Wayuu

Wayuu belongs to the Maipurean (Arawak) language family and is spoken by about 305,000 people in northwestern Venezuela and northeastern Colombia on the Guajira Peninsula. The language is also known as Wayunaiki, Guajiro, Guajira or Goajiro.

Wayuu is taught to some extent in schools, along with Spanish, however fewer than 1% of Wayuu speakers can read and write their language, while 5-15% are literate in Spanish.

Wayuu pronunciation

Wayuu pronunciation

Sample texts in Wayuu

Naa wayuukana jemeishi süpüla taashi süma wanawa sülu'u nakua'ipa, aka müin yaa epijainjana sünain anajiranawaa a'in nama napüshi.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Links

Information about Wayuu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayuu_language
http://hospitalnazareth.com/cultura_wayuu/idioma/idioma.html

Other languages written with the Latin alphabet

Related languages

Baniwa, Wayuu

Learn Chinese Characters with the Omniglot Chinese app