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Not to be confused with the closely related Shiwiar language from Peru and Ecuador.

Shuar (‘people‘, also known by the derogatory term Jivaro, also spelled Chiwaro, Jibaro, or Xivaro) is an indigenous language spoken by the Shuar people of Morona Santiago Province and Pastaza Province in the Ecuadorian Amazon basin.

Classification

The Shuar language, as it stands today, is considered part of the Chicham (or Jivaroan) language family.[2]

Education

Radio schools

The geographical remoteness within the Ecuadorian rainforest isolates the Shuar and has widely scattered the people from one another. As a result, in the late 1960s, radio schools were formed to promote communication and education in both Spanish and Shuar.[3] This inadvertently transformed into a language revitalization initiative for the Shuar people. Radio schools were shut down in 2001 and replaced with formal bilingual in-class teaching.[3]

Phonology

Consonants

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p t k
Affricate t͡s t͡ʃ
Fricative s ʃ h
Trill r
Semivowel j w

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i   ĩ ɨ   ɨ̃ u   ũ
Open a   ã

Literature

The Constitution of Ecuador has been translated in its entirety into the Shuar language. Its official name in Shuar is Ecuador Nunka Umíktin Umpuarma.[4]

Sample text

The following text is an official translation of part of Article 2 of the Constitution of Ecuador which stipulates the language policy of the State.[4]

Akánu 2.- … Ecuador nunkanmanka apach chicham máshi chicháji; apach chicham, kichwa chicham, nuyá shuar chicham másh chichaktiniaiti anturnaikiatai tusar. Chíkich Tarimiat aents chichamen chichainia nuka núumtak nii nunkénink, chichasartatui, umiktin tana nuna umiak, chicham menkakaink tusa ii nunké arantuk, chichaktinian émtikiattui.

Translation in English: “Article 2.- … Spanish is Ecuador’s official language; Spanish, Kichwa and Shuar are official languages for intercultural ties. The other ancestral languages are in official use by indigenous peoples in the areas where they live and in accordance with the terms set forth by law. The State shall respect and encourage their preservation and use.”

References

  1. ^ Shuar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Unrepresented Nations and People Organization (UNPO). “The Shuar, a Forgotten Indigenous Community in Ecuador”. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)[1]
  3. ^ a b Grenoble, Lenore A (2006). Saving Languages: An introduction to language revitilization. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 78–83. ISBN 978-0-521-81621-2.
  4. ^ a b “Constitución de la República del Ecuador en Shuar”. issuu. 27 June 2011. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  • Turner, Glen D. (1958): “Alternative phonemicizing in Jivaro”, in International Journal of American Linguistics 24, 2, pp. 87–94.