Guaraní (Avañe'ẽ)

Guaraní is an Amerind language spoken by about 4.6 million people in Paraguay. There are also small communities of Guaraní speakers in Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina. Guaraní is one of the offical languages of Paraguay, along with Spanish, and started to appear in writing in the form of religious texts during the 18th century.

Guaraní has co-existed with Spanish in Paraguay for four centuries and as a result, has absorbed a lot of Spanish vocabulary. Guaraní has also contributed a number of loanwords to English such as cougar, toucan and jaguar.

The Guaraní alphabet shown below was introduced after a Guaraní language congress in Montevideo, Uruguay. The idea was to take the spelling of Guaraní away from the Spanish model.

Guaraní alphabet (Avañe'ẽme Achegety)

Guaraní pronunciation

Sample text in Guaraní

Mayma yvypóra ou ko yvy ári iñapyty'yre ha eteîcha tecoruvicharendá ha acatúape jeguerekópe; ha ikatu rupi oikuaa añetéva ha añete'yva, iporâva ha ivaíva, tekotevê pehenguéicha oiko oñondivekuéra.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Other languages written with the Latin alphabet

Links

Information about Guaraní
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaraní_language
http://www.proel.org/index.php?pagina=mundo/amerindia/tupian/guarani/guarani
http://www.educar.org/kunumi/
http://www.e-portalsur.com.ar/guarani/espguarani.htm

Online Guaraní lessons
http://www.learnguarani.com

Online Guaraní dictionaries)
http://www.uni-mainz.de/cgi-bin/guarani2/dictionary.pl
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Guarani-english/

Guarani Renda - avañe'ẽ rehegua / acerca del idioma guaraní (information about Guarani in Spanish and Guarani): http://www.datamex.com.py/guarani/

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