Shawi1 is the language of the indigenous Shawi/Chayahuita people in Northwestern Amazonia, Peru. It belongs to the Kawapanan language family, together with its moribund sister language, Shiwilu. It is spoken by about 21,000 speakers (see Rojas-Berscia 2013) in the provinces of Alto Amazonas and Datem del Marañón in the region of Loreto and in the northern part of the region of San Martín, being one of the most vital languages in the country (see Figure 1).2 Although Shawi groups in the Upper Amazon were contacted by Jesuit missionaries during colonial times, the maintenance of their customs and language is striking. To date, most Shawi children are monolingual and have their first contact with Spanish at school. Yet, due to globalisation and the construction of highways by the Peruvian government, many Shawi villages are progressively westernising. This may result in the imminent loss of their indigenous culture and language.

中文翻译：

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沙威 (Chayahuita)

沙威1是秘鲁亚马逊河西北部土著沙维/查亚韦塔人的语言。它与它奄奄一息的姊妹语言 Shiwilu 一起属于 Kawapanan 语系。在洛雷托地区和圣马丁地区北部的上亚马孙省和达泰姆德尔马拉尼翁省约有 21,000 人使用该语（参见 Rojas-Berscia 2013），是该地区最重要的语言之一国家（见图 1）。2尽管在殖民时期耶稣会传教士与上亚马逊地区的沙威团体进行了接触，但他们的习俗和语言的维护却是惊人的。迄今为止，大多数 Shawi 孩子都是单语的，他们第一次接触西班牙语是在学校。然而，由于全球化和秘鲁政府修建高速公路，许多沙威村正在逐步西化。这可能导致他们的土著文化和语言即将丧失。