Sanapana

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The Sanapana were one of many nomadic tribes inhabiting the lower Gran Chaco of western Paraguay. With the introduction of Mennonite settlements in the central Chaco in the 1930s, many nomadic tribes semi-settled near the Mennonites. The Mennonites established Missions to many of these tribes, often grouping linguistically similar tribes near by. The Sanapana and Lengua were settled on Mision La Esperanza, southeast of Filadelfia, just off the Trans-America Highway. Both the Sanapana and Lengua, in their tongue, refer to themselves as "Enhlit," which means "the people." A standard conversation among the Sanapana-Lengua often includes words from their langauge, mixed with Spanish and Guarani, the national languages of Paraguay, and some Plat-Deutsch, the primary language of the Mennonites.

The Sanapana language uses the Latin alphabet, a sample of which is "Tamilachlech coo evalhoc, Jesucristo singmasma coo."