Jopará
Encyclopedia
Jopará
Jopará (ɟopaˈɾa or Yopará (ʝopaˈɾa) is a colloquial form of Guaraní
Guaraní language
Guaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí–Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by the majority of the population, and half of...

 spoken in Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

 which uses large numbers of Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 loan words. Its name is from the Guaraní word for "mix."

The majority of Paraguayans, particularly younger ones, speak some form of jopará.

Since 1992, under the Paraguay's Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) Act, Guaraní in its "pure form" — different from the day-to-day speech of jopará — has been taught in schools. This led to contradictory opinions: some say that teaching pure Guaraní is the best means to preserve the language's integrity while others argue that how Guaraní is taught differs greatly from how it is commonly spoken.

Some Spanish words when put in a sentence mixed with Guaraní have a different meaning than that of standard Spanish.

The relative amount of Guaraní or Spanish used in speech varies depending upon the birth of the speaker, the place where he speaks, with whom he is speaking, the topic of discussion, and how he or she wants their meaning to be interpreted. Generally the rural and older population tends to use more Guaraní while the urban and younger population uses more Spanish - the rural and older population understands more Guaraní and the urban and younger more Spanish. General and every-day conversation is more suited to Guaraní, while technical and specific conversation is more suited to Spanish. Guaraní can be interpreted as more "Paraguayan" while Spanish can be interpreted as more "sophisticated."
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