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Amuesha Indian Language (Amisha, Yanesha, Lorenzo)

Language: Amuesha is an Arawakan language of South America, spoken by 5000 people in Peru. Like many Arawakan languages, Amuesha is polysynthetic with complex verb morphology and VSO word order. There are two Amuesha dialects, known as Upriver Amuesha (Rio Arriba or Parte Alto) and Downriver Amuesha (Rio Abajo or Parte Bajo); however, they are very close and speakers of the two dialects can easily understand each other.

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Names: Amuesha was a band or village name meaning "people of the capybara," which became applied by outsiders to the whole tribe. In their own language, the people's name for themselves is Yanesha', which means "we people." In Spanish they are often known as the Lorenzo Indians. Alternate spellings of these names include Amisha, Amoesha, Amage, Amagé, Omage, Omagé, Amajo, Amaje, Amajé, Amajó, Amuese, Amagues, Amoishe, Amuescha, Amueixa, Amueshe, Amaisha, Amueshua, Amuetamo; Yaneshá, Yanešač; and Lorenzan.


Amuesha Language
Amuesha language samples and resources.

Amuesha Culture and History
Information and links about the Amuesha tribe past and present.



Amuesha Language Resources

Our Online Amuesha Materials

Amuesha Vocabulary:
    Our list of vocabulary words in the Amuesha language, with comparison to words in other Arawakan languages.
Amuesha Pronunciation Guide:
    How to pronounce Amuesha words.
Amuesha Animal Words:
    Picture dictionary of animal words in the Amuesha language.
Amuesha Colors:
    Worksheet showing color words in the Amuesha language.
Amuesha Body Parts:
    Online and printable worksheets showing parts of the body in the Amuesha language.
Amuesha Numbers:
    Worksheet showing how to count in Amuesha.
Amuesha Food:
    Worksheet with pictures of food words in the Amuesha language.

Amuesha Dictionaries and Language Books for Sale
Our organization earns a commission from any book bought through these links

Yanesha-English Primer
    Yanesha language learning book.
Diccionario Yanesha'-Castellano
    Amuesha-Spanish dictionary for sale online.
Languages of the Amazon
    In-depth book about Amuesha and dozens of other Amazonian Indian languages.
Comparative Arawakan Histories
    Linguistics book about the history of the Arawak Indian languages.

Amuesha Language Lessons and Linguistic Descriptions

Peru Linguistic Map * Tribes and Languages of Peru:
    Maps showing the areas in South America where Amuesha and Yanesha are spoken.
Diccionario Yanesha:
    Online Spanish-Yanesha glossary, with some audio clips of spoken words.
Amuesha Phonology:
    Linguistic chart of phonemes in the Amuesha language.
Yanesha' Language * Yanesha' Orthography * Yanesha' Grammar * Yanesha Pronunciation * Yanesha Bibliography:
    Scanned-in Yanesha language materials from the Rosetta Project.
Amoesha:
    Amuesha language information including a linguistic map of Peru. Page in Spanish.
Wikipedia: Yanesha':
    Encyclopedia article on the Amuesha language.
House of Languages: Yanesha:
    Information about Yanesha language usage.
Amuesha Language Tree:
    Theories about Yanesha's language relationships compiled by Linguist List.
Yanesha Language Structures:
    Yanesha linguistic profile and academic bibliography.
As Animals and Plants Go Extinct, Languages Die Off Too:
    How language loss and environmental problems affect each other among the Amuesha and other indigenous peoples.

Literature and Texts in the Amuesha Language

Yompor Santo, Yanesha Ancestor:
    Video recordings of Yanesha elders telling legends about of the culture hero in their.tribal language.
UDHR: Amuesha-Yanesha:
    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights translated into the Yanesha language.
Amuesha Prayer: * Yanesha Good News:
    Bible passages and Christian prayers translated into Amuesha.

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Links, References, and Additional Information

  Endangered Languages Project: Amuesha:
  Bibliography of Amuesha language resources.
  Idioma Yanesha' * La Lengua Yanesha * Los Amuesha:
  Information about the Amueshas and their language in Spanish.
  The Language of Peru:
  Information and links about indigenous Peruvian language families.
  Amuesha:
  Amuesha language links.



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