Pipil

Pipil (Nawat/Náhuat)

Pipil is an Uto-Aztecan language spoken by about 3,000 people in
parts of El Salvador, particularly in the departments of Sonsonate
and Ahuachapán. Since the 1990s there have been various
efforts to revive and revitalise the language, including the Nawat
Language Recovery Initiative. Thanks to these grassroots movements,
which receive no government support, the number of speakers of Pipil
rose from about 200 in the 1980s to 3,000 in 2009.

Pipil is a descendent of the Nahuatl spoken by Aztecs who fled from
Mexico in 900 AD to escape persecution by Olmecs. Over time their language
changed and is no longer mutually intelligible with Nahuatl. They settled in what
would become El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama, though today
their language is only spoken in El Salvador having become extinct
elsewhere.

Pipil pronunciation

Pipil pronuciation

Sample text

Muchi ne tay gen tu weyga nestiwit tamagixti genga tik ekneliat
wan ipal wan gichiwtiwit ipal ma munegigan ne se pal ne se.

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 the Pipil/Nawat language
http://www.native-languages.org/pipil.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipil_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipil_language_%28typological_overview%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipil_grammar
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ppl
http://www.computing.dcu.ie/~mward/irin/index.htm
http://alanrking.info/nawatlanguage.php

Online Nawat lessons
http://www.computing.dcu.ie/~mward/nawat/general/html/intro_eng.html

Ne Bibliaj Tik Nawat (The Bible in Nawat)
http://nebibliaj.org/nawat-language.php

  • Categoria dell'articolo:Lingue
  • Tempo di lettura:3 minuti di lettura