Speakers contribute to Wikipedia to share knowledge and strengthen the language online
Originally published on Global Voices
Celebration of the launch of Wikipedia in Nawat. Photo courtesy Timumachtikan Nawat and used with permission.
Wikipedia in the Nawat language mainly spoken in El Salvador or “Wikiamachti” was formally recognized as an official Wikimedia site in January 2026, having spent 16 years as a Wikimedia incubator project. Until these projects are deemed ready for launch and approved by the Wikimedia Foundation's Language Committee, incubator projects must follow a process of development to ensure their viability and to reflect the language community's desire to have its own Wikimedia project.
The project had been dormant for many years, until a group recently revived the project through community mobilization, technical training, and an acknowledgement that digital sovereignty is an essential element for the sharing of knowledge in Indigenous languages.
Joining other official versions of Wikipedia in Indigenous languages of Latin America, such as Quechua, Aymara, Guaraní, Náhuatl, and Wayuunaiki, Wikiamachti is working with native, heritage, and new language speakers to create open knowledge in the Nawat language (or also spelled as Náhuat), which is classified by UNESCO as “critically endangered.” Factors that led to this language loss in El Salvador includes the violent events in 1932 of La Matanza, a state-led repression that targeted Indigenous Nawat-language speakers, which forced Nawat language speakers across the country to abandon their language to escape persecution.
Historically, the Nawat language had been spoken in parts of Mesoamerica, but is now mainly concentrated in Western El Salvador. Despite having only 1,135 native speakers according to the 2024 Salvadoran Census, it has enjoyed a relative revival through activities, such as the launch of different initiatives using digital media, such as a Living Dictionary, books on the Storyweaver platform, online videos, and other online content.
One of these initiatives has been “Timumachtikan Nawat” (We Learn Nawat), a grassroots collective of native speakers, especially with the participation of elders, heritage speakers, activists, as well “new-speakers” which has been an instrumental part of this revitalization. In an effort to revive the Wikipedia project, for the past several years, the collective provided online and in-person workshops for the creation of neologisms, the use of the translate Wiki platform, and the creation of other tutorials to help new users learn the skills necessary for contributing to the site.
Flyer for translation training for Nawat Wikipdia. Photo courtesy Timumachtikan Nawat and used with permission.
Part of the pathway to ‘graduate’ from incubator to official status is ensuring that the interface is available in the language and that there is a pathway to sustainability through a core group of volunteers. This is achieved by facilitating the creation of a community that meets both in person and virtually to ensure steady contributions.
One of the challenges for many Wikipedia projects in non-dominant languages is that there are few source materials available in the these languages, which are necessary to confirm information in the articles. Due to the fact that much Nawat knowledge is traditionally passed down through oral tradition, there are not many written source materials written in the language.
However, Nawat having its own Wikipedia allows Nawat speakers greater autonomy in deciding how to document locally significant knowledge. This creates an opportunity to write about people that may be underrepresented online, but whose contributions to local communities are more significant, but less known outside of these spaces.
One such example, featured among the more than 1,000 articles now available on Wikiamachti, is the article about Nantzin Sixta Pérez García, a resident of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, Sonsonate, who was the author of the first Nawat dictionary.
Following the announcement of this newest Wikipedia, an event was held in the city of Soyapango near the capital of San Salvador, to coincide with International Mother Language Day, which included speeches, music, and an opportunity to celebrate this milestone as a community.
Photo provided by Tatiana Vanessa Flores de Constante and used with permission.
Rising Voices spoke with three participants of the program, including Tatiana Vanessa Flores de Constante, who shared her motivation for joining Wikiamachti:
Por el amor que le tengo a nuestra lengua materna, ya que la familia de mi esposo es originaria de Cuisnahuat, Sonsonate, tuve el honor de conocer a sus bisabuelos, que eran nahuahablantes, y eso aumentó aún más mi deseo de poder aprender y honrar su memoria, mantenerla viva, y que otras personas o generaciones se interesen, como yo, en aprender esta lengua tan bella y tan nuestra, y ser parte de este evento tan histórico en nuestro país.
Because of the deep love I have for our mother tongue, and since my husband’s family is originally from Cuisnahuat, Sonsonate (El Salvador), I had the honor of meeting his great-grandparents, who were Nawat speakers. That experience deepened my desire to learn and honor their memory by keeping the language alive. I hope that others and future generations become as interested as I am in learning this beautiful language that is so uniquely ours, and I am proud to be part of such a historic event for our country.
Nawat is often learned as a second or even third language. There is also a global interest made possible by virtual classes. One student from Morocco started to learn the language because she understands the potential of this project.
Photo provided by Meryem Benzemroun and used with permission.
Another contributor to the project is Meryem Benzemroun from Rabat, Morocco, who had been taking online classes offered by Timumachtikan Nawat. She noted that seeing Nawat on a platform such as Wikipedia can send a powerful message to those that believe that Mesoamerican languages are “destined to be buried,” and incapable of discussing complex topics such as geology, technology or literature,” adding:
El mayor impacto sería que las personas vean que su lengua sigue viva y fuerte, y que puede usarse en un entorno del siglo XXI con orgullo y facilidad, adaptándose a una nueva era. En segundo lugar, espero sinceramente que ofrezca a los nuevos estudiantes, e incluso a los hablantes avanzados, nuevas herramientas para leer en náhuat y así mejorar rápidamente sus habilidades de lectura.
The greatest impact would be for [speakers] to see that their language is still alive and well, and that it can be used in a 21st-century environment with pride and ease. I sincerely hope it provides new students, and even advanced speakers, with new tools to read in Nawat and improve their skills quickly.
José Antonio Guillen Landaverdes shares this same sentiment. As a math teacher in San Salvador, he said that he hopes that this project will “open doors so that more people learn about their roots, and that others can also be filled with ancestral wisdom from our nahua culture and the nawat language.”