Jopara
Variety of the Guarani language
Jopara (Guarani pronunciation: [ɟopaˈɾa]) or Yopará (Spanish: [ɟʝopaˈɾa]) is a colloquial form of Guarani spoken in Paraguay which uses a number of Spanish loan words. Its name is from the Guarani word for “mixture”. The majority of Paraguayans, particularly younger ones, speak some form of Jopara.
02Lexicon
Many grammatical markers for features found in Guarani but not in Spanish, like evidentiality markers, are borrowed from Guarani. For example (Guarani words in bold):
- La niña ndaje no comía más casi dos días voi y por eso estaba un poco desnutrida, pero el tua ánga igual le pegaba
- It is said that the girl would not eat for more than two days. Well, for that reason she was somewhat malnourished, but the stepfather would still hit her.
Some Spanish words, when put in a sentence mixed with Guarani, have a different meaning from that of standard Spanish. They can come from calques of equivalent Guarani expressions. For example:
- Tu hijo creció todo ya.
- Ituichapáma nememby.
- Your son grew all already.
In some instances, Jopara speakers simply substitute a word in either Guarani or Spanish while speaking. For example:
- Moõ opyta [la/nde] baño?
- Where is the/your bathroom?
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Jopara”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Cantar de mio Cid f74r.jpg by AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain
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01Social context
Speakers of both Guarani and Spanish typically employ a great deal of code-switching between the two languages, hence why the blending of the two languages is called "Jopara", meaning 'mixture'. The relative amount of Guarani or Spanish used in speech varies depending upon the birth of the speakers, the place where they speak, with whom they are speaking, the topic of discussion, and how they want their meaning to be interpreted. Generally, the rural and older population tends to use more Guarani, while the urban and younger population uses more Spanish, the rural and older population understands more Guarani and the urban and younger more Spanish. General and everyday conversation is often suited to Guarani, while technical and specific or formal conversation is often suited for Spanish.
Since 1992, under the Paraguay's Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) Act, Guarani in its "pure form", different from the day-to-day speech of Jopara, has been taught in schools. This has led to contradictory opinions: some say that teaching pure Guarani is the best means to preserve the language's integrity, while others argue that how Guarani is taught differs greatly from how it is commonly spoken.