Avañe

Avañe'ẽ, also written Avañe'ẽ, is the Guarani language spoken by the Guarani people and widely used across the Southern Cone, especially in Paraguay. The name means "the people's speech" in Guarani, with ava meaning "people" and ñe'ẽ meaning "speech" or "language"; the apostrophe marks a glottal stop in the standard orthography. It is part of the Tupian language family, in the Guarani subgroup, and exists in several dialects.

In Paraguay, Avañe'ẽ holds official status alongside Spanish and is a central element of national identity. It is spoken by large portions of the population, often in bilingual households, schools, media, and daily life. The language is taught in schools and is used in radio, television, literature, and public administration. Outside Paraguay, Guarani varieties are spoken by communities in parts of Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia, with regional differences in vocabulary and pronunciation.

The writing system uses the Latin alphabet with diacritics to represent nasal vowels and other phonetic features. Nasal vowels are marked with tilde diacritics (ã, ẽ, ĩ, õ, ũ), and the glottal stop is indicated with an apostrophe (e.g., ava'ẽ). Major dialects include Paraguayan Guarani, Mbya Guarani, and Chiripá, each with distinct phonological and lexical traits, though they remain mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Ongoing efforts promote literacy, preserved oral traditions, and bilingual education to support linguistic continuity and cultural transmission.

Avañe'ẽ is thus a vital language in the region, balancing tradition and modern communication as it adapts to contemporary media and education systems.