User:NikkiBeanz/Asháninka language

Asháninka (also known as Campa, although this name is derogatory  ) is an Arawakan language spoken by the Asháninka people of Peru and Acre, Brazil. It is largely spoken in the Satipo Province located in the amazon forest. While there are low literacy rates in Asháninka, language use is vibrant among the Asháninka. The Asháninka people are 26.6% of the Amazonian indigenous population. The Asháninka language adopts some words from Quechua and most recently some Spanish words into their everyday use. The language has been threatened continuously throughout the centuries because of the Amazon's rich resources, the introduction of foreign settlers, and even internal affairs. Asháninka language holds large cultural value to those who speak it and while there are more Asháninka language speakers compared to other native tribes, the Asháninka people are less willing to comply in the digitization of their language, therefore dwindling their language speakers even more. Revitalization efforts have only begun, beginning with the computerization of certain Andean languages and only recently, the morphological analyzer for the Asháninka language.

Classification
The Campa (or Pre-Andean) group of the Maipurean language family includes what have been called Asháninka, Gran Pajonal Campa, Ashéninka, Axaninca, Machiguenga, and Nomatsiguenga. As these are all very closely related linguistic systems, the decision to call them dialects of a single language or different languages rests on social and political considerations rather than linguistic similarity or difference, as in so many other places in the world. Attempts to unify the varieties with one written standard have not been successful.

History and Culture
The language has also been called both Asháninka and Campa; the latter of which is considered by the Asháninka to be offensive, as it derives from the Quechua word thampa, meaning ragged and dirty. Like all languages that have a predominance in any particular region of Perú, Asháninka is an official language in the area in which it is spoken, as provided by the Constitution. Literacy rates range from 10% to 30%, compared to 15% to 25% literacy for the second language, Spanish.

The Asháninka people see themselves as expert hunters and gardeners. Archeologists have found 4000 year old ceramics in an ancient village in Peru, and then later found a ceramics tradition in the Amazonian lowlands. These people who were associated with the most recent ceramic tradition are said to be the immediate decedents of the Asháninka people.

Asháninka culture largely revolves around family. Villages often consist of a few houses, one occupied by a nuclear family and the others, extended family. This included married children and their parents. They are independent but cooperate with each other and share food and often celebrate together. The Asháninka only recognize three type of people; kin, trading partners, and strangers that could harm them. Their relationships with others are usually evident in their speech with honorifics.

A village is run by the 'headman' who assigns roles in the village, speaks well to their people, resolve conflicts, and provides food and feasts for the village. If the headman fails in providing support to their village, it may fall apart. The headman's position is temporary and reliant on personality as well as influence.

Consonants
Following voiced nasals, voiceless plosives become voiced. Preceding an [a] vowel, a [k] sound becomes labialized as [kʷ]. A labial sound [w] is formed when two vowels /oa/ are together.

Colonization
In the 1630's, when colonization by the Franciscans had begun, they were faced with resistance by the Asháninka people. The Franciscans were forced to retreat but they returned to re-conquest the indigenous people in the 19th century. Settlers from Europe and the Andes began to take over the Montaña, the area of the land where the Asháninka people resided. These settlers brought diseases unfamiliar to the Asháninka and dwindled their numbers immensely. The decline of their population halted around the 1960's where large vaccination campaigns occurred. The Asháninka population recovered however they struggled to live within restricted lands.

The Rubber Boom
Rubber became a major Amazonian export. In the late 19th century, the Amazon was the world's largest source of crude rubber until the 1900's. The rubber boom allowed for huge profits for Europeans and Peruvians who primarily lived in Iquitos. Collecting crude rubber required a lot of man power. The Asháninka people were considered good workers, but their work ethic made it so they worked only until they were satisfied. Therefore, others were contracted to collect the rubber and were armed. Rubber patrons encouraged the deviation of other native people and the capturing and women and children. These rubber patrons than had children with the kidnapped women. The children were often sold and traded and developed into a separate business.

War
The Asháninka people dub Peru's Internal War as "The time of Fear". The Internal War was a result of the Shining Path's attempt to dismantle the government. The war resulted in 77,552 deaths, and disappearances, three quarters of which could speak an indigenous language. Some Asháninka people also considered extractivism, such as the rubber boom, as war by other means.

Revitalization
The Asháninka believe that traditional songs can ensure the recuperation of the Asháninka language. To them, traditional songs are seen as a deeply cultural component of the language and could aid in teaching children about the future and could possibly be used in schools. Computerization of Peruvian languages are relatively low, with the process beginning only recently. The 'Instituto de Lengua y Literatura Andina Amazónica' (ILLA) are working on the computerization of Quechua, Aymara and Guaran and have been developing electronic dictionaries. The 'Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad del Cusco' have recently created a morphological analyzer for the Asháninka language.