The warao-spanish contact: considerations on the process of lexical acculturation of the native language of the Orinoco delta

Abstract

In a recent publication, “El contacto warao-español. Consideraciones sobre el proceso de aculturación léxica de la lengua nativa del delta del Orinoco”, Andrés Romero-Figueroa presents a study in the sociolinguistic scope of the processes of linguistic contact and lexical acculturation between Warao and Spanish. Warao is a language spoken by a native population that occupies a vast extension of the delta region of the Orinoco River, northeast of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and north of western Guyana, while Spanish is the official language of the Venezuelan nation. The author's study shows the asymmetrical impact of lexical changes exerted in the respective indigenous language, and the main linguistic strategies implemented by Warao speakers in adapting concepts alien to indigenous culture, introduced since the period of Spanish arrival to this part of the American continent.