English Cheyenne Dictionary
Free offline English-Cheyenne dictionary. A vital resource for Cheyenne language preservation and revitalization efforts.
Key Features
100% Offline
Look up Cheyenne words anytime, anywhere — no internet connection needed.
Fast Search
Instant results as you type. Find the word you need in milliseconds.
Completely Free
No hidden costs, no subscriptions, no in-app purchases required.
Android & iOS
Available on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
Comprehensive
Thousands of words and phrases covering everyday vocabulary and more.
Bidirectional
Search from English to Cheyenne or Cheyenne to English seamlessly.
About English Cheyenne Dictionary
This English-Cheyenne dictionary supports the revitalization of the Cheyenne language. With fewer than 2,000 fluent speakers remaining, every tool that helps teach and preserve Cheyenne is invaluable to the community.
About Cheyenne
Cheyenne is an Algonquian language spoken by the Cheyenne people of Montana and Oklahoma. With fewer than 2,000 fluent speakers, it is considered an endangered language. Digital tools like this dictionary play a crucial role in preservation efforts.
Who is this app for? Cheyenne community members, language revitalization workers, Native American studies students.
An Algonquian language of the northern plains
Cheyenne — Tsėhésenėstsestȯtse in its own name — belongs to the Algonquian family, related to Ojibwe, Cree and Arapaho. It is spoken by the Northern Cheyenne in Montana and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma.
It is severely endangered. Most remaining fluent speakers are elderly, and transmission to children largely stopped within living memory as a result of boarding-school policies that punished the use of Native languages. Revitalisation work continues through tribal colleges and language programmes.
Why a word list is the wrong model
Cheyenne is polysynthetic. A single word can carry what English needs a full clause for, assembled from a stem plus a series of affixes marking person, number, tense, aspect, direction and more. Verbs also distinguish whether the participants are animate or inanimate, a grammatical category English does not use.
The consequence is that a dictionary of the ordinary kind — one word, one translation — fits Cheyenne poorly. Many forms you encounter in speech will not appear as entries anywhere, because they are constructed rather than stored. That is a genuine limitation of the format, not a gap we can fill by adding rows.
What this app is and is not
It is a reference for looking up recorded vocabulary offline. It is not a course, and it is not a substitute for a speaker or a tribal language programme. For anyone doing serious work in Cheyenne, the published scholarly lexicography and community-run programmes are the primary resources; this is a convenience for the phone in your pocket.
Corrections from speakers are especially valuable here. For a language with this little digital material, community feedback is the best quality signal available — there is no larger dataset to check against.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people speak Cheyenne?
Few, and most fluent speakers are elderly. The language is severely endangered, with transmission to children largely interrupted within living memory as a result of boarding-school policies. Revitalisation efforts continue through tribal colleges and community programmes.
Why does the dictionary not contain the word I heard?
Cheyenne is polysynthetic — a single word is assembled from a stem plus many affixes and can express what English needs a whole clause for. Many spoken forms are constructed rather than stored, so they do not exist as dictionary entries in any dictionary.
Can I learn Cheyenne from this app?
Not on its own. It is a lookup reference rather than a course. Serious learning requires published scholarly work and, above all, contact with speakers and tribal language programmes.
How can I report an error?
Through the support page. For a language with this little digital material, corrections from speakers are the best quality signal available, and they genuinely improve the app.
You May Also Like
Download English - Cheyenne Now
Free, offline, and ready to use. Get it on your device today.