Mostly concentrated in Guam, the Chamorro language presents critical considerations for speech-language pathologists working with Pacific Islander populations. Chamorro, also known as CHamoru or Fino’ CHamoru, belongs to the Austronesian language family, specifically the Western Malayo-Polynesian branch. It shares linguistic connections with languages such as Tagalog, Malay, and Indonesian. This classification makes Chamorro speech and language development particularly important for clinicians to understand when working with young Chamorro speakers because its phonological patterns and grammatical structures differ significantly from English. The language has undergone profound changes from the old Chamorro (paleo-Chamorro) to modern Chamorro (neo-Chamorro) a process that began in the 17th century and ended in the early 20th century. It is important to note that Chamorro is a language, ethnicity, and cultural group.
Chamorro is spoken by over 47,000 speakers, with around 35,000 people on Guam and around 12,000 in the Northern Mariana Islands. The Chamorro language is threatened with a drop in language use, making it an endangered language despite its official status in Guam. The Chamorro diaspora has created significant communities throughout the mainland United States, with approximately 147,798 Chamorro residing in the U.S. as of 2010, representing a nearly 60% increase between census periods.
This article provides information to help educators, reading specialists, and speech-language pathologists treat Chamorro speakers in an accurate, culturally sensitive way.
Interesting Facts About Chamoru / Chamorro Speech and Language Development
- Chamorro’s written form is relatively new, with standardization efforts emerging only in the last fifty years.
- Contemporary Chamorro numbers are derived from Spanish, sounding similar but spelled differently.
- Spanish borrowed words were adapted to fit Chamorro linguistic patterns. For example, Spanish “boca” (mouth) became Chamorro “boka” meaning “food” or “to eat.”
- When the U.S. took control of Guam, there was a suppression of the native language in favor of English.
Chamorro Speech and Language Development
Chamorro Consonants in Comparison to English
| Chamorro Consonants Not Shared with English | /c/ /ɟ/ (palatal stops) · /ɲ/ (palatal nasal) · /ʃ/ & /ʒ/ appear as loans · /x/ /ɣ/ (velar fricatives) · /ʋ/ (labiodental approximant) · /ʎ/ /ʟ/ (laterals) · /ɰ/ (velar approximant) · /ʔ/ (glottal stop) |
| Consonants Shared With English | /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/ /f/ /v/ /s/ /z/ /h/ /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /j/ /l/ /w/ /ɾ/ |
| English Consonants Not Shared with Chamorro | /ʃ/ /ʒ/ /tʃ/ /dʒ/ · /ð/ · /θ/ · /ɹ/ |
Chamorro Vowels in Comparison to English
| Chamorro Vowels Not Shared with English | None |
| Vowels Shared With English | /i/ /e/ /æ/ /ɑ/ /o/ /u/ |
| English Vowels Not Shared with Chamorro | /ɚ/ /ɔ/ /ʌ/ /ʊ/ /ɛ/ /I/ /ə/ |
Notes on Chamorro Phonology
- Consonants: Chamorro includes palatal stops (/c, ɟ/) and nasals (/ɲ/), velar fricatives (/x, ɣ/), a glottal stop (/ʔ/), and laterals (/ʎ, ʟ/), not found in English. English affricates (/tʃ, dʒ/) and fricatives (/θ, ð/), as well as the rhotic /ɹ/, differ from native Chamorro consonants.
- Vowels: Chamorro has six vowels (/a, æ, e, i, o, u/) which overlap with English but lacks English-only vowels such as /ɚ, ɔ, ʌ, ʊ, ɛ, I, ə/.
- Clinical Implications: Children may produce palatal sounds or glottal stops typically, but might have difficulty with English-only vowels (/ə/, /ɚ/) and consonants (/ð/, /θ/, /ɹ/). Awareness supports accurate assessment and goal setting.
The Use of Phonotactic Constraints in Chamorro Speakers
- Syllable Structure – (C)V(C)
Native Chamorro morphemes typically follow a (C)V(C) pattern. Closed syllables occur but are limited; GC and CCV(C) patterns only appear in loanwords (e.g., klåsi “class”). - Restrictions on Consonant Clusters
- Initial clusters are largely disallowed in native words. They only occur in loanwords and are limited to CCV (e.g., klåsi).
- Final clusters (e.g., tk#, kp) are phonotactically violated, as evidenced by historical changes and marked avoidance of such sequences linguistics.stonybrook.edu.
- Vowel Alternations—Raising/Lowering Rules
- Unstressed mid vowels in closed syllables are raised to high vowels, while stressed closed syllables lower high vowels—for example, gékpu → giku “my flyer.”
