Arawakan language of Colombia
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
- /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 [dʒ] 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
Notes
- ^ a b c Achagua at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Neira, Alonso de. "The Art and Vocabulary of the Achagua Language". World Digital Library. Archived from the original on 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
- ^ 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
