Venezuelan Indigenous Dialects

   After Spanish colonization, the diversity of indigenous dialects in Venezuela was dramatically reduced, as a consequence of the introduction of Spanish as the official language of the province. Just a few isolated tribes around the country were able to keep their dialects and, nowadays, they represent the only heritage of an almost extinct culture.

    According to a census made by the Venezuelan Government in 2012, there are about 31 indigenous dialects in Venezuela and around 725.000 native speakers. Furthermore, and in order to preserve these dialects, the government included them as official languages in the constitution of the country.

   

   The two most spoken indigenous dialects in Venezuela are Wayunnaiki and Pemón.

Wayunnaiki

    This dialect is original from the Wayuu tribe, located in the northeast of the country. It is constituted by 22 consonants and 5 vowels, and is spoken for around 400.000 people.  To promote and spread the Wayunnaiki, in 2000, the government of the region created a bilingual newspaper called The Wayunnaki, where people can, not only read the news around the country, but also learn about this dialect throughout simple exercises. These are a few examples: 

Wayunnaiki numbers (1 to 10)

One= wane, waneesia

Two= piama

Three= apünüi

Four=pienchi

Five=jarai

Six= aippirua

Seven= akaratachi

Eight= mekiisat

Nine= mekietsat

Ten= poloo

    For further information about this dialect, please visit Wayyuunkeera, a trilingual guide (wayunnaiki-spanish-english) to learn Wayunnaiki, made by the own indigenous of the region and available for free on the Internet.

Pemón

    Pemón is the second more spoken indigenous dialect in Venezuela with around 30.000 native speakers. It is original from the Pemón tribe, located in the southeast of the country, and its name means people or man. This dialect is constituted by 14 consonants and 7 vowels, and it has not articles in its syntax.

    This dialect was based in the oral tradition and, as a consequence, there are no written registers of this culture before the 20th century, when the missionary Cesáreo de Armellana created the first Pemón grammar and a Spanish-Pemón dictionary.

    These are a few random examples taken from the dictionary in its 5^th edition: 

Arimaraka= dog

Awarö= ugly

Ekün= animal

Meru= jump of wáter

Potoruto= God

Poito= nephew

Püsau= glass

Chiröwarö=now

Tuma=food

Wayare=bag

Würüi= woman

Warpö= darkness

   The Wayunnaiki and Pemón are just two of the large number of indigenous dialects spoken in Venezuela.  Others examples are Warao, Arawak or Yanomami.

    Finally, it is necessary to highlight the importance of preserve these dialects as the cultural heritage of our ancestors, but more important, a fundamental part of the Venezuelan cultural identity.

Alexandra Coronado.