Shuar (which literally means "

people The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

", also known by such (now derogatory) terms as Chiwaro, Jibaro, Jivaro, or Xivaro) is an indigenous language spoken by the Shuar people of Morona Santiago Province and

Pastaza Province Pastaza () is a Provinces of Ecuador, province in the Oriente (Ecuador), Oriente of Ecuador located in the eastern jungle. The capital is Puyo, Ecuador, Puyo, founded on May 12, 1899, with a population of 33,325. The city is now accessible by pave ...

in the

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

ian

Amazon basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

History

Twelve indigenous languages of

are spoken today, one of which is Shuar. The name "Shuar" shared among the people and their language first became known to the Spaniards in the 17th century. The Shuar language, as it stands today, is considered part of the Chicham (or Jivaroan) language family.
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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. This inadvertently transformed into a

language revitalization Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community group ...

initiative for the Shuar people. Radio schools were shut down in 2001 and replaced with formal bilingual in-class teaching.

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels/Nasals

Literature

The Constitution of Ecuador has been translated in its entirety into the Shuar language. Its official name in Shuar is .

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. : 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

* Turner, Glen D. (1958): "Alternative phonemicizing in Jivaro", in ''International Journal of American Linguistics'' 24, 2, pp. 87–94.

External links

* *
Shuar Language Guide

The Bible in Shuar
Chicham languages Languages of Ecuador {{indigenousAmerican-lang-stub