Pipil language
Spoken in
- Uto- Aztec Languages Southern Uto- Aztec Languages Nahuatl Pipil
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Cai
Ppl
Nawat ( Nahuat Hispanicized, Nahuat ) is the language of the Pipil, a Uto- Aztec language of Central America, which has close Nahuatl. The acute endangered language is spoken by only a few ( according to different information about 100 up to 2000) older people in El Salvador, particularly in the department of Sonsonate. Previously, the language was widespread in Honduras and Guatemala.
Nawat is taught at a few schools as a second language, because all children grow on otherwise only with Spanish.
- 4.1 projects for the preservation and revitalization
Linguistic features
The Pipil language has preserved some features of Proto - Uto- Aztec, which have changed the Nahuatl ( Nawatl ) of central Mexico. In the latter, the Pipil developed in contrast to the language of / t /, the a / a / followed, the phoneme / tl / [ tɬ ]. Similar to some variants of the Nahuatl and Nahuatl in Mexico, however, occurs with the Pipil language, instead of the "modern" / tl / continue the sound [ t] on. Thus, the self-designation Nawat is used for both the Pipil and for phonetically related dialects in Mexico. The sound [ t] also stands where in classical Nahuatl a Saltillo ( voiceless glottal plosive ) is, which is also to assume, according to Lyle Campbell as an original feature of the Nawat. The Aztec vowel / o / is realized in Nawat than [ u].
The absolutive suffix- tli of Nahuatl missing in Nawat (tan instead tlantli, "tooth" ). Furthermore, instead of double - l is a simple l ( similarly as in many Mexican Nahuatl variants), word-final - l instead of from -l and- tli incurred - lli ( Tunal instead tonalli, " day "). This loss of the endings is an innovation or simplification of Nawat.
In contrast to the Nahuatl in Central Mexico, there are in Pipil no prefix o- formation of past tenses. To form the plural forms of the noun generally syllables are doubled ( reduplication ), while this phenomenon in the Mexican Nahuatl occurs only to a limited extent. Furthermore, there is no post in Pipil positions; some rigid forms, however, have pointed out that once before, eg apan ( "river " <" in / on the water" ), kujtan ( " raw land, forest " <" under trees ").
Classification and designation
Speaker of Nawat and Nawatl can understand each other to some degree. Both languages belong to a branch ( " General Aztec ") of the Uto-Aztecan languages , but they are already well separated over a millennium. While just Mexican writers liked the name " Nahuatl " use to emphasize the togetherness with the domestic with them Nahuatl language, linguists have Pipil and activists in El Salvador this to emphasize the autonomy of language and insist on the term " Nawat "or" Nahuatl "without" tl ".
There are a number of Nahua variants in Mexico, a "t" have instead of " tl", but have thereby undergone a different development. Closely related to the Pipil language of El Salvador ( much closer than with the Central Nahuatl ), only the Nawat - dialects of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec ( Pajapan, Mecayapan, Tatahuicapan and Zaragoza in the state of Veracruz and the Nawat of Cupilco in Tabasco ) which are therefore also known as Pipil del Golfo.
History
At the time of the Spanish conquest Nawat was one of the most important languages in the territory of present-day El Salvador. In addition, there was also spoken in areas that now belong to Honduras and Guatemala. The area of the Pipil covered the west of El Salvador, as well as adjacent areas of Guatemala and Honduras.
Until the early 20th century, there were rural regions in El Salvador, where the Nawat dominated, especially in the department of Sonsonate.
La Matanza, " the massacre " after the suppression of the popular uprising under Agustín Farabundo Martí Maximiliano Hernández Martínez in 1932 by General, is considered the end of the Pipil of El Salvador. It is said that people had been killed simply because of the distinctive element that they spoke Nawat ( Pipil ) or wore " Indian " clothing. About 30,000 people, mostly unarmed indigenous peasants were massacred there. Adopted by General Hernández laws made the use of indigenous languages officially punishable.
Today, over 200,000 people are classified as descendants of the Pipil civilization in El Salvador and Honduras. But of these, only a handful still speak their language, after all the indigenous languages in El Salvador were oppressed and persecuted in the 1930s.
