Guarijio language
Encyclopedia
Huarijio is an Uto-Aztecan
language of the states of Chihuahua and Sonora
in northwestern Mexico
. It is spoken by around 5,000 people, most of whom are monolinguals.
(with a small number of speakers in Moris
to the north and Chínipas
to the south) and around Arechuyvo, in the state of Chihuahua.
The river variant is found to the southwest: most speakers inhabit the Río Mayo basin to the north of San Bernardo
in the Sonoran municipality of Álamos.
Speakers of Mountain Guarijio self-identify as warihó and call River Guarijio speakers macurawe or makulái. River Guarijio speakers call themselves warihío and call Mountain speakers "tarahumara
s". Contact between the two groups is scant and, although the linguistic differences between the two are slight, speakers report that mutual comprehension is difficult.
s strung together. The Guarijí language is notable typologically
in that it shows an object–verb–subject sentence order, one of the rarest order found cross-linguistically.
's radio station XEETCH, broadcasting from Etchojoa, Sonora.
Uto-Aztecan languages
Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan is a Native American language family consisting of over 30 languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found from the Great Basin of the Western United States , through western, central and southern Mexico Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan is a Native American language family...
language of the states of Chihuahua and Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
in northwestern Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It is spoken by around 5,000 people, most of whom are monolinguals.
Distribution
The language has two variants, known as Mountain Guarijio (guarijío de la sierra) and River Guarijio (guarijío del río). The mountain variant is chiefly spoken in the eastern portion of the municipality of UruachiUruachi
Uruachi is a village in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, close to the border with the state of Sonora....
(with a small number of speakers in Moris
Moris, Chihuahua
Moris is a town and seat of the municipality of Moris, in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. As of 2005, the town had a total population of 1,158....
to the north and Chínipas
Chínipas (municipality)
Chínipas is a one of the 67 municipalities of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico. The municipal seat lies at Chínipas de Almada. The municipality covers an area of 2,278.9 km².As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 7,233....
to the south) and around Arechuyvo, in the state of Chihuahua.
The river variant is found to the southwest: most speakers inhabit the Río Mayo basin to the north of San Bernardo
San Bernardo, Sonora
San Bernardo is a village in Sonora, Mexico....
in the Sonoran municipality of Álamos.
Speakers of Mountain Guarijio self-identify as warihó and call River Guarijio speakers macurawe or makulái. River Guarijio speakers call themselves warihío and call Mountain speakers "tarahumara
Tarahumara
The Rarámuri or Tarahumara are a Native American people of northwestern Mexico who are renowned for their long-distance running ability...
s". Contact between the two groups is scant and, although the linguistic differences between the two are slight, speakers report that mutual comprehension is difficult.
Morphology
Guarijio is an agglutinative language, where words use suffix complexes for a variety of purposes with several morphemeMorpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
s strung together. The Guarijí language is notable typologically
Linguistic Typology
Linguistic Typology is an international peer-reviewed journal in the field of linguistic typology, founded in 1997. It is published by Mouton de Gruyter on behalf of the Association for Linguistic Typology. Its editor-in-chief is Prof. Frans Plank . The journal is accessible online with...
in that it shows an object–verb–subject sentence order, one of the rarest order found cross-linguistically.
Phonology
The consonant inventory includes:| labial | alveolar | palatal | velar | glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plosive | p | t | k | ʔ | ||||||
| affricate | t͡ʃ | |||||||||
| fricative | s | (ʃ) | h | |||||||
| approximant | w | l, ɾ | j | |||||||
| nasal | m | n | ||||||||
Media
Programming in Guarijio is carried by the CDINational Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples
The National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples is a decentralized agency of the Mexican Federal Public Administration. It was founded in 2003 as a replacement for the National Indigenist Institute . It has its headquarters in Mexico City and, since 15 December 2006, has been...
's radio station XEETCH, broadcasting from Etchojoa, Sonora.
External links
- Lengua Guarijio (In Spanish)
- Ethnologue Report