- These alternations ensure mid vowels appear only in closed stressed syllables, effectively avoiding mid vowels in unstressed or open contexts.
- Stress-Driven Umlaut and Licensing
- Umlaut occurs under prefixation and in pretonic syllables to comply with the License‑Pretonic constraint, which regulates vowel frontness in syllables immediately before primary stress.
- Edge/Interior Asymmetry
- Chamorro exhibits stricter phonotactic constraints at word edges compared to syllable-internal positions: initial and final edges disallow certain consonant combinations—even if they could appear medially.
Considerations for SLPs and Teachers
- Loan adaptation: English words starting with consonant clusters (e.g., street) may be simplified (e.g., sitret) to match Chamorro structure.
- Vowel production: English mid vowels in unstressed positions (e.g., /ɛ/, /ɔ/) may shift toward high vowels (e.g., /i/, /u/).
- Proficiency use: Stress cues may drive vowel raising on English loanwords when incorporating them into Chamorro, affecting learner speech patterns.
Language Specific Differences Between English and Chamorro
Chamorro and English differ in several ways that are important for speech-language pathologists working with bilingual children. Chamorro primarily uses verb–subject–object (VSO) structure but also employs subject–verb–object (SVO), whereas English is consistently SVO. In Chamorro, adjectives and possessors follow the noun and are linked by particles like “na” and classifiers such as naʼ for food-related items. Chamorro does not use English-style articles (“a,” “the”); instead, definiteness is expressed via particles (i, ni, nu) and demonstratives, and indefinite references rely on context . Verbs are not inflected for person or number; tense and aspect appear through pre-verbal particles like man- (plural), bai, and hu, rather than English -ed or auxiliary verbs. Finally, Chamorro pronouns are gender-neutral, and plural is indicated by markers like “siha” or through interaction with particles, contrasting with English’s gendered and inflectional pronouns.
| Language Features | Chamorro | English |
|---|---|---|
| Sentence Word Order | VSO (primary); SVO sometimes used | SVO |
| Adjectives/Noun Modifiers | Adjective follows noun, linked by na (e.g., gumaʼ na håyu “big house”) | Adjective precedes noun |
| Possessives | Possessive noun + particle (naʼ + pronoun suffix) e.g., naʼ-ña | Possessor + ’s |
| Possessive Pronouns | Suffixes on naʼ or nouns (‑hu, ‑mu, ‑ña) | my, your, his |
| Verb Inflection | No person/number inflection; uses markers like man-, bai, hu | Verbs inflect for tense/person |
| Pronouns | Independent, gender-neutral pronouns (e.g., guåhu, hugua’) | he, she, it |
| Pronoun Gender | No gender distinction | he, she, it |
| Subjects of Sentences | Explicit via pronouns; no verb agreement | Explicit with agreement |
| Regular Past Tense | Pre-verbal plural marker man- used; no -ed form | verb + -ed |
| Irregular Past Tense | No irregular forms; same pattern as regular | Irregular verbs |
| Negatives | Pre-verbal negator (ti, tai) | “not” as auxiliary |
| Double Negatives | Acceptable in colloquial use (no prescriptive ban) | Dialectal use |
| Question Formation | No inversion; intonation or question words in place | Auxiliary inversion |
| Definite Articles | Particles i, ni, nu mark definiteness | “the” |
| Indefinite Articles | None; rely on context or number | “a,” “an” |
| Prepositions | Many from Spanish (gi, giya, as, para), plus native post-verbs | in, on, at |
| Present Progressive Verb Form | Not marked; uses simple form or context | verb + -ing |
| Modal Verbs | Expressed by particles like bai, man- | can, will, must |
| Copula/”To Be” Verbs | No separate copula; verbs function as state markers | is, are, am |
| Auxiliary Verbs | Minimal; aspect expressed with particles | do, have, be |
| Passive Voice | Very rare; use active rephrasing | be + past participle |
| Direct Object Pronouns | Same as subject pronouns; no separate forms | me, him, her |
| Conjunctions | Use an (and), pero (but), ya (and/so) | and, but, or |
| Plurals | Marked by siha, man- prefix for verbs | noun + -s |
Additional Austronesian Languages
This is just one of over ten Austronesian languages that we have documented in the World Language Library. Click below to explore languages spanning the Philippines, Pacific Islands, and Southeast Asia.
| Tagalog/Filipino | Ilocano (Ilocos region, Philippines) | Malay |
| Indonesian | Chamorro (Guam) | Palauan (Micronesia) |
| Māori | Hawaiian | Samoan |
| Chuukese | Marshallese | Pohnpeian |
| Vietnamese |
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