Chamorro language
Malayo-Polynesian (Austronesian) language, spoken on the Mariana Islands
Chamorro (English: /tʃəˈmɒroʊ/;[2] Chamorro: Finuʼ Chamorro (CNMI), Finoʼ CHamoru (Guam)[3]) is a language spoken in Guam and the Mariana Islands by the Chamorro people. It has a lot of loanwords from the Spanish language. It is spoken by about 58,000 people.
Chamorro | |
---|---|
Native to | Mariana Islands |
Ethnicity | Chamorro |
Native speakers | 58,000 (2005–2015)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
Official status | |
Official language in | Guam Northern Mariana Islands |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | ch |
ISO 639-2 | cha |
ISO 639-3 | cha |
Glottolog | cham1312 |
ELP | Chamorro |
The Chamorro language has its own Wikipedia. The first edit was made there in 2004.
History
changeIn 1922, the US government banned the Chamorro language. Now, most Chamorro in Guam speak English. However, some people are teaching Chamorro classes so that others can learn the language.
Letters
changeChamorro uses the ABCs like English and Spanish. The Spanish brought them this alphabet.
Vowels
changeChamorro has 6 vowels.
Letter | Pronunciation |
---|---|
Å | like a in car |
A | like a in cat |
I | like ee in meet or i in pit |
E | like e in met or ee in meet |
U | like oo in tool or u in put |
O | like ow in low or u in put |
Consonants
changeChamorro has 19 consonants.
Letter | Pronunciation |
---|---|
' | as in the space between "uh" and "oh" in uh-oh |
B | |
Ch | |
D | |
F | |
G | |
H | |
J | |
K | |
L | |
M | |
N | |
Ñ | as in the ni in onion |
NG | as in the ng in sing |
P | |
R | |
S | |
T | |
Y | as in the z in zoo or j in June |
References
change- ↑ Chamorro at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016)
- ↑ "Chamorro". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020.
- ↑ "Chamorro Orthography Rules". Guampedia. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
Chamorro edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia