| Achagua | |
|---|---|
| Achawa | |
| Native to | Colombia |
| Ethnicity | Achagua people |
Native speakers | 250 (2000) [1] |
Arawakan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
aca Achagua |
| Glottolog |
acha1250 Achagua
pona1251 Ponares |
| ELP | Achagua |
 | |
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 | tʃ | k | ||
| voiced | b | d | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | |||||
| Fricative | s̪ | 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 [ 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
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Low | a |
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. 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
- Neira, Alonso de. "Arte y bocabulario de la lengua achagua: Doctrina christiana, confessionario de uno y otro sexo e instrucción de cathecumenos". World Digital Library. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
- Dryer, Matthew S.; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Achawa language". World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- OLAC resources in and about the Achagua language
- Achagua on Native Languages of the Americas
- Listen to a sample of Achagua from Global Recordings Network
- The Archive of Indigenous Languages of Latin America https://www.ailla.utexas.org/islandora/search/Achagua?type=dismax