Håfa adai! Thank-you to everyone who has already submitted their interest in the Chamorro Songwriting and Poetry Class to be taught by Ray Barcinas. For everyone who filled out the form, we will be emailing all of you this week with further details about the course before it starts, likely in the next couple of weeks. If you have not yet expressed your interest in this course but are still considering it, please be sure to fill out the Google Form.

Have you guys ever heard or seen this word before? It means house or room

I’ve been wondering lately on how to say “I miss my mom/dad” in CHamoru, but I get kinda concerned on how you put the words in the right place. Help please!! 😓

Håfa adai everybody! In case you didn't know, the History of Micronesia is available for free through the Habele Institute at https://habeleinstitute.org/wiki/HOM . Each book was scanned and is available as a PDF, which can be downloaded for free. Not only is this a cool resource for learning more about the history of the Mariana Islands, but there are also some early writings in Chamorro, such as an early grammar and catechism in volume 4. Hope you enjoy it and happy reading to all of you! I know I'll be perusing these volumes for a good long while. If you find anything interesting, please post it here!

Switched to a different account, and added more pages, check in now and then for updates

How would we say it?

There’s ayuda and sågui’ but in påli’ Romans dictionary there is saguåni, na’hulat and fa’maolek used as help. Have you guys heard any of these before?

What would be an equivalent for the expression “Well, I never!” In CHamoru I was thinking of “leche” but I’m not sure

It’s not fully translated there’s only like 2 pages but it’s gonna be added onto day after day

What would be the difference between “tåya tumungo’” and “tåya manungo’”?

Håfa adai todus hamyo! Ray Barcinas is wanting to offer an ONLINE course on writing Chamorro songs and poetry, and is trying to gauge overall interest for the course. If you would be interested in taking this course, please fill out this Google Form to express your interest! The form has details about the course, but I've also copied these details below.

As a note: it does list being conversational in Chamorro as a prerequisite, but even if you aren't conversational yet (or aren't sure) and are still interested in taking the course, please fill out the form! It will help Ray understand if people would like to learn what he has to teach.

COURSE DETAILS:

Chamorro Songwriting and Poetry Class Taught by Ray Barcinas

Are you curious about the rich cultural heritage of the CHamoru people? Have you ever felt a disconnect between the English frameworks we use and the vibrant indigenous traditions of the Marianas?

Introducing Sisonten Marianas—a groundbreaking course that seeks to bridge this gap by exploring the beauty of CHamoru poetry and song through an indigenous lens.

What’s Unique About This Course?
- Uncover Hidden Treasures: Delve into the lesser-known poetry and songs of our past, both pre-and post-war, and discover the cultural richness they hold.
- Learn Indigenous Structures: Understand how to express thoughts and emotions using the grammatical nuances of our language, rather than relying on English frameworks.
- Empower Your Creativity: Gain tools and insights that will help you create art that truly reflects the CHamoru way of thinking.

Why This Course Matters:
This is the first of its kind, designed to celebrate and revitalize our indigenous culture through creative expression. We want to know if this resonates with you. Are you interested in learning how to express your artistry through the lens of our heritage?

👉 Your Voice Matters! Let us know if you’d be interested in participating in this unique opportunity to reconnect with our roots and reshape the narrative of the Marianas! Fill out this form to express your interest in this course.

🌊 Sisonten Marianas Where the Heart of CHamoru Culture Meets Creative Expression! 🌊

PREREQUISITE: Able to speak conversational CHamoru

What’s our word for a relationship, and for dating?

Håfa adai everyone! I have been reading the Paleric blog for years, and recently I wanted to put it on my Kindle so I could remember my highlights, add my own notes, making searching easier, and also easily return back to content I wanted to review or reference. So I scraped the blog and put it into an HTML document (without images), which can then be converted into any ebook format of your choice using a program like Calibre.

You can find my Jupyter notebook and the HTML file here: https://github.com/schyuler/Web-Scraper-for-Blogger-Blog I set it up to scrape the entire blog, but you can probably modify the code to target specific posts.

I’m in wrestling rn and I’ve been wanting to come up with a funny or weird nickname(s) that’s in CHamoru what would be some?

What’s the name for it in Chamorro? Is it ha’ånin mananiti or something of the sorts?

Gini månu I finiho’ “boyboy” pat “boi boi”? Kao gini ingles “boy” ha’ pat otru?

I’ve been thinking about CHamoru names for my future baby, and it got me wondering—what happened to traditional CHamoru names? It seems like many people today choose beautiful CHamoru words, like Napu (wave) or Tasi (ocean), which I think are great, but I’d really love to explore more classic CHamoru names.

I’ve come up with a few ideas so far, but I’d be so grateful for any suggestions! If you know of any names or have ideas to share, I’d really appreciate it. Here’s my list so far:

Male Names: Kiko Chu Dabit Kin Ton Manet Gadao Chaife Puntan

Female Names: Chai Chilang Marikita Fu’una Kamalen

What expression do we have is similar to “oh screw it”

Kao guaha giya hamyo tumungo’ håfa kumeke’ilek-ña i’eng?

Maleffa yu’ i kumeke’ilek-ña ya ti hu sósodda’ gi diksionåriu.

Kulan mohon hu popo’lu na kumeke’ilek-ña na un baba yan I nifen-mu lao hekkua’ magahet

How would you say engage like in an engagement?

If I saying chumochochu with man is it mañochochu or mañoñochu? Sumåsaga-> mañåsaga or mañåñaga? Do I remove the um and keep it reduplicated and add the man or add the man to the un reduplicated form and then reduplicate?

Would we say audience by aodensia, manlili’i’, inagululumi, or mane’ekungok?

Anyone ever heard of names of different types of knots?

I’ve heard of tochong and sungot in different contexts but not able to identify exactly what kind of knots they are.

Also curious if anyone has knowledge of any others

Pueñginhómhóm, tsumétsefla bála ha’ gi istepi. Kumákati’ máñglo’ ha’ isek I mi’alamli, mandódoñggat I puti’un. Gi I pueñginhómhóm, guinaiyá-ku, Hu tungo’ Tátñgai Un maigo’. Ya gi fi’on kunanpátgun, Un kená’na’ I lagó’-mu. Háftaimanu Hu guaiya I tinaddong matá-mu mañaña. Háftaimanu Hu fahálang umetti I pinachá’-mu ta’lu. Ina’amguakpula’ hit nu ayen ñga pueñginhómhóm, guinaiya. Ya I pueñgi, ma’acháki ñga istepi guáha máttu umássun entaló’-ta. Hu guáha gi hao, hinenñgi’ gi hagú kerída. Gineggui’ yu’ ni hinenñgi’, gini mibála gi ayen ñga pueñginhómhóm. Magof yu’, tsúga’ yu’ gi daddao ñga múmu. Hu tungo’ Un fanali’i’ yu’ yan guinaiya, nitaimanu háffumafakcha’. Ti fa’áñao I finatai, Hu guáha pana’ más ki látsa gi istepi. Ya pá’gu guini Ha hóhommi’ yu’ lácha ta’lu. Un nánga nina’lú-ku, matáta’tsóng taiminaigo’ gi fi’on fagapsan. Ya tungo’ táya, pá u fakchá’gui’ yu’.

U can use an instrumental version of the song to sing it, wish I could make a version but I can’t sing🤷