Spanish Words Spelled the Guarani Way
Reshaped loans use Guarani spelling (kavaju). Loans that stay Spanish keep letters like d, f and ll.
How It Works
Guarani writes with 33 letters. Spanish words that speakers have used for a long time are respelled with those letters.
| Spanish | Guarani spelling | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| caballo | kavaju | c to k, b to v, ll to j, o to u |
| queso | kesu | qu to k, o to u |
| camisa | kamisa | c to k |
| zapato | sapatu | z to s, o to u |
| vaca | vaka | c to k |
Newer or less changed loans keep their Spanish letters. The Academy lets loans use d, f and ll, which are not among the 33 letters: ofarrea hikuái “they party” keeps its f, and dólar “dollar” keeps its d. It also respells frequent loans that have no Guarani word, such as áuto and karréta, and writes harder loans such as bicicleta in italics.
No rule lists which loans are reshaped, so check a dictionary and copy what it writes. Loans often take Guarani prefixes and endings when they are used in a sentence.
Examples (4)
- Che ru oguereko mbohapy kavaju.
My father has three horses.
Kavaju is caballo in Guarani letters.
- Aguereko mokõi kavara.
I have two goats.
Kavara comes from cabra. The noun after a number takes no plural ending.
- Oĩ peteĩ kamisa mesa ári.
There is a shirt on the table.
Kamisa is camisa reshaped. Mesa already fits Guarani letters, so it looks the same.
- Ofarrea hikuái.
They party.
Farrea keeps its f, a letter Guarani does not have, but it takes the Guarani prefix o-.
How It Connects
Learn This First
A reshaped loanword is spelled by its sound, so learners need Jopara and the one-letter-one-sound rule.
Related Patterns
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice Spanish Words Spelled the Guarani Way in Bubblegum
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Guarani lessons at your level. Tap any grammar point in a lesson to see its full explanation.
