Chamorro language

Chamorro (English: /tʃəˈmɒroʊ/; Chamorro: Finuʼ Chamorrocode: ch is deprecated (CNMI), Finoʼ CHamoru (Guam)) is a language spoken in Guam and the Mariana Islands by the Chamorro people. It has a lot of loanwords from the Spanish language. It is spoken by about 58,000 people.

Chamorro
Native to	Mariana Islands
Ethnicity	Chamorro
Native speakers	58,000  (2005–2015)e19
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Chamorro
Official status
Official language in	Guam Northern Mariana Islands
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ch
ISO 639-2	cha
ISO 639-3	cha

The Chamorro language has its own Wikipedia. The first edit was made there in 2004.

History

In 1922, the US government banned the Chamorro language. Now, most Chamorro in Guam speak English. However, some people are teaching Chamorro classes so that others can learn the language.

Letters

Chamorro uses the ABCs like English and Spanish. The Spanish brought them this alphabet.

Vowels

Chamorro has 6 vowels.

Letter	Pronunciation
Å	like a in car
A	like a in cat
I	like ee in meet or i in pit
E	like e in met or ee in meet
U	like oo in tool or u in put
O	like ow in low or u in put

Consonants

Chamorro has 19 consonants.

Letter	Pronunciation
'	as in the space between "uh" and "oh" in uh-oh
B
Ch
D
F
G
H
J
K
L
M
N
Ñ	as in the ni in onion
NG	as in the ng in sing
P
R
S
T
Y	as in the z in zoo or j in June

Chamorro Language Media

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  The common greeting "Hafa Adai" at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport on Guam. "Hafa" here is not written as "Håfa" as in the newer, standardised orthography.