Zuni language

Zuni ( ZOO-nee; endonym: Shiwiʼma) is a language of the Zuni people, indigenous to western New Mexico and eastern Arizona in the southwestern United States. It is spoken by around 9,500 people, especially in the vicinity of Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, and, much less commonly, in parts of Arizona. Edmund Ladd reported in 1994 that Zuni is still the main language of communication in the pueblo and is used in the home (Newman 1996). However, in 2018, the Pueblo of Zuni Head Start Program reported that most parents were unable to speak Zuni fluently and mostly spoke English, and that only 16 percent of the Zuni children spoke Zuni. The Zuni name for their own language, Shiwiʼma (shiwi "Zuni" + -ʼma "vernacular"; pronounced [ˈʃiwiʔma]) can be translated as "Zuni way", whereas its speakers are collectively known as ʼA꞉shiwi (ʼa꞉(w)- "plural" + shiwi "Zuni").