Shawi language
Cahuapanan language spoken in Peru
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shawi (Chayahuita, Chayahuita: Kanpunan 'our language'[3]) is an endangered Amazonian language spoken by thousands of native Chayahuita people in the Amazon basin of north-central Peru. Spoken along the banks of the Paranapura, Cahuapanas, Sillay, and Shanusi rivers, it is also known as Chayawita, Shawi, Chawi, Tshaahui, Chayhuita, Chayabita, Shayabit, Balsapuertino, Paranapura, and Cahuapa. It is one of the most actively spoken languages in its region.
Classification
Together with the nearly extinct Shiwilu language, Shawi is a member of the Cahuapanan languages.[3]
Dialects
Three dialects of Shawi are distinguished, Cahuapana, Chayahuita, and Paranapura.[3]
Status
25,239 speakers of Shawi were recorded in 2017 according to the Peruvian Ministry of Culture. Its linguistic vitality is very high for a language in the Peruvian Amazon, and children are monolingual in the language until they begin school, when they are first exposed to Spanish. Speakers of the language hold much pride in Shawi, though the villages in which it is spoken are assimilating, which may lead to the loss of the language.[3]
Phonology
Orthographical equivalents are presented in ⟨angle brackets⟩.[3]
/ʰ/ is not recognized by Rojas-Berscia (2019) as a separate phoneme, as it is exclusive to certain phonetic environments. Most consonants, including all plosives or fricatives, may not occur in the coda of a syllable. The glottal stop, however, may only occur in the coda.[3]
Writing system
There is a 1–5% literacy rate, compared with 5–15% for Spanish, and a dictionary since 1978. The New Testament was also translated into Shawi.[3]
Vocabulary
Selected Shawi animal names from Rojas-Berscia (2019):[3]
