Chamorro (chamoru)

Chamorro is an Austronesian language spoken by about 50,000 people
mainly in Guam, and also in the Northern Mariana Islands and the USA.
Chamorro contains a huge number of words of Spanish origin and this
has lead some to mistakenly believe that it is a Spanish-based
Creole.

Chamorro first started to appear in writing in 1668 when a missionary
by the name of Father San Vitores devised a spelling system for the
language using the Latin alphabet. Since then various spelling systems
have been used.

Chamorro alphabet and pronunciation

Sample text in Chamorro

Manmåfañågu todu i taotao siha manlibettao yan
mamårehu gi diknidåt yan direcho siha, manmånå’i
siha nu hinasso yan konsiensia ya debi di u fanafa’maolek.

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)

Useful phrases in Chamorro