Wayuu ( guc, Wayuunaiki ), or Guajiro, is a major
Arawakan language spoken by 305,000 indigenous
Wayuu people
The Wayuu (also Wayu, Wayúu, Guajiro, Wahiro) are an Amerindian ethnic group of the Guajira Peninsula in northernmost part of Colombia and northwest Venezuela. The Wayuu language is part of the Maipuran (Arawak) language family.
Geography
Th ...
in northwestern
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
and northeastern
Colombia on the
Guajira Peninsula
The Guajira Peninsula ( es, Península de La Guajira, links=no, also spelled ''Goajira'', mainly in colonial period texts, guc, Hikükariby) is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean. It is the norther ...
.
There are 200,000 speakers of Wayuu in Venezuela and 120,000 in Colombia. Smith (1995) reports that a mixed Guajiro–Spanish language is replacing Wayuu in both countries. However, Campbell (1997) could find no information on this.
Recent developments
To promote
bilingual education
In bilingual education, students are taught in two (or more) languages. It is distinct from learning a second language as a subject because both languages are used for instruction in different content areas like math, science, and history. The ...
among Wayuu and other Colombians, the Kamusuchiwo’u Ethno-educative Center () came up with the initiative of creating the first illustrated Wayuunaiki–Spanish, Spanish–Wayuunaiki
dictionary.
In December 2011, the
Wayuu Tayá Foundation and
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
presented the first ever dictionary of technology terms in the Wayuu language, after having developed it for three years with a team of technology professionals and linguists.
Dialects
The two main dialects are Wüinpümüin and Wopumüin, spoken in the northeast and southwest of the peninsula, respectively. These dialects are
mutually intelligible, as they are minimally distinct. The extinct Guanebucan language may actually have been a dialect of Wayuu.
Phonology
Note: and are more open than in English. is slightly front of central, and is slightly back of central. All vowels can either occur in short or long versions, since vowel length is distinctive.
is a lateral flap pronounced with the tongue just behind the position for the Spanish , and with a more lateral airflow.
Grammar
The
personal pronouns of Wayuu are
Vocabulary examples
The following are examples of Wayuu.
* 'good morning'
* 'good afternoon'
* 'good night'
* 'how are you (singular)?'
* 'how are you (plural)?'
* 'rabbit'
* 'grass'
* 'clay jar'
Notes
External links
*
WayuuTribe.com -About the Wayuu People and Wayuu ArtSpanish-Wayuunaiki dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wayuu Language
Arawakan languages
Indigenous languages of the South American Northeast
Languages of Colombia
Languages of Venezuela