Documentation
The relationship of Nawat with the Nahuatl of Mexico has been known since the Conquest, could be understood as tlaxcaltekische allies of the Spaniards, the indigenous population of present-day western El Salvador. 1930, shortly before the Matanza, drew the German anthropologist Leonhard Schultze on during a three- month-long stay in the region of Izalco myths of Pipil. Only in 1935, after the genocide of the Pipil, the myths published by Gustav Fischer in Jena.
A systematic documentation of the language began only in the second half of the 20th century. A major obstacle in this case were the difficulties of actually finding people because, in the face of extreme persecution after the Matanza hardly anyone was willing to confess to his mother tongue Nawat. First work was published in 1953 by Juan G. Todd ( Pipil in Nahuizalco ) 1960 by Próspero Arauz ( Izalco ) and Pedro Geoffroy Rivas, 1969 by ( Cuscatlan ). Based on these publications created Lyle Campbell 1985, a comprehensive work on the language, so this is now documented by stories of the places mentioned, vocabulary and grammar. Efforts for a comprehensive documentation of the language to be sustained in the present.
Current situation
At the last census in El Salvador, 2007, 11,488 persons designated as " Indigenous ", mostly in historical Pipil areas. However, it gave only 97 people Pipil or Nawat as their native language, of which 62 are in the department of Sonsonate, 22 in San Salvador and 13 in other parts of the country. The Nawat Genaro Ramírez Vázquez teacher was one of the very same time 133 speakers alone in Santo Domingo de Guzmán ( Witzapan ), where he teaches. The linguist Jorge Lemus of Don Bosco University in San Salvador in 2010 speaks of the country about 200 speakers, of which over 80 % were residents of Santo Domingo de Guzmán. The longer preservation of Nawat he explains with the isolation of Santo Domingo, which has a paved road only a few years Transport. In 2004, however, Lemus stated, citing Genaro Ramírez that only about 10 % have perfect language skills of about 200 speakers throughout the country. As the youngest Nawat spokesman at full native level applies Carlos Cortez from Santo Domingo de Guzmán ( born 1985 ), who studied the Nawat as a teenager at will by his grandmother and now in Nawat projects plays an important role. A small number of native speakers is also available in Cuisnahuat, Caluco, Izalco and Nahuizalco (all in Sonsonate ) and in Tacuba ( Ahuachapán ). There are no monolingual speakers Nawat more, all speakers speak Spanish in full. In everyday language it is virtually impossible to hear because it is no longer passed on to future generations since the Matanza. Almost all the speakers belong to the oldest generation and have little opportunity to use their native language. The other languages of El Salvador ( the Mayan languages Pocomam and Chortí - but these are still spoken in Guatemala - Kakawira / Cacaopera and last Poton / Lenca ) are considered extinct: With the extinction of the Nahuat as El Salvador would be the second country to the American mainland to Uruguay, where no indigenous languages spoken would be more.
Projects for the preservation and revitalization
Although the Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador from 1983 in Article 62, recognizes indigenous languages as "cultural heritage" and formulated its preservation as a national objective, there has been no government program to preserve indigenous languages, such as intercultural bilingual education. Since the 1990s, however, there are a few of indigenous communities and organizations run projects for the revitalization of Nawat in El Salvador.
In the department of Sonsonate a teaching project was started in 1996 in three indigenous communities dominated, for among others, the indigenous organization Asociación Coordinadora de Comunidades indigenous de El Salvador ( Accies ) and the Don Bosco University in San Salvador have created teaching materials. The Office of Indigenous Affairs ( Secretaría de Asuntos indigenous, CONCULTURA ) called 1996 the number of 100 Nahuat - native speakers, of which 35 in Santo Domingo de Guzmán and 15 in Cuisnahuat. These speakers of the oldest generation - besides a few young speakers who speak the language fluently - give children lessons on the basis of programs that are created together with young indigenous people. In three municipalities in the department of Sonsonate - Cuisnahuat, San Ramón ( municipio of San Antonio del Monte) and La Ceiba ( municipio of Santa Catarina Masahuat ) - which is opposed to Accies expressed an interest in Nawat lessons, is now three days, two hours in the morning and two afternoon Nawat taught. In San Ramón and La Ceiba, where there are no more speakers, taught a native of Cuisnahuat. In 1998, the carrier of the project, the Comité de Rescate y Fortalicimiento Educativo Bilingüe Nahuat.
