Language name and locationː Ulwa, Karawala village, Nicaragua [Refer to Ethnologue]

语言名称和分布地区: 乌尔瓦语 (南部苏莫语 Southern Sumo), 尼加拉瓜南加勒比海自治区卡拉瓦拉村 

1. aslah  

21.  muih as luih minit as

2. bû  

22.  muih as luih minit bû

3. bas

23.  muih as luih minit bas

4. aruŋka

24.  muih as luih minit aruŋka

5. siŋka * from Spanish loanword

25.  muih as luih minit siŋka

6. tiŋ askau as   (5+1)

26.  muih as luih minit tiŋ askau as

7. tiŋ askau bû  (5+2)

27.  muih as luih minit tiŋ askau bû

8. tiŋ askau bas (5+3)

28.  muih as luih minit tiŋ askau bas

9. tiŋ askau aruŋka (5+4)

29.  muih as luih minit tiŋ askau aruŋka

10. salap

30.  muih as luih minit kau salap

11. salap kalniku as

40.  muih as luih bû

12. salap kalniku bû  

50.  muih as luih bû minit kau salap

13. salap kalniku bas

60.  muih as luih bas

14. salap minit aruŋka

70.  muih as luih bas minit kau salap

15. salap minit siŋka

80.  muih as luih aruŋka

16. matawalsip tiaskau as

90.  muih as luih aruŋka minit kau salap

17. matawalsip tiaskau bu

100. panka as  / (andat < English )

18. matawalsip tiaskau bas

200. panka bû  / andat bu

19. matawalsip tiaskau aruŋka

1000. tawsin as  (awsin < English)

20. muih as luih

Linguist providing data and dateː Prof. Ken Hale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, January 24, 1991.

提供资料的语言学家: Prof. Ken Hale, 1991 年 1 月 24 日.

Other comments: Ulwa, or Southern Sumo, was the primary language of the eastern Nicaraguan town of Karawala, population 935. In 1950, the Nolan Lumber Company came to Karawala, drastically changing the linguistic picture through the introduction of a sizable Miskitu-speaking workforce. Since the people of Karawala were bilingual in Ulwa and Miskitu, the shift to Miskitu on the part of the whole town was not a hardship. But the shift had serious consequences for Ulwa. At this point, only 18 percent of the population under 20 years of age speaks Ulwa. This fact has not gone unnoticed by the Ulwa people of the town, and they have taken Steps to address the matter, both by documenting the grammar, lexicon, and oral literature of the language and by giving serious consideration to measures that might be taken to stop the decline of Ulwa. This article describes the condition of Ulwa and the processes leading to its present state, as well as the work of linguistics and UYUTMUBAL, the six-member Ulwa Language Committee, to develop materials and strategies for strengthening the Position of Ulwa in the Karawala Community. Introduction On the banks of a small tributary, near the mouth of the Rio Grande de Matagalpa in the Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS) of Nicaragua, lies the indigenous Community of Karawala. By appearances, it is just another one of dozens of similar Miskitu villages in the coastal region. Along the footpaths and in the churches, the school, the clinic, and most of the houses, somewhat over a hundred in number, the language of Karawala for young and old alike is Miskitu. However, ask anyone you meet and they will probably teil you they are Ulwa. And this is what separates Karawala from its neighbors and makes it unlike.

Ulwa or Southern Sumo has a vigesimal system with substructures from 6 to 9. There are English loanwords 100 andat  and 1,000 tawsin. The data were taken from Southern Sumo, the number for 5 siŋka appears to be a Spanish loanword, too.