Aguaruna language

Aguaruna
Awajún
Spoken in Perú
Ethnicity Aguaruna people
Native speakers 38,290 (2000 WCD)  (date missing)
Language family
Jivaroan
  • Aguaruna
Language codes
ISO 639-3 agr

Aguaruna is an indigenous American language of the Jivaroan family spoken by about 45,000 Aguaruna people in Peru. The speakers live along the western portion of the Marañón River and also along the Potro, Mayo, and Cahuapanas rivers. Native speakers currently prefer the name Awajún. According to the Ethnologue there are almost no monolingual speakers; nearly all also speak Spanish. The school system begins with Aguaruna only; as the students progress, Spanish is gradually added. There is a positive outlook and connotation in regard to bilingualism. 60 to 100% are literate and 50 to 75% are literate in Spanish. Huambisa and Achuar-Siwiar are closely related languages. A modest dictionary of the language has been published.

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