The Kumisión’s enabling legislation directs us to provide requisite updates to the CHamoru-English Dictionary. ‬

The two most readily available printed CHamoru dictionaries  ‬are the Topping/Dungca/Ogo Chamorro-English Dictionary published in 1975 by the University of Hawaii Press‭; ‬and‭, ‬the‭ ‬Official Chamorro-English Dictionary‭ ‬compiled by Dr‭. ‬Katherine Aguon ‬with a team of educators and published in 2009 by the Department of ‭ CHamoru Affairs‭.‬ Spellings contained in both dictionaries do not totally align with the most updated 2024 iteration of the Guåhan Orthography. Some words are spelled differently in each. This is to be expected as our knowledge and consistent application of the orthographic rules continues to develop.

To keep abreast of these changes and allow for the immediate integration of new words on an on-time basis, the Kumisión has opted to execute this mandate through a digital word-finder feature on our website based on the digital CHamoru dictionary app developed by Linguist,  Dr. David Ruskin.

This section of our website was inspired by Tan Ana Garcia’s original compendium of terms for CHamoru teachers entitled “Listan Palåbra,” which is made available as a reference resource. In addition, supplemental downloadable lists are provided for special categories of words that are of interest to the community.