Chamorro language
| Chamorro | |
|---|---|
| Finuʼ Chamorro Finoʼ CHamoru | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈfinoʔ t͡sɑˈmoɾu/ |
| Native to | Guam, Northern Mariana Islands |
| Region | Mariana Islands |
| Ethnicity | Chamorro |
Native speakers | 58,000 (2005–2015)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
| Latin | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Guam Northern Mariana Islands |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | ch |
| ISO 639-2 | cha |
| ISO 639-3 | cha |
| Glottolog | cham1312 |
| ELP | Chamorro |
Chamorro is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
Chamorro (English: /tʃəˈmɔːroʊ/, chə-MOR-oh;[2] endonym: Finuʼ Chamorro [Northern Mariana Islands] or Finoʼ CHamoru [Guam] /ˈfinoʔ t͡sɑˈmoɾu/)[3] is an Austronesian language spoken by about 58,000 people, numbering about 25,800 on Guam and about 32,200 in the Northern Mariana Islands and elsewhere.[4]
It is the historic native language of the Chamorro people, who are indigenous to the Mariana Islands, although it is less commonly spoken today than in the past. Chamorro has three distinct dialects: Guamanian, Rotanese, and that in the other Northern Mariana Islands (NMI).
- ^ Chamorro at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016)
- ^ "Definition of Chamorro". www.merriam-webster.com. 5 August 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ "Chamorro Orthography Rules". Guampedia. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ "Chamorro", Ethnologue (19th ed.), 2016, archived from the original on 5 April 2018, retrieved 4 April 2018