant and not a vowel.
Syllables qua, que, quo, quu, and quv are pronounced with a “kw” sound before each vowel.
Syllables beginning with the letter “d” are pronounced as in English, but approach a “t” sound; do, du, and dv sound like to, tu, and tv in some words.
“ti” syllables are sometimes pronounced “di.” The syllables “do, du, and dv” are sometimes pronounced as “to, tu, and tv.” The syllables tsa, tse, tso, tsu, and tsv are pronounced differently in South Carolina and Oklahoma. The Western Cherokee usually pronounce words with a soft “j” sound by keeping the tongue at the bottom of the mouth.
Cherokee uses the English consonants: d g h k l m n q s t w.
The Kituwah middle dialect of Cherokee does not use the English consonants: b f p r t v x z.
Cherokee is spoken with the lips still, the mouth barely opened and the tongue pressed lightly against the lower teeth. Some words are pronounced through the nose and partly in the throat.
Reference: www.cherokeedictionary.net
Our Mission
Our Vision
Our Core Values
About Us
Our Story
Our Team
SUNALEI: A 501(3)(c) NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION
Dedicated to reigniting the potential of America’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (stem), one specialized job at a time!
Not just another nonprofit, but a powerful movement revitalizing the American spirit of innovation to reclaim its global leadership through jobs and social inclusion.
Sunalei is a catalyst igniting a nationwide revolution in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) by investing in innovation, creating new specialized jobs in the USA, and empowering national professionals through qualification, certification, and industry motivation. Economic prosperity is rooted in these crucial fields nowadays highly impacted by decades of uncontrolled predatory outsourcing.
A multi-pronged approach:
- Creating high-skilled jobs in the STEM sectors: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
- Upskilling and empowering the workforce: By supporting affordable qualification and certification programs.
- Fueling innovation: Through incentives in R&D, promoting partnerships, and creating specialized targeted programs.
- Boosting industry motivation: Aligning innovation and development with profit strategies to bring jobs back to the USA.
- Reclaiming global leadership: By driving and retaining advancements in critical STEM fields and related.