On September 27, 2003 both established in Santo Domingo de Guzmán some linguists ( including Jorge Lemus, Alan R. King and Monica Ward), teachers and others - Nawat - second language and native speakers - the initiative to regain Nawat language ( Iniciativa para la Recuperación del Idioma Nahuat ) IRIN. Chairman is Genaro Ramírez Vázquez ( born 1933), almost the only native speaker who has written texts on Nawat. In addition to improving the reputation of the language, the initiative has a comprehensive documentation of the Nawat, production nawatsprachiger literature and teaching materials as well as instruction in Nawat goal. She wants to reach the natural oral transmission to future generations again. In collaboration with Don Bosco University in San Salvador, it has developed Nawat textbooks and is involved in teacher training for Nawat school projects. In Izalco ( Itzalku ), the "historical capital of the Pipil ", is also the seat of the " Office of the Nawat language" ( Tajkwiluyan Ipal ne Taketzalis ). Regardless, it is a project to translate the Bible into Nawat. 2012 translation of the New Testament was completed and has been available online.
A project of Education in Nawat to schools on a larger scale, led by Jorge Lemus was launched in 2003, initially with 275 children at three schools; In 2008 there were 2500 students in eleven schools. The project is funded by the Fundación Círculo Solidario. The students have one to three lessons per week Nawat and learn with textbooks Don Bosco University and the IRIN initiative. Due to the lack of people of working age with native Nawat skills must be resorted to teachers with native speakers of Spanish. The teachers have learned one exception the Nawat only in studies or training and learn during the project further: they are self - Nawat students. In the training of teachers is the ability to communicate on Nawat - placed in the classroom value - vocabulary and phrases. This ensures that the Nawat lessons runs exclusively on Nawat, although the teachers do not have very advanced level of the language. The places in which takes place this Nawat lessons are Nahuizalco ( Nawitzalku ) Izalco ( Itzalku ) and Santo Domingo de Guzmán ( Witzapan ) and other places in the municipios Armenia, Izalco and Nahuizalco, all in the department of Sonsonate, also San Juan Talpa in the department of La Paz is worth mentioning here that the Nawat in the department of La Paz, the region of the former Nonualcos, is already extinct and that therefore this is a "revival " in the true sense. The anchoring of the teachers in the Pipil culture and their motivation to learn the language and to pass, plays a central role in the project. Lidia Juliana Ama ( b. 1948 ), principal of the school, " Dr. Mario Calvo Marroquín " in Izalco, the largest number of Nawat pupils contributes with 665 (as of 2008 ) to the project, stressed that her two Nawat teachers identify fully with the Pipil culture and Nawat language. They welcomed efforts in the Ministry of Education to integrate Nawat in the public school program, but stressed that only teachers who are like her two colleagues with the whole heart to their task could perform this well.
According to the University of Don Bosco were the revitalization projects in eleven schools 3000 children and young people to speakers of Pipil as a second language in 2009. These were able to conduct simple conversations on Nawat. In December 2010, 28 teachers received a diploma from the University of Don Bosco, which entitles them to bilingual education in public schools in Spanish and Nawat. These teachers come from schools in the department of Sonsonate and from Concepción de Ataco ( Departamento Ahuachapán ) and San Juan Talpa ( La Paz Department ).
For a revival of natural oral disclosure of the language to future generations of the University Don Bosco a monolingual nawatsprachiger kindergarten in Santo Domingo de Guzmán ( Witzapan ) was established in August 2010 in collaboration with the Ministry of Education established the " Nawat - cradle" ( Cuna Nahuat or Xuchikisa Nawat, " where the Nawat flourish "). Here supervise native speakers of the children and talk to them exclusively on Nawat.
The Nawat - Revitalisierungsprogamme encounter in places with resistance. In denying indigenous embossed Witzapan still many people their indigenous origin or lean " backward-looking " indigenous culture. Some call for English- Nawat take lessons or mock people who talk on the street Nawat.
Under the FMLN government of Mauricio Funes it the first time was some recognition of the projects for the Nawat. Jorge Lemus received for his work to preserve the Nawat in November 2010, the National Culture Award of El Salvador. Mauricio Funes wants to sing the national anthem on Nawat on official occasions. However, the support for Nawat projects is not yet sustainable; so there is no permanent, legally -guaranteed financing.