El guaraní-

[Lesley D]

I was catching upon on my newspaper reading and I came across this article yesterday in BBC Mundo. It's about el guaraní, the official language of Paraguay since 1992.

According to the article approximately 95% of Paraguayans speak this autochthonous language and also they mix it with Spanish called yo-pará. As well 27% of the population speaks guaraní exclusively and only 5% speak Spanish as their first language.

Many Paraguayans defend their language and consider it a part of their identity and as a result are battling to keep it alive and this was the prime reason it was made the official language in 1992 approximately two hundred years after becoming an independent nation.

El guaraní is taught in schools starting in the first grade and is part of the curriculum of some universities. However, in spite of its wide spoken presence certain prejudice exists and the language is associated with the lower class or lower social strata. This notion of lower class association also adds to the resistance to teach the language however, as the article states there's a difference between 'academic guaraní' and the street version. In the Rio Plate region (Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina) the term guarango is still heard today to refer to guaraní (and guaraní parlantes) as maleducado or vulgar.

Paraguayan youth today who don't speak the language don't consider it necessary to learn it especially since other languages in the world such as English are more useful on a global scale. However, it took time before the presence of this indigenous language penetrated into all spheres of Paraguayan society and over time writers started to write poetry and sing songs in guaraní. As well, radio broadcasters incorporate the language in their daily radio shows.

According to the article the resistance persists because of a colonialist mentality that has not been overcome. As a result Paraguayans reject this indigenous language as well as Spanish. The duality exists however, outside of the country there's a sense of unity among Paraguayans who speak guaraní.

My comments in brief:

This article reinforces the idea that language survives via the population that speaks it. If we compare el guaraní and other indigenous languages spoken in South America to Taino, the only trace is in the form of words and this is due to the fact that the Taino population was wiped out quickly once the Spaniards moved into the Caribbean region. As well, a language survives if it is isolated from other more dominant languages or if it's the dominant language of a particular region of a country. There are many places in the world in which this phenomenon exists intentionally or unintentionally. This situation is not unique to Paraguay. Peru and Bolivia have their respective indigenous languages (Quechua and Aymara) that are spoken by a significant percentage of the population. No doubt the issues of survival have some semblance to el guaraní.

One of the drawbacks of isolation and when a language is spoken only by a small percentage of people is survival and evolution. Although the language survives it hardly evolves and ironically although the language continues to be spoken by a specific group it lacks evolution which in turn pushes the language further off the scale, it could eventually become archaic and then cease to be spoken over time.

On BBC Mundo's web page I listened to a brief conversation/interview that the BBC had with a Paraguayan who supports the survival of the language and when the interviewee spoke Spanish it was great but when the individual spoke a mix of Spanish and guaraní- no entendí ni jota!

There is also an interesting debate about this issue hosted by the BBC- el guaraní as a means of identity for Paraguayans.

Here are links to the article and the language identity debate.

El guaraní

El debate


~LDG.

[juancarlos]

I think the Paraguayan case is unique in Latin America because even though other indigenous languages are spoken in Peru, Bolivia etc, in these countries they are almost exclusively used by the indigenous population, the Quechuas, Aymaras and others. In Paraguay, on the other hand, Guaraní is spoken, along with Spanish, by the population of mixed Spanish-Guarani ancestry, the mestizos, as well as by many of European ancestry. Unlike Peru and Bolivia and Ecuador, the indigenous population in Paraguay is very small. Most Paraguayans are mestizos and many of them have more European than "indian" blood and yet, Guarani has survived. I think this had something to do with the way the Jesuits conducted the evangelization of the country and how they translated the Christian doctrine into Guarani. Also, almost since the begining, the mestizo population continued to speak their mothers' tongue, while learning their fathers'.

Guarani is also spoken in some parts of Argentina by the indigenous population of the region.

Lesley, I still have not read the two links you provided, but I had read about this subject before. Something that I always noticed when Paraguyans speak Spanish is certain stops they make between words which are not typical of Spanish speakers, that and a few other minor differences which can be traced to the influence of Guarani.

Yet, there is no doubt that Spanish continues to be the dominant language in society and will probably continue to be so.

[Lesley D]

The reason behind the survival of guaraní requires much reading and the best info on anything indigenous is always found in country. Therefore, I have yet to dig deep into the how and why this indigenous language has survived. You are correct when you say it is spoken by most Paraguayans and that in itself contributes to its survival as compared to Quechua and Aymara which are limited to the mestizo population of Peru, Bolivia, parts of Chile and Argentina as you stated.

The speech patterns that you mentioned that seem typical of Paraguayans is a classic speech marker for people in South America whose first language is not Spanish but rather an indigenous language as I mentioned in my first post. This can be said for many indigenous and mestizo speakers of Central America as well. As you know speech pattern discussions occur often among my circle of friends and the best examples are live ones. I have heard some broad variations from Chilean mestizos and Ecuadorian mestizos. Not only are their starts and stops atypical of Spanish but many tend to err with genders as well. It is an aspect I have noted that comes from the influence of their indigenous language.

Regarding your last phrase that Spanish remains the dominant language of society, I agree and in brief that has to do with the fact that in the Mercosur region Spanish is the dominant language and is the dominant language of the South American continent with the exception of a few countries.

If you get a moment please read the first article. I really liked the last paragraph by the young Paraguayan and his determination to maintain his cultural patrimony via language.


~LDG.