Category: Chamorro Vocabulary

The weather is a subject that everyone talks about as it is a sore spot when it’s bad and the highlight of someone’s day when it’s not. This article will hopefully provide enough useful terms so you can talk about the weather in Chamorro.

Bonitu na ha’åni, no?
Beautiful day, isn’t it?

Atan ha’ este na uchan!
Just look at this rain!

Chamorro Weather Vocabulary

To help you learn how to talk about the weather, you’ll have to learn the different words used to describe the weather.

Chamorro Weather Nouns

• weather: i tiempo or i klema
• sun: atdao
• clouds: mapagåhes
• rain: uchan
• thunder: hulu
• lightning: låmlåm
• fog: afao
• wind: månglo’
• storm/typhoon: pakyo
• rainbow: isa
• degrees: grådu
• condition: kondision
• season: tiempo

NOTE: You may have noticed that there are two words for weather: tiempo and klema. They mean the same thing. This can get confusing since you may have already learned and used tiempo in the contexts of talking about time in general, or to refer to a specific period of time, as in a season.

Chamorro Weather Adjectives

• sunny: somnak
• cloudy: nupblådu
• windy: månglo’, guaifon
• rainy: uchan
• bad weather: chata’an
• hot: maipe
• cold: manengheng

A lot of times in Chamorro, a noun can also be used as an adjective. It’s understood that something is “being” that noun. This can be seen in the words uchan yan månglo’, which are the words for “rain” and “wind”, respectively, but can also be understood as “rainy” and “windy”.

Chamorro Words for Extreme Weather Conditions

• storming: papakyo
• earthquake: linao
• rough waters: nåpu

Asking about the Weather

If you need to ask about the weather, you can use the following.

How’s the weather?
Tumaimamanu i tiempo?

What’s the weather like?
Håfa i klema?

Talking about Seasons

Because the Marianas is in the tropics, there are really only two seasons:

• tiempon somnak – dry season (lit. “sunny season”)
• tiempon uchan – rainy season (lit. “rainy season”)

Featured Image Photo by Brett Sayles from Pexels

Seven little words that you’ll use all the time when speaking Chamorro: i ha’åni siha gi simåna (the days of the week). Estegue’ siha! Here they are!

How to say the days of the week in Chamorro

Other Useful Words and Phrases

More Useful Expressions of Time

Hafa i dia på’go?
What day is today?

Maseha ngai’an malago’-mu
Whenever you want

Trabiha
Not yet

Ti apman
It won’t be long. (Soon)

Ha’åni or Dia

In Chamorro, we sometimes have two words for the same thing. This is true for the word for day, which can be spoken as ha’åni or dia. The former is rooted in indigenous Chamorro and the latter borrowed from Spanish. There is no strict rule as to when you should use either, but there is a predilection among native speakers toward using ha’åni more when describing the day and dia for when talking about the day in the calendar sense. As a learner of Chamorro, take note when listening to conversations in Chamorro; try to note the context in which each word is used.

The Origin of the Days of the Week

The Chamorro names for the days of the week come from the Spanish days of the week, which get their names from planets and gods.

When we want to talk about important events like birthdays and holidays we have to learn some very important words in CHamoru: the names of the months of the year. What’s great is that you have 12 opportunities out of the year to practice your Chamorro! So nihi! Let’s go and do this.

Here are the names of i mes siha gi sakkan (the months in the year).

Talking About Dates in Chamorro

Saying i fecha, or “the date”, in Chamorro is almost the same as in English except for a few details. Chamorro days are often preceded by the word dia (or diha), meaning “day”. Traditionally, the day came before the month, but now it is common to say it the English way as well. In both languages, the year always comes after the month and day, regardless of the order.

You can use the following patterns to help you write the date:

dia + number + gi + month + year

or

month + dia + number + year

Here are some examples:

How To Say Your Birthday

When you want to tell someone when your kumpleaños or ha’ånen mafañagu-mu (both mean birthday) is, you can say it in a few ways:

Ancient CHamoru Calendar

Before the Spanish arrived, the ancient Chamorros used a 13-month calendar based on the lunar cycle.

The general word for “clothes” in Chamorro is magågu. In this post, we’ll learn the various Chamorro terms for articles of clothing. At the end, we’ll include a brief lesson on how to say “wear”, so you can start using these words.

Clothing Accessories

Here are some words for adotnon magågu, or clothing adornments or decorations, to komplimento i trahi-mu, or complement your outfit.

Words to Describe Your Clothing

Here is a list of words that will come in handy when you want to describe your clothing. These include parts of your clothing, its condition, and the material its made out of.

How to say “wear” in Chamorro

In Chamorro, if we want to say “wear” an article of clothing, we use the word “usa”, which can also be used as a general word meaning “use”.

Bai hu usa bestidu agupa’.
I will wear a dress tomorrow.

Ti ya-hu manusa tuhong.
I don’t like wearing hats.

Another way to express “wear” in Chamorro is by using the affix in with an article of clothing. Study the following examples.

Håfa na ti minagågagu hao?
Why aren’t you dressed?

Ti ya-hu tinihong.
I don’t like wearing hats.

Ti sininturon yu’, sa’ ti siña hu sodda’ i sinturon-hu.
I didn’t wear a belt, because I couldn’t find my belt.

Lachaddek sinapatos! Siempre atrasao hit.
Put your shoes on quickly! We’re going to be late.

Other Chamorro verbs related to clothing