Major Arawakan language spoken in the Guajira Peninsula
This article is about the language spoken in South America. For the language of Nepal, see Wayu language.
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Wayuu
Guajiro
Wayuunaiki
Pronunciation
[waˈjuːnaiki]
Native to
Venezuela, Colombia
Ethnicity
790,000 Wayuu people (2011 & 2019 censuses)[1]
Native speakers
420,000 (2008–2012)[1]
Language family
Arawakan
Northern
Ta-Arawakan
Wayuu
Writing system
Latin script
Official status
Regulated by
Centro Etnoeducativo Kamusuchiwoꞌu
Language codes
ISO 639-3
guc
Glottolog
wayu1243
ELP
Guajiro
Extent of the Wayuu people and language
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
People
Wayuu
Language
Wayuunaiki
Country
Wajiira
Wayuu (Wayuu: Wayuunaiki[waˈjuːnaiki]), or Guajiro, is a major Arawakan language spoken by 400,000 indigenous Wayuu people in northwestern Venezuela and northeastern Colombia on the Guajira Peninsula and surrounding Lake Maracaibo.
There were an estimated 300,000 speakers of Wayuunaiki in Venezuela in 2012 and another 120,000 in Colombia in 2008, approximately half the ethnic population of 400,000 in Venezuela (2011 census) and 400,000 in Colombia (2018 census).[1] Smith (1995) reports that a mixed Wayuu—Spanish language is replacing Wayuunaiki in both countries.[full citation needed] However, Campbell (1997) could find no information on this.[full citation needed]
Wayuu (Wayuu: Wayuunaiki [waˈjuːnaiki]), or Guajiro, is a major Arawakan language spoken by 400,000 indigenous Wayuu people in northwestern Venezuela and...
northernmost Colombia and northwest Venezuela. The Wayuulanguage is part of the Arawakan language family. The Wayuu inhabit the arid Guajira Peninsula straddling...
attested Arawakan languages seems to be the Wayuulanguage, spoken in Colombia and Venezuela. Scholars have suggested that the Wayuu are descended from...
settlement as the village of Riohacha, as a result of constant attacks by the Wayuu people. In 1544, it was moved to the site of the present-day city. In 1871...
speak other language as their mother tongue (main languages: Chinese 400,000, Portuguese 254,000, Wayuu 199,000, Arabic 110,000) Quispe Fernández, Ezio...
responds to questions asked by Visitación and Cataure in the Guajiro or Wayuulanguage. She falls in love with and marries her adoptive brother José Arcadio...
Península de La Guajira, also spelled Goajira, mainly in colonial period texts, Wayuu: Woumainpa’a) is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela...
Chile; Wayuu in northern Colombia and northwest Venezuela; and Mapudungun in small pockets of southern Chile and Argentina. In Bolivia, three languages—Quechua...
Maracaibo (/ˌmærəˈkaɪboʊ/ MARR-ə-KY-boh, Spanish: [maɾaˈkajβo] ; Wayuu: Marakaaya) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western...
Riohacha (Spanish pronunciation: [rjoˈa.tʃa]; Wayuu: Süchiimma) is a city in the Riohacha Municipality in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia by...
are the most spoken languages in Venezuela after the official language of Spanish. Wayuu is the most spoken indigenous language with 294,000 speakers...
community of volunteer editors, started on 15 January 2001 as an English-language encyclopedia. Non-English editions were soon created: the German and Catalan...
alveolar lateral flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this...
Barquisimeto (Spanish pronunciation: [baɾkisiˈmeto]; Wayuu: Watkisimeeta) is a city in Venezuela. Barquisimeto is located in the Central-Western Region...
or high central unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in some languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this...
Maicao (Wayuu: mai-ka-u) is a city and municipality in the Department of La Guajira, northern Republic of Colombia. It is located 76 km from Riohacha...
vernacular. The Somali name is 'Garan-waa' which means 'the unknown'. In the Wayuulanguage, spoken on the La Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia and Venezuela...
Cerrejón". The species epithet refers to the Wayuulanguage, called "Wayuunaiki" in its own language, of the Wayuu people, inhabiting the La Guajira desert...
and Ikun. It was selected as the Colombian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards, but was not nominated. The film follows...
The Indigenous languages of the Americas are the languages that were used by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas before the arrival of non-Indigenous...
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