Achawa language

Arawakan language of Colombia
Achagua
Achawa
Native toColombia
EthnicityAchagua people
Native speakers
250 (2000)[1]
Language family
Arawakan
  • Northern
    • Upper Amazon
      • Western Nawiki
        • Piapoko
          • Achagua
Language codes
ISO 639-3aca Achagua
Glottologacha1250  Achagua
pona1251  Ponares
ELPAchagua

Achagua, or Achawa (Achagua: Achawa), is an Arawakan language spoken in the Meta Department of Colombia, similar to Piapoco. It is estimated that 250 individuals speak the language, many of whom also speak Piapoco or Spanish.[1]

"Achagua is a language of the Maipurean Arawakan group traditionally spoken by the Achagua people of Venezuela and east-central Colombia."[2]

A "Ponares" language is inferred from surnames, and may have been Achawa or Piapoco.

There is 1 to 5% literacy in Achagua.[1]

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t k
voiced b d
Nasal m n
Fricative ʝ h
Trill r
Approximant w ɭ
  • /n/ is realized as [ɲ] when preceding palatal consonants.
  • /k/ is palatalized [kʲ] when preceding /i/.
  • Sounds /b, d/ are preglottalized [ˀb, ˀd] within accented syllables or after accented syllables.
  • /b/ is realized as [β] when occurring intervocalically.
  • /w/ is realized as [β] when preceding /i/.
  • /s̪/ is realized as [ʃ] when preceding /i/.
  • /ʝ/ is heard as an affricate [] in word-initial positions. It can also be realized as a glide [j] freely in intervocalic positions.
  • /ɭ/ can be heard as a flap [ɾ] in free variation before /i/.[3]

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Achagua at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Neira, Alonso de. "The Art and Vocabulary of the Achagua Language". World Digital Library. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
  3. ^ Lozano, Miguel Ángel Meléndez (2000). Esbozo grammatical de la lengua achagua. Lenguas indígenas de Colombia: una visión descriptiva: Santafé de Bogotá: Instituto Caro y Cuervo. pp. 625–640.

External links

  • v
  • t
  • e
Arawakan (Maipurean) languages
Northern
Caribbean
Palikuran
Pidjanan
Upper Amazon
Western Nawiki
Eastern Nawiki
Central Upper Amazon
Manao
Southern
Western
Central Maipurean
Piro
Bolivia–Parana
Campa
Macro-Arawakan
  • Arauán
  • Candoshi-Shapra
  • Guajiboan
  • Munichi
  • Puquina


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